I have never used this link before and know nothing about it, but the story is intriguing.  According to DEBKAfile, an Iranian air show scheduled for April 18 of this year was cancelled because of a warning to Iran from Russia that Israel might be planning to attack all the aircraft gathered in one place.  This is interesting for a few reasons.

1.  Russia wanted to protect the 140 Iranian fighter-bombers from being destroyed.  Why?

2.  It would make sense that before Israel went after Iran’s nuclear sites, they would have to destroy as much of the air force and ground-to-air missles as possible, so it is not unreasonable to assume they may have considered a strike.

3.  Israel used this tactic to wipe out the Egyptian air force early in the 1967 war.

This is one of the things that reminds us that we live in a very unsafe world.

By now we are all tired of hearing about legal briefs and torture, water boarding and torture, American security and torture, etc., but there is one more thing we all need to be aware of before our eyes glaze over.  Andrew McCarthy at National Review Online points out that in addition to politicizing the issue of interrogation of terrorists, the Obama Administration has just approved the same recommendations they condemned the Bush Administration for.

Lately, we have been hearing about the case of John Demjanjuk.  According to the article:

“…John Demjanjuk, a Nazi collaborator who has been fighting his removal from the United States for years. In a last gasp, Demjanjuk now claims, under the CAT, that his extradition would violate U.S. and international torture law. Given his advanced age, failing health, and expectations of abuse, he contends that extradition to Germany for trial and incarceration will cause him severe pain and suffering.”

CAT is the United Nations Convention Against Torture.  The article further states:

“On April 23 of this year, only a day after Holder — taking his lead from the president — promised to investigate Bybee, Yoo, and other government lawyers, the Justice Department filed a brief in a case called Demjanjuk v. Holder in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Ohio. The brief urges the federal courts to consider the same torture analysis over which Holder is targeting the Bush lawyers with such fanfare. You can read the brief here. [A PDF will have to do: After discussing the Justice Department’s hypocrisy on NRO’s Off the Page, I can no longer locate the brief on the site where I first found it on Sunday.]”

Please read the entire National Review article.  It is very technical, but gives good insight into how political even our national security has become.  We are entering a place that is not good for the security and integrity of our country. 

See the Odd Day website for further details.  It’s a day to be awed by the odd!!

Power Line posted a short article by Paul Mirengoff today dealing with the charges that George Bush’s ‘torture’ policies were a drastic departure from the ‘American’ way.  The article links to a previous Power Line article by Paul detailing the use of ‘torture’ since World War II.  There was no difference in policy–the change was that the political party not in power decided to release classified information in order to make the political party in power look bad.  The actual effect of the release of this information was to make America look bad in the eyes of the world. 

The issue of terrorism during the Bush Administration was the first time in the history of America that a party not in power had used national security as a political issue.  Unfortunately, that is still going on and will continue in the future.  It is a shame that our elected officials are too small as people to put the interests of the country above their own personal gain.

Yesterday’s Washington Examiner reports that the Democrats in the Senate have denied the seniority that Senator Specter had understood was his in return for switching parties.  I guess there is something to the old adage “Get It In Writing!”.  It is also interesting to note that on Monday, Real Clear Politics ran an article by Michael Barone on what the passage of ‘card check’ would mean to the businesses in America.  Arlen Specter has repeatedly stated that he was opposed to both major aspects of ‘card check’. 

Card check has two major provisions–the first is to end the secret ballot in elections by employees of a company to determine whether or not to unionize, the second provision of card check would require, after only 120 days of bargaining, a federal arbitrator to step in and impose a new labor agreement on the company with the recently formed union.  This provision means that the union has no reason to negotiate an agreement in good faith–the government will come in and write the agreement.  Since we currently have a government that is not pro-business, the outcome would probably bankrupt the company.  For example, let’s say a non-union auto manufacturing plant is pushed into unionizing by card check.  The government might impose the same sort of labor contract on that company that the auto unions have imposed on the Detriot auto companies.  The consequences of that would be the end of the company.

Anyway, I hope Senator Specter does not change his mind on opposing card check.  It is obvious that the Democrats are playing hardball with him (denying the ‘promised’ seniority), and it will be interesting to see if he caves.

According to the Washington Times today, the $787 billion in stimulus money is being tracked and overseen by the taxpayers.  Did you know that?  Out of the ten Congressmen who were scheduled to attend the subcommittee’s second meeting, dramatically titled “Follow the Money Part II”, only three bothered to attend.   Reresentative Brad Miller, chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology’s subcommittee on investigations and oversight, has stated that they are enlisting the entire American citizenry to help oversee the program.

Earl Devaney,an ex-cop who is now chairman of the Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency Board, is charged with tracking the torrent of cash now pouring out of federal coffers.  According to the article, Mr. Devaney:

said his board – made up of 10 IGs – has a dual mission: “First, the board is responsible for establishing and maintaining a Web site.” Oh, and second, it’s supposed to “help minimize fraud, waste or mismanagement.”  

Since only three members of the committee bothered to attend the subcommittee meeting, it will be interesting to see how this goes. 

Representative Paul Broun of Georgia, the subcommittee’s ranking Republican, asked, “How do you plan to verify the actual number of jobs created?”

“Sir, we haven’t really received any information about that on the Web site,” Mr. Devaney said.”

Seeing that more than $700 million dollars of taxpayer money is involved here, shouldn’t someone be paying attention and attending meetings?. 

I’m not enough of a computer geek to know how to put the actual video here, so you’ll have to settle for the link.  Please go to You Tube and watch this video.  It made my day!!!  There’s hope for old people!!

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has a post this morning about the ongoing negotiations between Chrysler and the government regarding bankruptcy.  It’s a complicated post, but the basic idea is that the pressure the government is putting on the secured creditors is contrary to the 5th Amendment.  According to the article:

“The Supreme Court long ago recognized, however, that a secured creditor’s interest in specific property is protected in bankruptcy under the Fifth Amendment. Louisville Joint Stock Land Bank v. Radford, 295 U.S. 555, 594 (1935). That case involved a Depression-era statute that was intended to help bankrupt farmers avoid losing their land in mortgage foreclosure. The statute in Radford provided that the bankrupt debtor could achieve a release of the security interests either (i) with the lender’s consent, purchasing the property at its then appraised value by making deferred payments for two to six years at statutorily-set interest rates; or (ii) by seeking from the bankruptcy court a stay of the proceedings for up to five years during which time the debtor could use the property by paying a rent set by the court, which payments would be for the benefit of all creditors, with a purchase option at the end of that period. Id. at 856-57.”

That’s more words than I want to think about, but we need to pay attention to this.  One of the problems with our current government is that there are NO checks and balances on the power of the federal government right now.  The news media is not acting as a check and Congress is not acting as a check.  This is dangerous to us as a country.  According to the article at Hot Air, the purpose of the ruling by the Supreme Court was to prevent the government from paying off politically-connected unsecured creditors ahead of the senior creditors.  That is exactly what President Obama is attempting to do.  Keep in mind the amount of money the Democrats receive from Unions and the discussion of how to handle Chrysler becomes one of political patronage–not of economics. 

Today’s Los Angeles Times has a great op-ed piece by Johah Goldberg looking at the corruption level of the current Congress.  He points out that the Democrat party took back Congress and the White House on claims that they would end the corruption in both places and be ethical and transparent.  Well, it hasn’t really worked out that way.

The list is fairly well-known–a treasury secretary and house member with tax problems, a sweetheart mortgage for a Senator–there’s more, read the article to see specifics.  But that really isn’t the point. 

Jonah Goldberg points to the real source of the problem–corruption is inevitable when people in government have too much discretion in spending our money.  Instead of looking to the public market for its profits, business has to look to Washington (part of the cost of products made in America is the cost any large corporation has to pay for Washington lobbyists to protect their interests).  As the government takes over more of the private sector, the culture of corruption will continue to grow within government.  This is the reason we do not want the government to take over our healthcare or the student loan program.  That will only provide more opportunity for mischief!

Cyberbulling is a new form of bullying which developed as the internet and internet chat sites grew.  It is a horrible thing and needs to be dealt with severely.  There is a law presently working its way through the House of Representatives that wants to amend Title 18 with regard to cyberbullying.  The law is sponsored by Rep. Linda T. Sanchez and 14 others.

I have posted the link to the text of the law at Thomas.gov.  The law will criminalize any attempt to coerce anyone using the internet.  The problem here may not be the law, but it will definitely be in the interpretation of the law.  Theoretically, this law could be used to shut out any political criticism of a current administration or be used to silence any website that takes sides on political issues.  The law could be used to stifle political free speech on the internet.  Again, cyberbullying is a nasty thing that needs to be stopped, but political speech is not cyberbullying and should never be included in a law dealing with cyberbullying.  With this group of sponsors, I am afraid it will be.

Recently, the New York Post ran an article in their financial section showing some of the aspects of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that the public was not totally aware of.  The article sites the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by the Bank of America as an example of parts of the program not made clear to the public.

Kenneth Lewis, CEO of Bank of America, received a subpoena from Andrew Cuomo to testify under oath about the merger.  Andrew Cuomo was not expecting to find what the testimony uncovered.  According to the article:

“As the Cuomo documents revealed, Lewis admitted that he was repeatedly implored by former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to take on the Merrill mess in order to prevent a “systemic failure” that would bring the financial system to its knees.”

This is government interference in a private corporation.  The government felt entitled to do this because the bank had taken TARP money.  Banks all over the country are trying to return TARP money because the rules have changed since they were encouraged to take it.  The government is attempting to take over the management of our banks, and the government in its history has never managed anything well.

We need to get back to letting private enterprise be private enterprise!! 

According to The Hill, congressional Democrats have not yet reached an agreement on a climate change bill.  It is amazing to me that the Democrats are so impressed with themselves that they think they can change the world’s climate.  Oh well.  The plan is to cut greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide) 80 percent over the next four decades.  According to the article, there are three main points of contention:

“Three main issues have divided the group: One, how many emissions allowances should industries like electric utilities receive for free, versus how many should be sold at auction? Two, how quickly should polluters be required to reduce their emissions? And three, to what extent should power plants be forced to use renewable energy sources like wind and solar power to produce electricity?”

Utility companies and other industries would be required to purchase ’emissions allowances’.  Obviously, the cost of these allowances would be passed on to the consumer.  This is another attack on the spending power of the average American.  It won’t be called a tax, but that is what it is.  There are other questions.  Who will the ’emissions allowances’ be purchased from?  Who makes money on this deal?  Our increased cost of energy goes to someone, and that someone is not the company generating the energy.  If we all pledge not to take showers for a week can we be paid for the energy we are not using?  We might smell a little, but we’d have more money in our pockets!

One of the parts of the bill is the renewable electricity standard.  This is a requirement that utility companies produce 25 percent of their power from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2025.  The environmental groups argue that this puts pressure on the utility companies to find alternate sources of fuel.  That may be true, but what happens when utility companies begin to go out of business because they can’t meet the requirement and remain profitable and efficient?  This kind of thinking will move the country backward–not forward.

Sometimes I wonder if some of our elected officials ever learned basic tactfulness or basic manners.  According to today’s Washington Times, Arlen Specter stated today on CBS’s “Face the Nation, that he was disillusioned with Republican healtcare priorities and that if those priorities had been different, Jack Kemp would still be alive today.  There are not words to express how furious I am at this comment.

Arlen Specter was first elected to the Senate as a Republican in 1980.  That was almost thirty years ago.  You mean to tell me that in that thirty years he has never exerted enough influence to move the Republican party healthcare priorities closer to his own.  What has he been doing for that thirty years?  Do we really think he needs six more to continue doing it?

He is blaming the Republicans for not following Richard Nixon’s strategy of a ‘war on cancer’ in 1970–that would have cured Jack Kemp.  The government does not save lives.  They have not in their history saved lives.  Private medical research (sometimes funded (but not always) by the government saves lives.  Medical and pharmaceutical companies in search of profits (that evil word) do research and find cures for diseases.  These drugs and cures are studied by the FDA and approved or disapproved.  The process is long and costly and that is the reason why drugs cost so much in this country.  If medicine is socialized or the government controls all profits from research, there will be no incentive to find cures for diseases.  The Democrat plan for national health care will end medical research as we currently know it.  Then we will see more deaths from cancer and other diseases–not less.

John Hinderaker at Power Line posted a troubling article about what is going on in the debate over how to handle Chrysler’s restructuring.  Evidently ignoring laws that assign priority to secured creditors, President Obama has tried to bully lenders into abandoning their legal rights in favor of the United Auto Workers Union.  According to Power Line, Tom Lauria, a bankruptcy lawyer, has made the following comments: 

Lauria: Let me tell you it’s no fun standing on this side of the fence opposing the President of the United States. In fact, let me just say, people have asked me who I represent. That’s a moving target. I can tell you for sure that I represent one less investor today than I represented yesterday. One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House Press Corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That’s how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence.

Beckman: Was that Perella Weinberg?

Lauria: That was Perella Weinberg.

The TARP loans, which banks are being stopped from paying back, are being used to control the banks.  The banks that took TARP money had no idea what the strings attached to it would turn out to be.  They’re not strings–they’re more like the steel cables that hold up a suspension bridge!

The article at Power Line goes on to say that the White House has denied the charges, but John Hinderaker points out:

Obama administration denies making the threats alleged by Lauria. The denial, however, is merely a bald assertion. Lauria is the head of the bankruptcy group at White & Case, and a Democrat who contributed $10,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2008. In that sense, you could say that he helped to bring about the corrupt regime that is now bullying his clients. But his credibility vastly exceeds that of an administration spokesman who, having no knowledge of the facts, is sent out to issue a blanket denial.

I wonder how much more of this sort of arm twisting is currently going on in other areas.  I suspect there are a lot of Obama supporters who are now feeling that this is not what they signed up for.

According to The Buffalo News, Jack Kemp, 73, former Congressman, former Vice-Presidential candidate, and former Buffalo Bills quarterback, died Saturday.  It was announced in January the Mr. Kemp had cancer, but no details were given.  He served nine terms as a Congressman from western New York. 

As head of the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, he supported programs to fight homelessness and deal with urban blight.  He supported enterprise zones to help develop areas of major cities that had decayed.  Jack Kemp, Bill Bennett, and Jeane Kirkpatrick co-founded Empower America, a public policy organization intended to promote economic growth, job creation and entrepreneurship, in 1993.

Jack Kemp was a man who believed in giving everyone a chance to prosper.  He believed in the ‘American Dream’ of being free to achieve success without being overtaxed or overregulated by an out-of-control government.

Yesterday’s New York Times had an article by William Glaberson reminding us that the four month suspension on the military tribunals at Guantanamo is due to end on May 20th.  The Obama Administration is beginning to realize the value of handling certain detainees in military courts rather than civilian courts and it will be interesting to see what happens next.  According to the article:

“Officials who work on the Guantánamo issue say administration lawyers have become concerned that they would face significant obstacles to trying some terrorism suspects in federal courts. Judges might make it difficult to prosecute detainees who were subjected to brutal treatment or for prosecutors to use hearsay evidence gathered by intelligence agencies.”

Note to the New York Times–No detainees were subjected to brutal treatment–Gauntanamo has been investigated by the Department of Defense and the Red Cross and no violations have been found–the violations are in the minds of people who need them for political purposes only. 

If this administration has the courage to resume the military trials, it will create a problem with their base.  It will be interesting to see if they do the right thing or the political thing.  National security should not be a political issue–it’s a shame it was missued and misstated during the last Presidential campaign.

Just a note on things to come.  There are some Chinese terrorists that had gone through Al Qaeda terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and were captured there.  President Obama wants them released in the United States (because they will be killed if they are sent back to China), and given federal assistance to get back on their feet.  The military has declared them dangerous to this country and the President has asked the military to reconsider.  I am looking for the news that they will be released in this country shortly.  I hope that will not happen, but we need to remember that a trained terrorist is a threat, regardless of the country he was trained to terrorize. 

The American Thinker posted an article by Bruce Walker today celebrating sixty years since the admission of Israel to the UN.  Israel, as a new nation, trusted and supported the United Nations to live up to its charter to support freedom and fight injustice and genocide in the world.  How naive.  The UN has since voted that Zionism (the principle behind the founding of Israel) is racism.  The UN has failed to notice that Israel treats its resident Arabs better than any Arab country treats their own people.  During the numerous times that Israel’s neighbors have attacked her, the UN has called for a cease fire before Israel has been able to retaliate sufficienty to prevent future attacks.

The article states that:

“Yet, today Israel is the only functioning democracy in the Middle East (Lebanon has been, on and off, and Iraq is, God willing, for the future.)  Israel faces a world increasingly indifferent to its purpose and its life.  Yet the dream survives against all odds.”

The UN, unfortunately, has forgotten its conscience.  It has forgotten the words “Never Again” as it fails to stop Ahmadinejad from developing nuclear weapons that he has stated he will use to destroy Israel.  Israel has grown in stature, the UN has fallen.  The UN needs to remember why it was founded. 

According to Power Line, Ali Saleh Khalah al Marri has agreed to a plea bargain with federal prosecutors.  Under this plea bargain, he could serve up to fifteen years in prison.  Mr. al Marri arrived in the United States (he was a legal resident) on September 10, 2001, to serve as an al Qaeda sleeper agent.  Nice.

According to Power Line, this is what the plea bargain says:

“The defendant researched online information related to various cyanide compounds. The defendant’s focus was on various cyanide substances, including hydrogen cyanide, potassium cyanide, and sodium cyanide. The defendant reviewed toxicity levels, the locations where these items could be purchased, and specific pricing of the compounds. The defendant also studied various commercial uses for cyanide compounds. The defendant also explored obtaining sulfuric acid.

 

The defendant agrees that the government would prove at trial that sulfuric acid is a well known binary agent which is used in a hydrogen cyanide binary device to create cyanide gas, and that this is the method taught by al Qaeda for manufacturing cyanide gas. The defendant further agrees that the government would prove at trial that his research into various cyanide compounds is consistent with the type of research conducted by persons trained in camps teaching advanced poisons courses to terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda. The defendant also agrees that the government would prove at trial that an almanac recovered in the defendant’s residence was bookmarked at pages showing dams, waterways and tunnels in the United States, which is also consistent with al Qaeda attack planning regarding the use of cyanide gases.”

He admits planning terrorism, and we have allowed him to plea bargain for fifteen years.  What happens at the end of that fifteen years?  Do we honestly believe it is safe to let this man out of jail?  The evidence against him was on his laptop computer.  He was researching how to kill innocent Americans.  This episode shows the folly of putting terrorists into a civilian justice system and giving them the rights of American citizens.  I don’t even care if a terrorist is an American citizen, if he is caught red-handed plotting terrorism against America, he should be put in a military justice system (or if you are not willing to do that, he should be given a mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole).  I really do not want to let this man out of jail–even in fifteen years.

According to Power Line, Spanish magistrate Baltasar Garzon has launched an inquisition into America’s treatment of terrorist detainees (Spanish courts assert world-wide jurisdiction over certain categories of “crimes”).  The article at Power Line poses this question:

“If the Attorney General of the United States once accepts the absurdity that a Spanish court and Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón, sitting in Spain and operating under Spanish law, actually have jurisdiction over American officials making official policy decisions inside the United States about how American military and intelligence agents can interrogate detainees at an American Marine Corps base inside Cuba… then how can Holder later limit such jurisdiction to “evidentiary requests?””

If we are willing to let a European court (not even an international one) have jurisdiction over actions committed by American officials in America, then who is in charge of America?  This is an idea that needs to go away quickly. 

According to Swamp Politics:

“In Ohio, Republican John Kasich, a former longtime congressman and also commentator for FOX News Channel, plans to file papers today for a bid for governor, according to a well-placed source.”

Ted Strickland is currently the governor of the state.  John Kasich is campaigning on the platform of changing the economic climate of the state.  Mr. Kasich was chairman of the House Budget Committee when Republicans ruled the House.  He is quite knowledgeable about economics and very good at explaining the complex ideas of economics in language that those of us without extensive knowledge of the subject can understand.  He is a relatively young man, with a very charming style.  I suspect he will run a good campaign and if elected will do a good job.

Andrew McCarthy, lead prosecutor in the investigation of Blind Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and others involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was asked to participate in the May 4 roundtable meeting of the President’s Task Force on Detention Policy.  He wrote a letter to Eric H. Holder, Jr., the Attorney General of the US declining the offer.  The letter is posted at the American Thinker.  The letter is worth reading in its entirety, but there are a few notable thoughts.

Mr. McCarthy points out that it is quite clear–most recently, from provocative remarks on Wednesday in Germany–that the Obama administration has already settled on a policy of releasing trained jihadists (including releasing some of them into the United States).  He feels that the meeting will obviously be used by the administration to claim that its policy was arrived at in consultation with current and former government officials experienced in terrorism cases and national security issues.  He chooses not to be a part of that charade.

Mr. McCarthy also points out that in light of public statements by Attorney General Holder and the President, it is dismayingly clear that, under their leadership, the Justice Department takes the position that a lawyer who in good faith offers legal advice to government policy makers–like the government lawyers who offered good faith advice on interrogation policy–may be subject to investigation and prosecution for the content of that advice, in addition to empty but professionally damaging accusations of ethical misconduct.  He mentions that the current atmosphere in Washington in terms of prosecuting lawyers for giving legal advice would cause any lawyer to hesitate before offering guidance to the administration.

Please read the entire letter.  Mr. McCarthy talks about various policies in dealing with terrorism and terrorists and the pros and cons of each.  We need to listen to him.  His work on the first World Trade Center Bombing was thorough and effective. 

According to the Boston Herald, WTKK talk show host Jay Severin has been indefinetly suspended for offensive remarks about illegal aliens and the swine flu.  Good Grief!!    Illegal aliens are illegal.  They are breaking the law.  That makes them criminals according to the laws of this country.  We can argue how serious the crime is, but it is still a crime.  The swine flu came into this country from Mexico–illegally or legally–it doesn’t matter.  We need to be aware that it is here and use common sense in reacting to that fact.  I have no idea what he said, but to suspend him indefinitely for voicing an opinion on people who break the law seems a bit odd.  If you don’t like what the man is saying, change the station.  There are all levels of offensiveness on the radio at any time of day.

I am not the world’s biggest Jay Severin fan.  I listen to him occasionally because I think he is incredibly well informed and insightful on today’s events and what they mean.  I turn him off occasionally because he sometimes offends me.  That’s why there are other stations on my radio–I have the right to make that choice.

The Hill is reporting today that the Democrat-sponsored bill that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgages (changing principle and interest payments–known in the industry as ‘cramdown’) has been defeated in the Senate.  The White House supported the bill, the financial industry strongly opposed it.  The bill would have played havoc with contract law–the bank or mortgage company contracts signed with consumers would have been worth nothing if they could be changed by a judge.  Financial institutions would have to charge more for mortgages to allow for the possibility of changes to the mortgages in the future without the input of the financial institution.

The interesting part of the defeat of this law is the list of the Democrat Senators who voted against it.  According to the article:

“Democrats voting against the measure were: Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Byron Dorgan (N.D.), Tim Johnson (S.D.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Jon Tester (Mont.), Tom Carper (Del.) and (Arlen) Specter.”

Well, Democrats, welcome to the world of Arlen Specter!

Yesterday the House of Representatives passed a law to exend hate-crimes laws to sexual orientation.  The Washington Times this morning has an editorial about this law.  The editorial reminds us that harming any person, regardless of their sexual orientation, is already a crime.  Why do we need a law against hate?  Admittedly, hate is not a constructive thing, and it would probably be better if all of us avoided it, but why make it a crime?  Who determines exactly what ‘hate speech’ is?  The Bible speaks out against sexual promiscuity (both gay and straight), if I mention that, is it hate speech?  If my pastor mentions that, is it hate speech?  If this law passes the Senate, it could result in a degree of censorship that all of us would regret.