baldilocks

Nancy's Pragmatism

One wonders whether the selection of McCain's Alaskan pro-drilling running mate and the GOP's humongous post VP selection, post-convention bounce had any thing to do with this decision.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Monday morning that the newest Democratic energy bill will be brought to the floor under normal rules and will be subject to a vote on a Republican alternative that is likely to call for even more drilling than Democrats are prepared to swallow. [SNIP]

The move is a dramatic departure from Democrats’ pre-August recess strategy, in which they brought up each of their energy bills under suspension of the rules and, in doing so, avoided having any votes on Republican measures calling for offshore drilling. But by embracing this strategy, Democrats also failed to get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the majority of their energy bills.

And check this out:

A leadership aide said last week that Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) adoption of a pro-drilling position was a strategic one designed to bring the party in line with its presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), and give vulnerable caucus members political cover heading into the November elections.

For the Democrats, it's not about the welfare of the people but about keeping their jobs and about staying in line with their capricious candidate whose positions change with the wind--a wind so apparently strong that it ought to be considered an alternative energy source. Surprised? Me neither.

(Thanks to Hot Air)

What I'm Reading, August 20, 2008

Our first Flakian-American President.

Mikhail Gorbachev defends the decisions of Vladimir Putin Dmitry Medvedev.

Reuters/Zogby poll shows that McCain has a five point lead on Obama; Ace gloats (mild language alert).

A fool and his money…and John Edwards, too.

Another Obama sibling is found in a shanty on the outskirts of Nairobi. (Hey, you can’t pick your parents or your siblings, but was O’s father busy or what?)

From the UK with Love: A World Without the American Soldier.

Leading Democrats—the Speaker and the Candidate—are now mouthing new words on domestic drilling, but the 2008 Democratic Party Platform going into next week's convention tells the same old story.

Rich Lowry is hoping that Senator Joseph Biden will be Obama’s running mate, strictly for the entertainment value.

Condoleezza Rice and Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski sign agreement to put a missile defense base in Poland, one which will contain ten American interceptor missiles. That deal had been nearly dead but Russia’s invasion of Georgia resuscitated it.

And speaking of the dead standing up …

Texas Executes Mexican; Mexicans Jealous

On the Texas execution of Jose Medellin, Mexican citizen, from the Houston Chronicle:

With Mexican news dominated by the kidnap-killing of 14-year-old Fernando Marti, the execution of Mexican Jose Medellin for the 1993 rape-murder of two girls in Texas appears to have sparked far less outrage than people here have shown in previous death penalty cases. [SNIP]

"There is no reason for outrage. The man was a rapist," said lawyer Gustavo Sanchez, 40, as he got a shoeshine on a Mexico City street. "If we had the death penalty here, there wouldn't be so many crimes."

As is nearly always the case the world over, the government has a different view than the people:

Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said it sent a note of protest to the U.S. State Department about the decision to execute Medellin. The World Court ordered [sic] U.S. authorities to review the case, which drew international attention because of allegations that Medellin wasn't allowed to consult the Mexican consulate for legal help following his arrest.

The Mexican government statement said officials "were concerned for the precedent that (the execution) may create for the rights of Mexican nationals who may be detained in that country.

Hopefully, foreigners who would rape and murder in the US will be concerned with the Medallin precedent as well. Of course, I may have a different precedent in mind than does the Mexican government.

The US execution of a Mexican national used to spark vehement citizen protests and denunciations south of the border. No more. If we think things are bad here, they are far worse down there, where police brutality takes on a whole new meaning.

Human nature is such that lawlessness will reign when the lawless have nothing to make them think twice about committing crime. No matter how often our betters tell us that humanity is basically good, unconstrained humans will stoop ever lower to prove that axiom false.

Of Interest, July 29, 2008

Europeans say, Screw (on) the Heroes!

Unholy troika: Linking the 2008 Democrat nominee for President of the United States to Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and Speaker of the US House of Representatives Pelosi (D-CA is an “attack” now—especially when the subject is oil-drilling.

And why wouldn’t Obama want to be associated with the Speaker? After all, by driving us all into the poorhouse via the refusal to allow domestic drilling, she’s Saving the Planet!

Part of the problem: Senator Ted Steven (R-AK) is indicted for seven counts of lying according to the federal grand jury.

Lenin twirls: The billionaires come out at night in Moscow. Rich, no doubt, due to oil.

Lots of things happened in 1968: Jonah Goldberg jeers at the observation of the 40th anniversary of the black power salute which Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos offered as the American National Anthem played during the Olympic medal ceremony. (HT Hot Air)

Eat this! A recipe for recession, featuring guess-who as the chef.

But I'm not depressed, no sir.

UPDATE: The Third Man On the Podium: Peter Norman (1942-2006).

Have you ever watched a movie for the 10th time and noticed something that you've never seen before? Did you wonder how you possibly could have missed it?

That's the way I felt when I learned that John Carlos and Tommie Smith flew to Australia to serve as pallbearers in the funeral of Peter Norman, the third man on the medal stand with them in that iconic photo of their black-gloved protest at the 1968 Olympics.

Read the whole thing.

Of Interest, July 21, 2008

The Great African American Awakening—not just for black Republicans anymore.

The New York Times won’t publish McCain’s Iraq op-ed after having published Obama’s. Don’t forget, McCain’s was written after eight trips to the country, with the last being two months ago; Obama’s was written after one trip to the country (before today) with the last being two years ago. (HT: LGF)

A Middle Easterner tells the West what diplomacy means in his neck of the woods.

For those who don’t see the point in paying a lot of money for an item that only depreciates in value: The Twelve Cheapest American Cars—some safety features can also be bought. (HT: Instapundit)

Real Oppression of Blacks in the 21st Century!—I’m sure that Jesse is ready to cut somebody’s jewels off and Al is gearing up for that next protest march.

And Frank Martin has a question regarding Iraq for both presidential candidates: "What are you doing to ensure that American troops will not be needed in the region during your Presidency?” After all the posturing and the dog-and-pony shows, that’s the issue that matters.

Now It's On You, Legislative Branch

The president has done his part.

President Bush today lifted a presidential ban on offshore oil drilling on the outer continental shelf that was implemented by his father, escalating a confrontation with Democrats in Congress over how to cope with soaring gasoline prices.

Escalating a confrontation? What will Congress do in return? Make the president get out of office next year? It seems to me that the confrontation is between Congress and the American people.

Lifting the executive moratorium has no immediate practical effect, because Congress enacted its own prohibition on offshore drilling in 1981. It would have to be rescinded for exploration to proceed.

No immediate practical effect. Is there any entity in our government or our national media capable of thinking about an action in any manner other than that action's immediate effect? The whole point of President Bush's reversal of the ban is to remove the Executive Branch--and himself--from the off-shore drilling equation and put the ball in Democrat-controlled Congress's court.

And, typically, they would rather wail (and lie) than do anything useful.

"The president didn't follow his father's policy on Iraq, and now he's not following his father's policy on offshore oil drilling," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee. "Ironically, the result will be less pressure on the oil companies to produce on the leases they already hold."

They would rather remain in the short-time mode of thinking and leave out pertinent information, than do so.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a leading opponent of oil exploration in the outer continental shelf and author of a bill to permanently ban drilling off the Atlantic coast, said in a statement that Bush's plan "won't produce a drop of oil until 2017 and won't lower gas prices ever."

To provide relief in the near term, he said, "we must crack down on speculation in the oil markets" require oil companies to tap into "the 68 million acres of unused land already leased to them by American taxpayers."

Calling today's move "a political stunt," Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and forcing oil companies to drill on the leased land they already control "would be a good place to start" in trying to lower gas prices.

How much oil has been detected under that 68 millions acres? Have the oil companies attempted to drill there? Does drilling on that federal land require congressional approval? Have the oil companies asked for such approval? If not, does that mean that the companies know that they'd be drilling for nothing?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) expressed similar sentiments, describing Bush's move as "a hoax" that "will neither reduce gas prices nor increase energy independence."

A hoax, eh? So does that mean that the president didn't really lift the ban?

At some point the genius who is our Speaker of the House will get the point that the president has simply put all the power to fix the energy crisis in her and Senator Harry Reid's hands--probably after someone else clues her in.

Stop whining, Democrats, and get out of the way yourselves!

UPDATE: Still whining while America pays.

WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, on Monday rejected a call by U.S. President George W. Bush to lift a moratorium on offshore oil drilling

Reid said oil companies should focus instead on drilling on much of the 68 million acres that they have leased but not used for exploration.

Asked, however, if he expected to have the votes to block legislation to lift the moratorium in face of soaring gasoline prices, Reid told a news conferences, "We will have to wait and see."

Reid said he hoped to have legislation introduced this week to crack down on oil speculators.

On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, mocked Bush's call earlier in the day to lift the ban.

"The Bush oil policy is an attempt at mass deception by a White House that has, for the last seven and a half years, pursued Big Oil's agenda of drill, drill, drill," Markey, chairman of a select House of Representatives committee on energy independence, told a news conference.

Notable News

Yes, I’m feeling lazy; so it will be a cut-and-paste day, mostly. First up is the news and Big Media commentary.

• In his perennial quest to improve the English usage of his journalist colleagues in Kenya, the Old Man expounds on the phrase “Young Turks.”

What is not true is that, when you stop being a Young Turk, you become an “Old Turk”.
There is no such thing. The term “Young Turk” describes a political standpoint and movement. It has nothing to do with chronological age or the Turks, the Caucasian people of the Anatolian peninsula. [SNIP]
The term refers to a 19th-century movement of Turks — really young in age — who, after years of study in Western Europe, returned home full of “Enlightenment”, determined to transform their country overnight from feudal despotism to “liberal democracy”.

This was the movement that produced celebrated nationalist Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the military leader who founded the Turkish Republic in 1923 and ruled it till 1938. His revolutionary triumph was what personified the Young Turks fulfilled.

• Rosenberg grand jury testimony is set to become public.

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors have agreed to make public some secret testimony about the biggest spy case of the Cold War.

The government took the unusual position Monday as leading historical groups press for the release of grand jury transcripts in the criminal investigation of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Following their 1951 espionage trial for passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, the husband and wife were executed in 1953.

The Rosenberg case has significant historical importance that qualifies it for an exception to grand jury secrecy rules, the office of the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York City said in court papers. [SNIP]

A U.S. District Court judge in New York, Alvin Hellerstein, will have the final say. Vladeck said the historians may seek additional disclosure, leaving it to the judge to sort out disputes that could take months to resolve before any public release.

Under the approach laid out in the government's court papers, transcripts would be released for 35 of the 45 witnesses who testified to the grand jury in the Rosenberg probe. The 35 are dead or consent to disclosing their testimony.

(Thanks to David)

• So what else are we supposed to do, Seymour Hersh? Sit around with our thumb up our collective butt?

Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership. The covert activities involve support of the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations. They also include gathering intelligence about Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.

With the Left’s penchant for “inducing” informants to spill classified information, one wonders how Mr. Hersh knows about all this.

• And the Iraqis are allowing foreign bidding on six new oil fields.

The potential participation of big Western companies like BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total SA in Iraq's oil industry has been criticized in recent weeks following published reports that several were close to signing no-bid contracts with the Iraqi government.

There was an immediate outcry over perceptions that the U.S. did invade Iraq to gain access to its massive oil reserves and there was no announcement of contracts Monday by Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani.
He did, however, name 35 companies that would be qualified to bid on service contracts for the oil fields of Rumeila, Zubair, Qurna West, Maysan, Kirkuk and Bay Hassan.

With the price of gas being what it is, were we to do what we were accused of doing in Iraq—that is, taking out Saddam Hussein and his government to get Iraq’s oil fields for ourselves—it’d be fun to see how the Left would react. Oh they’d howl for a minute, but only so much howling would be heard after the price of gas dropped, say, 75 cents in a day.

Of course we won’t appropriate the oil fields. Will the US get credit from the Left and from international sources for *not* stealing Iraq’s oil? Of course not. But it’s a fool’s errand to look for “credit” from those who hate America.

Out for the Morning

I'm taking reader advice and seeing the eye doctor this morning, but I was wondering about something that I'll leave you with.

Why wouldn't oil shoot up to $130 a barrel when we've made it clear over the years that we won't do any thing to stop it, this unfailing sign of demand increase? No ANWR, no new refineries, demonize the the middle men (oil companies), go hat-in-hand to the Saudis and ask them to increase supply (to help drop the price) and they laugh (Bush).

The oil producing companies (Russia, Venezuela, ME countries) like nothing better than to see us squirm and our economy buckle. That's what envy is about.

Why put up with this when we can help ourselves?

May Day in NYC

Having completely fallen down on the job as citizen-journalist yesterday and by-passed the May Day festivities here in my native country Los Angeles, I must tip my not-wig to Urban Infidel who was willing to wade through tidal waves of moonbats on the other coast in order to bring back evidence of alien life. And I do mean alien. Here's a taste:

(Click photo for slide show)

More at Infidel's site as well.

North Koreans, Syrians and Strong Horses

This morning, US Intelligence Officials—including CIA head General Michael Hayden*--gave a classified account to Congress as to what it knew and when it knew it with regard to the bombing of a Syrian facility by the Israeli Air Force last September. Allegedly included in the briefing is video evidence obtained from within the now-destroyed facility—a facility whose core was almost identical to a known plutonium-producing facility in North Korea. According to the article, the video shows North Koreans “touring” the facility to boot.

The WaPo article also says that this evidence could “complicate” the US efforts to strike a deal with North Korean President Kim Il-Sung Jong-il regarding his nukes. Hmmm. Sometimes I wonder whether we're really trying to “strike a deal” with such a monster anyway. It seem to me that the Bush Administration’s policy toward the Norks is more strategically-minded: putting the American seal of approval on the "negotiations" per Li'l Kim's demands, but, in reality, standing back while Kim’s neighbors put up with the bulk of his insanity. And, after the regional players tire of playing and being played, the US would sign off on whatever they decide—especially if the decision comes from the Japanese. And who could really expect a man possessing nuclear power capabilities while keeping his own people in such a state to listen to actual reason anyway? Selling the tech to the Syrians seems far more in-character for the gulag-keeper.

As for the Syrians, their ambassador to the US--Imad Moustapha—is predictably outraged at being bombed by the hated "Zionist Entity," but rightly points out that the West claimed that Saddam’s Hussein’s Iraq had a nuke program also, but no evidence of same was subsequently found. Some think that Saddam managed to move evidence of such a program to…Syria.

Captain Ed notices, however, that Syria seems less than willing to restart its program

after seeing how the Bush administration dismembered the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq for less.

Can we call this the “Strong Horse Syndrome?” Or perhaps the Reagan Syndrome?

One wonders whether we’ll see the reverse of such a syndrome after January 20, 2009.

*General Hayden will retire from the Air Force in July, but stay on as CIA director.