FASTER, PLEASE: U.S. Kills 5 AQAP Operatives in Yemen Airstrikes.
Archive for 2017
January 25, 2017
READER BOOK PLUG: From reader William Stroock, World War 1990: Castro’s Folly.
AN ARMY OF DAVIDS: Meetings of activists planning to disrupt inauguration were infiltrated by conservative group.
In the weeks leading up to President Trump’s inauguration, a small group of activists threatening to disrupt the event was trying to keep the details secret. D.C. police detectives were working hard to learn the plans and head them off.
What neither authorities nor the activists apparently realized was that conservative activist James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas had already infiltrated key meetings of groups of suspected agitators.
A D.C. police spokesman has confirmed that a secret video recording made Dec. 18 by one of O’Keefe’s operatives led to the arrest of one man and foiled an alleged plot to spread acid at the DeploraBall for Trump supporters at the National Press Club. It was not clear whether the alleged plotters ever obtained the acid.
Law enforcement authorities said they think that the successful penetration of DisruptJ20, an umbrella organization for a number of groups that police said sought to wreak havoc at the inauguration, forced it to abandon plans to try to shut down Metro trains and block entrances into the District, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation.
He should get the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
CHANGE? North Korean Defector Says Kim Jong Un Can’t Last.
North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to Britain, who last year became Pyongyang’s highest-profile defector in two decades, said “Kim Jong Un’s days are numbered” and vowed to help bring down the North Korean leader, calling that the only way to resolve the nuclear issue and unify the Korean Peninsula.
Thae Yong Ho, speaking to a group of foreign reporters for the first time since his defection, said he was prompted to abandon the regime in part to free his two sons from what he called the “slavery” of the North Korean system.
“I am sure that more defections of my colleagues will take place since North Korea is already on the slippery slope,” said Mr. Thae, who predicted a “popular uprising” against the leadership.
That would be nice, but we’ve been assured that the Kim regime was doomed since U.N. forces commanded by Douglas McArthur landed at Inchon in 1950.
JOURNALISM PROFESSOR: Boycott Kellyanne Conway.
New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen floated the idea of denying Conway access to television on a Recode podcast. Her ability to befuddle interviewers and parry questions and accusations from journalists frustrated Rosen, who served as department chair from 1999 to 2005.
“This is somebody who can speak for the Trump administration. But if we find that what Kellyanne Conway says is routinely or easily contradicted by Donald Trump, then that [reason to have her on] disappears,” he said. “It’s not just lying or spin or somebody who is skilled in the political arts of putting the best case on things or not answering a question, which is a pretty basic method of doing politics. It’s that when you are done listening to Kellyanne Conway, you probably understand less. That’s a problem.”
Rosen’s concern for spin appears to be new-founded. He was critical of President Barack Obama for allowing reporters to control the narrative during press conferences.
“You’re the President of the United States standing at the podium in the briefing room? You can steer the conversation any damn way you want.”
If it weren’t for double standards…
PAUL KRUGMAN ON ELECTION NIGHT: “If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.”
Today: Dow Breaks 20,000 Milestone. “The Dow Jones Industrial Average finally broke through the psychologically important 20,000 barrier for the first time Wednesday, continuing a sharp rally that began after Donald Trump’s election as the nation’s 45th president. The Dow, which rose 134 points to 20,046 in midday trading on Wednesday, is now up over 1,700 points, or around 9 percent, since Trump’s stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in November, defying some predictions that a win by the unpredictable Republican could hurt stock prices.”
So this suggests that markets don’t believe the Democrats’ inevitable-stagnation explanation for the slow growth of the Obama years, but rather think that it was a problem caused by bad government, that can be fixed by better government.
WAIT, THAT WASN’T THE NARRATIVE ON THE SUNDAY SHOWS: Poll: Voters liked Trump’s ‘America first’ address. “Dark. Negative. Divisive. That’s was the immediate narrative about President Donald Trump’s inaugural address. But many Americans liked it. A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows that the new president’s message is resonating with voters, refuting the idea that Trump bungled his first speech as commander in chief.”
WELL, UNLESS YOU PAID ATTENTION IN THE BRIEFING: You’ve Been Wrong About Where the Death Star Trench Was for Your Entire Life.
PROCUREMENT: China Announces Deployment of New Long Range Nuclear Missile.
In a rare move, China has publicly announced the deployment of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The Dong Feng (“East Wind”) -41 missile, or DF-41, can carry up to a dozen nuclear warheads and China claims it has the longest range of any nuclear missile in the world. The announcement of the missiles is likely a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, who is known for sharply worded anti-Chinese rhetoric and has announced plans for a new ballistic missile system.
According to China’s Global Times newspaper, the People’s Liberation Army has deployed its newest intercontinental ballistic missile to Heilongjiang Province. The article cited eyewitness photos culled from Chinese social media by news media in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The photos showed heavy missile launchers, also known as transporter/erector/launchers (TELs) moving through Daqing City in Heilongjiang.
The DF-41 is described by Global Times as the most advanced ICBM in the world. It reportedly has a range of 8,699 miles, enough to hit any target on Earth with the exception of South America and parts of Antarctica. It can carry up to 12 nuclear warheads, and travels on China’s nationwide network of roads to make it difficult to track down and destroy.
The mainstay of the U.S. ground-based missile fleet is the 1970-vintage Minuteman III.
WHAT’S HAPPENING? Newfound Asteroid ‘Rerun’ Zips Harmlessly By Earth.
YOU HAVE TO PASS IT BEFORE YOU CAN… OH: Schumer ripped Obamacare replacement before he read it.
Two GOP senators say Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has dismissed their Obamacare replacement bill before he ever had a chance to read it.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said on CNN Tuesday that Schumer’s criticism of their plan to turn over healthcare policy to the states shows that the minority leader is making a partisan stand instead of trying to find a solution.
“He’s trying to keep his party in line, he’s trying to enforce partisanship,” Cassidy said. “We’re not about partisanship.”
Has Cassidy never heard the parable of the frog and the scorpion?
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CHRISTIAN TOTO: 5 Great Mel Gibson Movies (Before ‘Hacksaw Ridge’).
I was glad to see Apocalypto on the list. Once it gets started, it’s the most kinetic, non-stop action movie I can recall — and with a surprisingly likable and relatable ancient Mayan hero.
SEWING CLOTHES IS JUST LIKE REPLACING A TANK TRACK: Well, no, it isn’t. I’ve done both. Still, this is a heck of a photo, even if it’s staged. You have to wonder where the soldier got the sewing machine. We know where he got the tank. I’m guessing SGT Phelps had genuine tailor skills as well as tanker skills — all-weather tailor and tanker skills. The caption says the photo was snapped on January 23, 1945. And today it’s StrategyPage’s Battle of the Bulge commemorative pic.
CONFRONTING CHINA’S SLOW INVASION OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA: It’s long overdue. (Yes, confronting the invasion is long overdue.)
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: “If the economy grows during Trump’s administration, his opposition will dwindle.”
It certainly worked for Reagan, who “inherited” a similar mess.
MEGAN MCARDLE: The Democrats’ Rise Is Far From Inevitable.
Why are the left’s public demonstrations more impressive than its voter turnout? Because there are a whole lot of Democrats in the large population centers where such demonstrations are generally held. People can join a protest simply by getting on the subway; it’s an easy show of force.
But there are a lot of small towns in America, and as Sean Trende and David Byler recently demonstrated, those small towns are redder than ever. Effectively, the Democratic coalition has self-gerrymandered into a small number of places where they can turn out an impressive number of feet on the ground, but not enough votes to win the House. Certainly not enough to win the Senate or the Electoral College, which both favor sparsely populated states and discount the increasingly dense parts of the nation.
The Senate map in 2018 is brutal for Democrats. If Democrats want to get their mojo back, they’re going to need to do more than get a small minority of voters to turn out for a march. They’re going to need to get back some of those rural votes.
To do that, they’re probably going to have to let go of the most soul-satisfying, brain-melting political theory of the last two decades: that Democrats are inevitably the Party of the Future, guaranteed ownership of the future by an emerging Democratic majority in minority-white America. This theory underlay a lot of Obama’s presidency, and Clinton’s campaign. With President Trump’s inauguration on Friday, we saw the results.
Why was this such a bad theory? Let me count the ways.
The GOP couldn’t have planted a more destructive idea in the Democratic Party if it had tried.
THE ABYSS CALLED NORTH KOREA: A high-level defector says the regime will collapse.
The North Korean regime is on an inexorable decline towards collapse, with its people increasingly disillusioned but its nuclear ambitions undimmed, a top defector said Wednesday.
“I’m sure and I can say that Kim Jong-Un’s days are numbered,” said Thae Yong-Ho, who fled his post as North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain in August.
In his first press conference for foreign correspondents, held under tight security, Thae said he was sure that more of his fellow countrymen would follow suit since North Korea was “on a downward path”.
The elite were “turning their backs” on leader Kim Jong-Un, he said, adding: “The traditional structures of North Korean systems are crumbling.”
Again, the source is a defector.
North Korean diplomats are generally compelled to leave one of their children behind in Pyongyang when they are dispatched abroad, but Thae was able to take both his sons, now aged 19 and 26, to London — easing his preparations to defect.
Thae supports regime change:
“The only way to resolve the issue of North’s nuclear threats is the elimination of Kim Jong-Un’s regime,” he said. He called for continued international sanctions on Pyongyang and publicity campaigns to spread external information in the North and encourage its citizens into “popular uprisings”.
UPDATE: North Korea may test ICBM this spring. One analyst thinks the test could come in February on Kim Jong Un’s birthday. Here’s a recent column of mine that discusses NorK weapons programs.
NAVY REPORT: Larger 355-Ship Fleet — “Executable”
A completed “Force Structure Assessment” underscores what Navy leaders have been saying for quite some time – – that the current fleet size is insufficient to meet global demands from combatant commanders.
The assessment could likely mean more carriers, submarines, destroyers and amphibious assault ships, among other things.
The Navy assessment for 2018 calls for a sizeable jump up to 355 ships, including 12 carriers, 104 large surface combatants and 66 attack submarines. In the meantime, the services’ near term 2017 proposed fleet size seeks to increase the current 274-ship fleet up to 308.
Although various benchmarks will need to be reached in order for this new plan to come to fruition, such as Congressional budget allocations, Navy officials do tell Scout Warrior that the service is already working – at least in concept – on plans to vastly enlarge the fleet. Findings from this study are expected to inform an upcoming 2018 Navy Shipbuilding Plan, service officials said.
Navies take far longer to build up than any other service, and the traditions which make them effective are easy to lose and difficult to regain. And both are absolutely vital to a maritime trading power like the United States.
DOW HITS 20,000; PAUL KRUGMAN HARDEST HIT:
OUR CHILDREN ARE WATCHING:
A brutal WFB mashup of Hillary’s famous ad and “highlights” from Saturday’s march.
PRESS: The election was hacked.
TRUMP: There was a lot of voter fraud.
PRESS: That’s ridiculous. Where’s your evidence? I demand an investigation!
TRUMP: Okay, we’ll do an investigation: President Donald Trump Vows to Launch ‘Major Investigation’ Into Alleged Voter Fraud.
REFLECTIONS OF PATCO: National park’s Twitter feed posts climate data in apparent defiance of Trump administration order.
The official Twitter account of South Dakota’s Badlands National Park posted climate data Tuesday in apparent defiance of a Trump administration order temporarily prohibiting such messages.
The posts carried the hashtag “Climate” and were soon deleted.
The Associated Press reported over the weekend that staff employees at the Interior Department were temporarily ordered to stop making posts to its Twitter account after the official account of the National Park Service retweeted a pair of photos that compared those gathered for Trump’s inauguration with the much larger crowd that attended Obama’s swearing-in.
Emails sent to staff at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and reviewed by The Associated Press also detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.
“Not the most inspiring time at EPA right now but we’re fighters,” an anonymous EPA staffer told Fox News.
Could this be the first “You’re fired!” moment of Trump’s young administration?
SEE, IF YOU’D PROPOSED THIS UNDER OBAMA YOU’D HAVE BEEN RACIST: Democrats introduce bill to restrict Trump’s ability to launch nukes. Of course, this is just more effort at delegitimization.