More Thoughts on Van Jones

If there is anybody awake in the White House this Labor Day weekend, they'll be thinking about what went wrong with their vetting process. If they did this badly on Jones, they're wondering how many other really spooky characters slipped through their screen.

If I were Rahm Emmanuel I'd be starting all over with the vetting process, asking the hard questions and trying to identify the ticking time bombs before others do. Then the iffy people turned up would quietly offer their resignations and slip away into the night before they made trouble for the boss in the Oval Office.

I'd also be asking how the original vetting process went so wrong, and who was responsible for making POTUS look bad. My guess: the problem isn't in the Hoover Building but in the White House.

I suspect the FBI reported issues about candidates and the White House ignored those issues because they believe the FBI to be paranoid McCarthyites. If the White House tries to blame the FBI, I bet the original findings are leaked to the press.

The situation only gets worse for TeamObama.
What the New Media needs to focus on next is this:
who screwed up and who is covering up.

CONTEST

Since Watergate, all big scandals in Washington are called Something-gate. COTTonLINE now announces a contest for the best _____-gate name for this scandal. All good suggestions will appear here and the winner will be identified and get credit, if desired. Submit suggestions as responses to this post, and indicate if you wish your identity known.

The Blogosphere Wins Again

This Associated Press article reports that the President's Green Jobs czar, Van Jones, has resigned. This resignation is an enormous victory for the blogosphere: the Internet-based group of political commentators, of which COTTonLINE is a very minor member.

Van Jones signed a petition urging investigation into allegations that the Bush administration was in some way responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Also a Communist, this is the same Van Jones who called Republicans "a**holes."

Nevertheless, Obama White House official Valerie B. Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, is quoted by Power Line as follows:

Oooh. Van Jones, alright! So, Van Jones. We were so delighted to be able to recruit him into the White House. We were watching him, uh, really, he's not that old, for as long as he's been active out in Oakland. And all the creative ideas he has. And so now, we have captured that. And we have all that energy in the White House.

According to Michelle Malkin, it turns out that the bloggers at Gateway Pundit dug up Jones' petition signature, and that finally brought this loser down. Until the last day or so, the only mainstream news organization that reported the problems was Fox News. Conservative talk radio and the conservative blogosphere were also instrumental in Jones' defenestration.

This is a victory for those of us who labor in the vineyards of the right. It is also an enormous setback for the mainstream media, which resisted until the eleventh hour reporting this story.

Black Eye on Labor Day

See this Gallup.com poll which finds that the public has an increasingly negative view of labor unions. Gallup says:

The 48% of Americans now approving of unions represents the first sub-50% approval since Gallup first asked the question in the 1930s.

Wow, the lowest approval rating ever, the previous low was 55%. Gallup's subhead summarizes their findings as follows:

Unions Help Own Workers, Hurt Other Workers and the Economy

Coming out two days before the Labor Day weekend, those findings are a real kick in the teeth for unions.

As Mickey Kaus notes in his Kausfiles blog on Slate, likely causes for these findings are the UAW's lead role in destroying GM and Chrysler, and the teacher unions' role in damaging the public schools.

Quote of the Day

Ken Duberstein, former White House chief of staff for Ronald Reagan who endorsed Obama last year, quoted in a U.S. News & World Report article:

The opposition is very energized right now--much more motivated than Obama's supporters.

When his own supporters say he's got trouble, believe it.

Travel Blogging X

Go see the pretty travel pix taken by the other DrC at her blog; you will find it at http://cruztalking.blogspot.com. I also endorse her dreary evaluation of United Airline's Red Carpet Lounge at the Denver airport, there's a lot of deferred maintenance showing there.

Unemployment Goes Up

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The U.S. unemployment rate jumped to a 26-year high of 9.7% in August as nonfarm payrolls fell by 216,000, the 20th consecutive monthly decline, the Labor Department estimated Friday.

Watch President Obama use this sad situation as an excuse for dramatic big government action.

Could Cheney Be Right?

Read this defense of Dick Cheney's claim that terrorism is still a very real threat, written by Douglas MacKinnon for The Baltimore Sun. Speaking of the events of September 11, 2001, MacKinnon says:

Most have forgotten the terror, forgotten the hate, forgotten the indescribable pain and destruction, and forgotten the lessons. Most - but not Mr. Cheney. He refuses. At the risk of his reputation, he has made it his life's work to never forget. For to forget is to condemn our nation to much worse.

The article isn't fun, but it is worth your time.

Travel Blogging IX

Dateline: Thayne, Wyoming. Herewith are more random thoughts from the trip just finished.

River cruising in Europe may be the most perfect form of travel ever invented. We visited 5 countries and our hotel "room" (cabin) traveled with us; two weeks of travel without once schlepping luggage. There are no "sea days," every day there are towns to visit and walk in. There is no sea sickness. There is always something ashore to see while cruising. The narrowness of the river means all passing boat traffic is near enough to view easily. The locks are much more interesting than those of the Panama Canal.

Airport security in Europe has become much more uniform than it was some years ago. It now strongly resembles what the TSA does here in the States. On the other hand, the last time I was in Brazil it was still idiosyncratic, a couple of years ago. The one thing that still varies from airport to airport is whether or not one must remove one's shoes.

The crew on our river ship was much more international than in former visits, the last maybe four years ago. Then the crew was largely Eastern European, except for the executive positions which were filled by Western Europeans. This time we had several Indonesians and one lad each from India and the Caribbean, as well as the usual Romanians, Croatians, Serbians, and Macedonians. Once again the executive positions were mostly Dutch, except for the chef who was Bulgarian and the Macedonian maitre d'.

As is the case on ocean cruise liners, all these folks seem to get along with each other relatively well. Perhaps we should turn over international relations to the cruise lines, which seem to do a better job of creating harmony than our diplomats do. It appears that the future world will communicate in heavily accented, broken English, as much of it does now.

Speaking of which, many shops had signs either partially or entirely in English; this in countries which have another language as their own. Ditto magazine titles. I suppose they are "borrowing" cachet the way we all used to with French.

Barone on Immigration

Michael Barone is one of the best data analysts going. Writing for Real Clear Politics, see what he says about immigration trends:

Most housing foreclosures have occurred in four states -- California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida -- and about one-third of those who have lost their homes are Hispanic. Immigration is stimulated by the reports of success that immigrants send back home. It may be discouraged by reports of failure.

Barone suggests the storm clouds of recession may have an immigration silver lining.

Quote of the Day

Joshua Bell, concert violinist, being interviewed at the Salzburg Festival by Jay Nordlinger for National Review Online.

He (Bell) was talking about how it’s hard to get a sound on the violin, and less hard to get one on the piano. He cracked, “Playing the piano — you might as well be typing.”

Jay adds that Joshua was kidding.

Cultural Relativity

Jay Nordlinger, writing in National Review Online:

A survivor of Auschwitz is asked what is the most important lesson he has learned in the last few years. He says, “When someone says he wants to kill you, believe him.”

The earliest source I Google for this quote is Newt Gingrich, testifying before a U.S. Senate committee in the autumn of 2005. Newt was alluding to threats against Israel made by Iran's Ahmadinejad, and the seriousness with which they should be taken.

Perhaps the quote should read "when an Austrian demagogue says he wants to kill you, believe him." When the speaker is an Islamic leader in the Middle East, he may or may not be serious.

Most Iranians who shout "death to America, death to the Great Satan" do little to make that happen. Similarly in Iraq, Sadam's "mother of all battles" turned out to be the mother of all routs. In Arabic and Persian there is a linguistic convention of florid overstatement that should not be confused with, and is often a lame substitute for, planned action.

Japan Votes for Change

Exit polls suggest the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan has been ousted after being in power almost continuously for the last 50 years. See this CNN.Com/Asia article for a quick overview.

Countries where one party always wins the election are less-than-fully democratic. As Lord Acton said in 1887, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Eventually a long-governing party generates its own downfall.

Mexico's many years of rule by the PRI was another example of this phenomenon. In both Mexico and Japan there were opposition parties which for decades amounted to little. However, now in both countries opposition parties have won power at the national level.

This election is an important milestone for representative government in Japan. Regardless of the DPJ's policies, its election in Japan is a positive step for representative government there.

On the other hand, there are press reports of the new leader's wife believing in UFO abductions.

Frost Warnings in August

According to this article in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin have gotten cold over the weekend. As the Sunday article notes:

Parts of northeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin are under a late summer frost warning, and residents there should consider protecting their sensitive plants.

Frost in August, it must be more of that famous global warming.

Quote of the Day

David Brooks, writing for The New York Times, commenting on the post-election drop in Obama's popularity.

All presidents fall from their honeymoon highs, but in the history of polling, no newly elected American president has fallen this far this fast.

No kidding, and Brooks is a moderate, too.

Political Humor Alert

P. J. O'Rourke, writing for The Weekly Standard, about some silliness appearing in The Washington Post, tells the following joke from Russia:

An old guy's wife tells him to go to the butcher shop and get some meat. He goes to the butcher shop and stands in line for hours. Finally the butcher says, "We're out of meat."

The old guy blows his top. He yells, "I am a worker! I am a proletarian! I am a veteran of the Great Patriotic War! I have fought for socialism all my life, and now you tell me you're out of meat! What kind of a system is this?! You are fools! You are thieves! . . . "

A big man in a trench coat comes up to the old guy and says, "Comrade, Comrade, not so loud. In the old days you know what they would do if you said such things." The big man in the trench coat makes a pistol motion with his hand. He says to the old guy, "Calm down and go home."

The old guy shrugs and leaves. He comes back empty-handed, and his wife says, "What's the matter, are they out of meat?" "Worse than that," says the old guy, "they're out of bullets."

Travel Blogging VIII

Our two weeks of cruising on the Rhine and Mosel are ended, and we are home in Wyoming. This blog contains some concluding thoughts about the trip just ended.

We observed that window curtains are rare in Protestant Netherlands. We were told it is because people want to show they have nothing to hide. I wonder what debauchery they think we're hiding when they come to the States and nearly everybody has curtains?

People who live in the northern, Flemish portion of Belgium, often speak of their country and the Netherlands together as "the Low Lands." I wonder if this is a closet separatism or if the Walloons of southern Belgium use that terminology too?

"Real" Europeans refer to the economic model of the U.S. and the U.K. together as "the Anglo-Saxon model," and it is one to which they do not subscribe. Their model is much more government-based, government-managed and has as its goal the support of the less fortunate. I wonder if that helps us understand why their unemployment rate in good times is about what our rate is in bad times?

In Antwerp we saw many buildings built with what they call "the bacon style" exterior. It is called that because the buildings consist of a layer of white stone followed by several courses of red bricks, followed by another layer of white stone, followed by more bricks, etc. It does look like bacon, but it is also attractive.

Europeans like living in the city or in town, and hope to be able to afford to do so. Therefore, particularly in France, the poor get pushed out into the suburbs. In the U.S. we mostly operate in exactly the opposite way; the poor live in the inner city and the more affluent live further out. I'm guessing our greater reliance on the automobile is partly responsible.

I may have more trip-concluding thoughts in a day or so.

Ruminations on the Death of Ted Kennedy

The death of a powerful, wealthy figure like Senator Edward Kennedy causes us to revisit the fact that, with all his wealth and power, he could not cheat the grim reaper. Others will do a better job than I could, or would, of appreciating Kennedy’s life – I didn't agree with much of what he stood for. So be it; I don’t choose to speak ill of the dead.

Rather, I choose at this moment to suggest we all confront our own mortality; recognize that any day could be our last and live accordingly. Is there a trip you dearly want to take, or an item you’ve been putting off buying? Don’t delay, do it today. Putting things off to the future only makes sense for the young, and most of COTTonLINE’s readers are not, I fear, as young as they'd like to be.

In retirement, you need to frontload your travel into the early years when you have the health to be able to do it. Seriously, don’t put off travel hoping gasoline prices will drop or cruise deals will get better. Those things may happen, but will you be healthy enough to take advantage of them?

You likely will have plenty of time later to sit around moldering in front of a TV or computer monitor. Every day you are a day closer to the time when all you’ll be able to do is sit. When that sad day arrives, don’t be full of regrets, of “might have dones.” Instead be the person sitting there with a head full of memories of places you’ve gone, things you’ve done, entertainments you’ve seen, meals you’ve eaten, wines you’ve drunk, great cars you’ve owned…you get the picture.

Let your goal be “No Regrets.” You probably won’t achieve it completely, but give it a try.

Travel Blogging VII

Dateline: Willemstad, the Netherlands. This entry was written on Friday, August 28. Our cruise is winding down to a close, tomorrow is our last full day on the ship. We’ve spent the last two days in the Netherlands, which translates as “the low countries.” Holland is only a part of the Netherlands, a couple of provinces or states if you will. And some months ago on a cruise liner I had a citizen of this low and soggy land give me a bad time for referring to all Netherlands people as “Dutch.” He was a citizen of the Netherland and was not Dutch, he said, but Frisian or some such.

Discussions of the history of this land always include William of Orange, who helped them liberate themselves from Catholic/Spanish rule. He later became the Protestant liberator of Northern Ireland, which is why the Prots of Belfast are called Orangemen and why they wear orange when marching to irritate the green-wearing Catholics.

Sunday we are in Antwerp, Belgium, a country that probably shouldn’t exist. The southern part of the country speaks French and is populated by Walloons, the northern part of the country speaks more-or-less Dutch and is populated by the Flemish. Of course these two groups don’t like each other even slightly. Does anybody like the French?

Here Comes the Sun

Do yourself a favor, read Jonah Goldberg's column in The Los Angeles Times about the impact of sun spot activity on global climate. He brings together a lot of things we've been trying to say at COTTonLINE. Here is his conclusion:

What does it say that the modeling that guaranteed disastrous increases in global temperatures never predicted the halt in planetary warming since the late 1990s? (MIT's Richard Lindzen says that "there has been no warming since 1997 and no statistically significant warming since 1995.") What does it say that the modelers have only just now discovered how sunspots make the Earth warmer?

I don't know what it tells you, but it tells me that maybe we should study a bit more before we spend billions to "solve" a problem we don't understand so well.

Obama Approval at New Low

Yesterday's Rasmussen Reports polling finds the overall approval rating for the Obama administration continues to head downward. Rasmussen concludes:

Overall, 46% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance. That’s the lowest level of total approval yet measured for Obama.

Drip, drip, drip...each month their ratings just get worse. At some point I won't be able to resist saying "I told you so," but we aren't quite there yet.