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Nightly Ramble: The WhiteBoard Edition

Welcome, one and all, to the  most intense nightly read anywhere on the ‘sphere… The BitsBlog Nightly Ramble

This is the White Board Editionramble-whiteboard [1] [2]

 

  • Iran: I’ve not commented much on Iranian election, mostly because the thing was breaking so fast it was pretty much useless for me to comment on it.  Now that things have settled down a little bit, it is clear that what has happened is the election was rigged. It’s also clear [3]that the government plans on using all powers available [4]to maintain itself [5], regardless of the legality of the thing, or the will of the people. [6] Now, granted that polling in such places is questionable at best, but Ahmadinejad had nowhere near the lead in the polling that the voting reports gave him. Something, then, is amiss, here, at least from the persoepctive of anyone but the Mullahs and not unexpected by anyone who didn’t have their heads installed in their backsides, like a certain President.  Now, word this morning was that the Mullahs had ordered an investigation into charges of fraud. Anyone who thinks such an investigation is going to be on the level should drop me some feedback to arrange for your prompt and generous donation to the “Save the Bithead” fund… that kind of Niavete’ should be taken advatage of, before it fades away. Michael Totten over at Commentary [7], lays it on the line in the very first sentence:

    The Islamic Republic regime in Iran is vividly revealing itself as an enemy of the entire world.

    Quite right. Not that any of the record that Totten discusses is taken into consideration by the current US Presdient, or his supporters.

       So averse to this reality is Obama, that word on the street now is that Dennis Ross, Obama’s current Envoy to Iran will be canned by Obama shortly…. within the next day or two seems the timeframe. The reason? Ross is Jewish. Just ponder that for a moment. Now, there are a few other reasons, such as a more realistic view of Obama’s Iran policy [8]and what really oughta happen with it:

    Washington insiders speculate that a number of reasons moved the administration to reassign Ross. One possibility is Iran’s persistent refusal to accept Ross as a U.S. emissary given the diplomat’s Jewish background as well as his purported pro-Israel leanings. Ross is known to maintain contacts with numerous senior officials in Israel’s defense establishment and the Israeli government.

    Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem surmised that another possibility for Ross’ ouster is his just-released book, “Myths, Illusions, and Peace – Finding a New Direction for America in the Middle East.”

    Ross, who co-wrote the book with David Makovsky, a former journalist who is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, argued against a linkage between the Palestinian issue and the West’s policy against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

    Ross and Mokovsky also raised the possibility of military action against Iran.

    “Tougher policies – either militarily or meaningful containment – will be easier to sell internationally and domestically if we have diplomatically tried to resolve our differences with Iran in a serious and credible fashion,” they wrote.

    Interestingly, that’s essentially the same argument I’ve made just recently. It’s also a point Totten addresses, quite clearly:

    totten [9]

    Totten

    Obama Administration officials still hope they can talk Khamenei out of developing nuclear weapons and supporting Hamas and Hezbollah. This is delusion on stilts. Khamenei can’t even compromise with his own regime or his hand-picked presidential candidates. He placed them under house arrest, along with a Grand Ayatollah [10], and deployed thousands of violent enforcers into the streets. Not only does he confront the world, he is at war with his very own country.

    Understand the mind of a totalitarian. “Probe with a bayonet,” Vladimir Lenin famously said. “If you meet steel, stop. If you meet mush, then push.”

    The Khomeinists in Iran likewise only stop when they meet steel.

    Of course reality isn’t one of Obama’s strong suits, so Ross gets ignored, and likely pushed out much the same as Joe Lieberman.

     So much for Obama’s idea of a new start.  So much for  Obama and his “negotiate at all costs” attitude.  The lesson here, and it will go unheeded by the American left, is that there is some evil in this world which cannot be negotiated with. This is what constitutes Hope and Change. Victor Davis Hanson [11]and Jennifer Rubin  [12] Rick Moran [13]and Roger Simon   [14]weigh in on all this.

  • Iran (Non-) coverage: The general rule of thumb is if it doesn’t make the left look good, particularly if there an office at that time, it will never make print.  So it is with Iran.  And the reaction is already out there. [15]So too, are the denials that there was a problem at all with Iran’s election. When the leftloons all start running blocker for this stuff… (sigh)
  • Obama’s Anti-Israel stance: Then again, given the anti Israel stance of this administration [16], and its supporters, one cannot help but wonder if the lame -ass way we’ve been dealing with Iran wasn’t completely intentional.  Reynolds speaks to this point, yesterday. [17]Hope and change….
  • Meanwhile, in the Far East: Another of Obama’s negotiation commitments.. [18]. North Korea, to be specific,  is failing [19]… and failing badly. [20] So badly in fact our longtime friends are looking askance at us. [21] It’s all hope and change, of course.
  • Never Mind: So now, Joe Biden is willing to admit that everyone guessed wrong on how the stimulus was going to work out [22].   well, no, not everyone, Joe.?
    Missed it by THAT MUCH [23]

    Missed it by THAT MUCH

    Just Democrats.  as specifically, those associated with the Obama administration, and those who are paid to tell Obama and company what they want to hear.  Biden also allowed as how the millions of jobs ‘saved’ now ends up being substantially smaller than the Democrat spin had it, too. So, the BS’ed their way through puttinga record debtload on us and our children for generations forward? Gee, how comforting to know we’re getting hope… and change…

    Now, he does tend to excuse himself saying that the economy was worse off than the thought.  As has been demonstrated here and elsewhere however, the economy was not worse than they thought.  The plan didn’t work, but in fact made it worse.  Here again, we have Joe Biden in another Emily Latela moment. But more, I think; The message here is clear that this is not a failure that Obama wanted to admit himself, and so he sent Biden out to do it for him. A real profile in courage, this Obama.

  • Healthcare, Ala Obama: … doesn’t seem to be working out so well, either. The Democrat plan figures $600 Billion in tax increases [24].  And we both know it’ll be many times that by the time we’re done with it.  So… More taxes, less healthcare.  Hope and change, for sure. The only positive thing about this is that the Democrats at the moment don’t have the votes to pass the bloody thing. [25] Meaning, of course, given the near-super-majority the Democrats have in Congress, that a goodly chunk of their own think the thing is a disaster, too. Jeffrey Anderson weighs in here. [26]
  • Gitmo Prisoners to our streets after all? Yes, says AP. [27] Don’t you feel all Hopey Changitude inside? One wonders, though, how many screwups the American people are going to put up with from this administration before a reaction occurs. My guess; this may in fact be the tipping point.
  • Dick Durbin Insider Trading Scandal?  Glenn Reynolds  links us [28]
  • Let’s not forget about Chris Dodd [29]
  • Let’s also not forget the Americorps firing [30].acorps2 [31] Back in the 70’s, this was enough to bring down a presidency. (Can you say “Archie Cox? I knew you could. )  Of course then again, that was a Republican President, and the press was more than willing to go after him. With Obama being a Democrat, not so much.
  • Let’s also also not forget the PMA group… and Jack Murtha and ethics issues [32].
  •  And the Car Companies… and their investors… Who Obama refers to as ‘Terrorists’ [33]when they wonder openly what’s happened to the rule of law.  Why would anyone invest in such a market where the rule of law is pushed aside at a whim if it benefits the current political power structure? Yet, this is the environment Obama has fostered, while claiming he’s going to get our economy moving again.
  • Flooding the Field:  In looking over today’s Ramble so far, it occurs to me that any one of these issues would have been enough to start months of wall to wall coverage on the news channels, and wall to wall bitching on the leftie websites. We’d have so much info on the one issue, that the one issue would be a national debate. But two things work against that. First a reluctance on the part of the Dinosaurs to cover this stuff at all, given the rule about making Democrats look good or it doesn’t run… and the idea that there is so much corruption [34], so much bad policy [35], so much bad government [36], so many government screwups [37], that no mere mortal, or even a group of them, can cover them all. So most of it slides by us. Or, perhaps more correctly, we’re sliding by them, on our way down the chute.  Is this the ‘hope and change’ you wanted, America?
  • Six Flags Over Bankruptcy:
    Superman-The Ride at Darien Lake. It's taller than this pic makes it, and faster. It's doing 80 at the bottom of this rise. Amazingly, on a clear day, you can see clear over to grand island New York, and the roller-coaster at Fantasy Island, there.  Well... for a second or two, anyway. [38]

    Superman-The Ride at Darien Lake. It's taller than this pic makes it, and faster. It's doing 80 at the bottom of this rise. Amazingly, on a clear day, you can see clear over to Grand Island New York, and the roller-coaster at Fantasy Island, there. Well... for a second or two, anyway. And yes, I know 'cause I've been on it.

    James Joyner over at OTB tells us that Six Flags has gone belly up. This, despite the fact that there a attendance is up at all of their Parks.  Obviously, then,  the issue is one of debt load. 

    I suppose we can probably use the park near us here in western New York as an example; Darien Lake.  When Six Flags came in to western New York, they dumped a huge pile of money into the park, and made it essentially the roller-coaster capital of the northeast.  In the doing, they apparently  incurred far more debt load than they were eventually able to support.  I suspect that they figured that the debt load that they took on would have been supportable had they been able to kill off all the older Parks in the neighborhood.  That didn’t happen; their ridership is up too.  I get into it in some detail in the comments, over there. [39]

    Personally, I am convinced that people are simply more comfortable with the older, and less glitzy Parks . For while, I considered the idea that it might have been just my personal preference, but the attendance figures would seem to give credence to the thought that it’s more than just me. That’s something the megaparks have not calculated with.

  • Bye Bye Analog TV: Full power Analog TV fell silent over the weekend, as per plan. It’s been coming for well over a year now, and has been delayed once or twice along the way.  Scott Fybush does his usual good job [40]describing what’s up here in Western NY.   Of course the idiots are out in force… some 700,000 calling a hotline [41]to the federal government to come and fix their TV. Boortz notes:
    Boortz [2]

    Boortz

    We are presented with a great opportunity here. Let’s get the names of all of the ignoranuses who couldn’t figure this thing out by Friday and get them converted to digital … with one condition. They surrender their voter registration cards. We have enough idiots voting in this country … and since there is no Constitutional right to vote in a federal election, we need to find ways to cull the herd. Clearly anyone who couldn’t figure out this analog-to-digital conversion thing isn’t bright enough to cast an intelligent vote. Sure … we need them. Someone has to cook the French fries … but we don’t need them voting.

    (grump) All that technology and all those resources just to deliver sludge like Oprah and American Idol. (/grump) Yet, why on earth would voter registration cards make much of a difference?  Their lack has seldom stopped people from voting before.

  • A comeback is possible… KJL at The Corner: [42]

    Gallup [43]:

     Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004. The 21% calling themselves liberal is in line with findings throughout this decade, but is up from the 1990s.

    Now for the leadership … 

    … Which in fact, has always been the problem.. as I’ve been saying for years, now..