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January 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 13 Comments
David Goldman, aka Spengler, has written extensively about demography. In 2011 we highlighted his argument that Israel is an emerging demographic superpower:
Like the vanishing point in a perspective painting, long-term projections help us order our perceptions of what we see in front of us today. Here’s one to think about, fresh from the just-released update of the United Nations’ population forecasts: At constant fertility, Israel will have more young people by the end of this century than either Turkey or Iran, and more than German, Italy or Spain.
Israel Demographic Chart Spengler Article In The Asia Times, he highlights Iran's demographic death grip of high STD-caused infertility and plummeting birth rates, The Strategic Implications of Iran's STD Epidemic (h/t MidEast Forum):
In the 5th Century BC, the "Persian disease" noted by Hippocrates probably was bubonic plague; in 8th-century Japan, it meant the measles. Today it well might mean chlamydia. Standout levels of infertility among Iranian couples, a major cause of the country's falling birth rate, coincide with epidemic levels of sexually transmitted disease. Both reflect deep-seated social pathologies. Iran has become a country radically different from the vision of its theocratic rulers, with prevailing social pathologies quite at odds with the self-image of radical Islam.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 31, 2015 4 Comments
Do you enjoy long wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles? If you live in California, you're in luck. So many illegal immigrants are now applying for driver's licences that wait times are absurd. CBS News in Los Angeles reported (h/t Weasel Zippers):
Some Motorists Wait Months For DMV Appointments After Immigrants Law Goes Into Effect The Department of Motor Vehicles is so overwhelmed with requests for new driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations that it can take up to three months to get an appointment or a half-day wait in the lobby. A DMV spokesman told KCAL9 Political Reporter Dave Bryan there has been a crush of applications for new licenses for undocumented immigrants, a program that began earlier this month. The spokesman said the DMV is working to address the problems, but some people are having to take a day off of work to handle a 15-minute transaction. At the Hollywood DMV office, where they handle drivers license issues, the long lines outside and packed waiting areas inside are testimony to the long, grueling process that California drivers have to endure before getting service. For example, Jose Quiroz’s DMV ordeal spanned two days of waiting patiently with his family to have his license renewed. “Yesterday, I was here for four hours standing outside, and when I got to the front line they said that they were not taking us in no more,” Quiroz told Bryan. “And now I am back here again, because I am here to fix my license, and I have been here five or six hours.”
Here's the video report:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 17 Comments
Leaks of classified and politically-charged intelligence information often are purposeful. So what to make of simultaneous leaks to The Washington Post and Newsweek Magazine that the CIA helped Israel assassinate Hezbollah master terrorist Imad Mughniyah, responsible for killing more Americans in terror attacks than anyone else prior to 9/11, and continued to work to kill Americans in Iraq and elsewhere. He also was involved in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of CIA Beirut station chief William F. Buckley (not the author), and reportedly sent video of the torture to CIA headquarters. Washington Post graphic Imad Mighniyah This was thought to be a purely Israeli operation. Some of the details leaked also contradict prior claims as to how the assassination was carried out -- instead of a bomb planted in a headrest, it was planted in the spare tire in the vehicle. The Washington Post reports, CIA and Mossad killed senior Hezbollah figure in car bombing:
On Feb. 12, 2008, Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s international operations chief, walked on a quiet nighttime street in Damascus after dinner at a nearby restaurant. Not far away, a team of CIA spotters in the Syrian capital was tracking his movements. As Mughniyah approached a parked SUV, a bomb planted in a spare tire on the back of the vehicle exploded, sending a burst of shrapnel across a tight radius. He was killed instantly.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 31, 2015 2 Comments
The FBI is seeking a man named Ghazi Nasr Al-Din for connections to Hezbollah. He is believed to be in Florida. WPTV News reported:
The FBI is looking for Ghazi Nasr Al-Din and believes he could be in South Florida He was just added to the bureau’s seeking information terrorism list. The agency wants to talk to him about his fundraising efforts with Hezbollah contributors. Hezbollah is an Islamic militant group. Nasr Al-Din is 5 foot 7 and weighs about 175 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes and an olive complexion. He speaks Arabic and Spanish and he has dual citizenship in Lebanon and Venezuela. If you see him call the FBI’s toll-free tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800- 225-5324) or contact your local FBI office.
Here is the the official FBI wanted poster:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 8 Comments
Tomorrow is the Super Bowl between The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. "Deflate-Gate" is deflating. While there are rumors that the ball-boy may have done it, there doesn't appear to be a history of such shenanigans:
Brady, too, has denied wrongdoing, amid an NFL investigation into allegations that 11 of 12 balls he used in the first half of a 45-7 rout of the Colts in the AFC Championship game were underinflated. His denial rang true not only to a couple of former Patriots quarterbacks but an ex-ball boy who spent a number of seasons helping Brady select the balls he used in games. The former ball boy, who asked not to be identified because he is building a new career and does not want to become entangled in the national frenzy over Deflategate, said he never heard Brady express interest in the air pressure of game balls. “The only thing I knew about his preferences were that he chose the balls that were more broken in and the ones he liked the grip of,’’ the ex-ball boy said. “He never said anything about inflation levels.’’ Nor did anyone else in the Patriots organization mention game-ball inflation levels to him, the former ball boy said.
And science (!) makes the Patriots' climate change explanation plausible:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 31, 2015 27 Comments
We have reported extensively on the dangerous tactic of blockading the San Mateo - Hayward Bridge, including abandoning cars and draping a Palestinian flag across the roadway at the highest span point. Hundreds, if not thousands, of motorists were trapped on the bridge, with no way out and no way for emergency vehicles to exit. While ostensibly a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day #BlackLivesMatter protest, the event was completely hijacked by anti-Israel activists: [caption id="attachment_113857" align="alignnone" width="600"]https://twitter.com/farah_salazar/status/558214869648814080 (via Farah Salazar Twitter)[/caption] In a recent post, I noted that this how dangerous this tactic was, and how it differed from other protest road blockages:
While the protest ostensibly was about the #BlackLivesMatter movement and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it was hijacked as so many such protests are by the anti-Israel contingent, just like in Ferguson and to a lesser extent in New York City during the Eric Garner protests. Subsequent to that initial report, we have learned that it was much worse than originally thought. The tactics used were designed to cause maximum traffic disruption and mayhem, including protester cars being abandoned on the roadway, resulting in several car crashes and emergency vehicles being blocked. The activists used a dangerous tactic of blocking both directions initially, making the scene inaccessible initially to emergency vehicles... It’s nothing short of a miracle that there were no serious injuries and that no ambulances had to be redirected, as happened in Boston, or worse, were stuck in the traffic jam.
It turns out my fears were realized, as the parents of a three-year old girl in medical distress have threatened suit against Stanford University, whose students constituted most of the blockaders (h/t Instapundit via The College Fix). The Stanford Daily student newspaper reports:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 30, 2015 6 Comments
Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) appeared on Fox News this week to take the White House to task over its weak stance regarding evidence that one of the five former Gitmo detainees released in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been in contact with Taliban operatives.
But Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., in an interview with Fox News, raised concerns that the five freed fighters might indeed be planning to return to the battlefield in the coming months, particularly after strict monitoring in Qatar is over. "What happens then?" Ayotte asked. "Never mind that they're already attempting to re-engage and obviously making communications to do so." She said: "I think this was a bad deal." The senator pushed anew for legislation she has crafted that would suspend transfers of detainees assessed to be high- or medium-risk.
Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 30, 2015 12 Comments
Democrats trotted out a stunning lack of self-awareness at the House Democratic Caucus retreat in Philadelphia today, continuing their emphasis on "middle class politics" and testing the waters with a messaging strategy that will likely drive their 2016 campaigns. From CBS News:
“To state the obvious, the past six years have been really, really hard for this country,” said Biden. “And they’ve been really tough for our party. Just ask [former DCCC chair] Steve [Israel],” continued Biden. “They’ve been really tough for our party. But together – and together — we made some really, really tough decisions — decisions that weren’t at all popular, hard to explain.”
Together! TOGETHER, damn you! It's telling that Biden focuses on the "together" aspect of the fact that Democrats did a terrible job---if Obama goes down, they're all going down with him? Is that the goal? The past six years have been tough not because people don't understand what's happening in this country, but because they can see it reflected in their lives, and their pocketbooks, and they don't like it.

Posted by New Neo on January 30, 2015 30 Comments
Now that Romney has released a statement to his supporters announcing that he won't be running in 2016, the next question is, to whom will he throw his support and his proven ability to raise money? Many conservatives have long excoriated Romney for not being conservative enough---or not being conservative at all. But I've long thought that his instincts were actually more conservative than he allowed himself to be while the governor of the deep blue state of Massachusetts (although I agree that he's certainly not as conservative as someone like Ted Cruz.) But those wondering about Romney's present intentions might want to pay particular attention to this part of his message:
I believe that one of our next generation of Republican leaders, one who may not be as well known as I am today, one who has not yet taken their message across the country, one who is just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the Democrat nominee. In fact, I expect and hope that to be the case. I feel that it is critical that America elect a conservative leader to become our next president. You know that I have wanted to be that president. But I do not want to make it more difficult for someone else to emerge who may have a better chance of becoming that president. You can’t imagine how hard it is for Ann and me to step aside, especially knowing of your support and the support of so many people across the country. But we believe it is for the best of the Party and the nation... I believe a Republican winning back the White House is essential for our country, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen...

Posted by Amy Miller on January 30, 2015 10 Comments
Put down those homemade "I STILL BELIEVE IN AMERICA" signs, friends. Romney isn't running. Romney dropped the news on supporters and staff this morning over the course of two conference calls, reaffirming past statements about the 2012 presidential campaign being his last. From the New York Times:
In a second call to a larger group of supporters, Mr. Romney said, “After putting considerable thought into making another run for president, I’ve decided it is best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee.” Mr. Romney said he believed he could win the nomination, but he expressed concern about harming the party’s chances to retake the White House. “I did not want to make it more difficult for someone else to emerge who may have a better chance of becoming the president,” he said. He added that it was “unlikely” that he would change his mind. Mr. Romney, who did not take questions and ended the call shortly after reading a prepared statement, said that his family had been gratified by the outpouring of support, but had decided that it was best for the Republican Party to step aside. Mr. Romney said he would have no leadership PAC and no exploratory committee.
Fellow candidate Jeb Bush left some nice words for Romney in a classy-yet-campaigney Facebook post:

Posted by Andrew Branca on January 30, 2015 38 Comments
Despite all the hate directed at George Zimmerman for having successfully defended his life against a vicious ambush attack by Trayvon Martin, and numerous encounters with law enforcement both before and after that fateful night, he has yet to be convicted of any crime whatever. That trend continues with the dropping of the latest charges brought against him of aggravated assault.  Prosecutors have now declined to pursue these charges after Zimmerman's ex-girlfriend accuser recanted her testimony, reports the Associated Press (h/t @AaronWorthing). Zimmerman had been arrested and charged last month after his girlfriend was pulled over during a traffic stop, during which stop she told police that days prior Zimmerman had thrown a bottle of wine at her.  We reported on that arrest and surrounding details here:  Deja Vu: George Zimmerman Charged with Aggravated Assault. The Orlando Sentinel has the lastest details:

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 30, 2015 23 Comments
Every once in a while, John McCain does the exact right thing. This was one of those times. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, leftist Code Pink activists disrupted the session to verbally assault Henry Kissinger who was there to testify on national security issues. John McCain was having none of it and even received applause for shutting the protesters down. Alexander Mallin of ABC News:
Senator John McCain Calls Out Protesters Who Swarmed Henry Kissinger Sen. John McCain earned some applause inside a Senate Armed Services hearing this morning after he erupted at protesters of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, calling them “low-life scum.” “I've been a member of this committee for many years, and I have never seen anything as disgraceful and outrageous and despicable as the last demonstration that just took place,” said McCain, R-AZ. Protesters from the group CodePink swarmed behind Kissinger as he arrived alongside two other former Secretaries of State, Madeleine Albright and George Shultz, for a hearing on U.S. national security strategy. They held up signs calling Kissinger a criminal and chanted “arrest Henry Kissinger for war crimes” -- citing some of his more controversial decisions during the Nixon and Ford administrations. “You know, you're going to have to shut up, or I'm going to have you arrested,” McCain said as Capitol Hill Police tried to remove the protesters. “Get out of here you low-life scum.”
CSPAN captured the entire exchange on video:

Posted by Amy Miller on January 30, 2015 25 Comments
By now we're all aware that the race for 2016 started before the ink was dry on the race for 2014. Even before President Obama delivered his already-partially-failed State of the Union slate of promises, we knew that he was going to attempt to pivot away from his party's disastrous performance in the midterms with a renewed commitment to populist platitudes; what we didn't know is whether or not his oft-divided party would follow his lead. Follow his lead they have, according to statements from high-ranking Democrats gathered this week in Philadelphia to talk strategy. From AP's Big Story:
Their newly appointed chief of messaging, Rep. Steve Israel of New York, said House Democrats are "absolutely unified on three essential messages going forward. And it's middle class, middle class and middle class." Israel acknowledged that Democrats talked a lot about the middle class in last fall's elections. But world calamities distracted voters, he said, and Democrats failed to show that their economic policies would directly benefit working class families. Riffing on a campaign line of President Bill Clinton in 1992, Israel said the Democrats' new theme will be, "It's MY economy, stupid." Many Republicans scoff at Democrats' talk of better messaging. "Updating the packaging doesn't help if the product is still lousy," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Fortunately for Representative Israel, most of voting America isn't yet paying attention to the fact that he's mistaken global calamities for the ones Democrats caused at home. If they were, they'd be calling him on it, because even people who don't live in our political bubble know that the rebel siege on Ukraine isn't responsible for skyrocketing health care costs and larger grocery bills.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 29, 2015 35 Comments
It pains me to come to the conclusion that Loretta Lynch should not be confirmed as our next Attorney General. As I wrote before, Lynch was a law school classmate. While we were not "friends," we were acquaintances. I have only good memories of her, and it does not surprise me that she has accomplished so much. Lynch is not Eric Holder, in so many ways. Holder was the consummate political being, who leaves a history of shattered constitutional and other principles in his wake.  Lynch assured the Judiciary Committee that she could say "No" to a president. http://youtu.be/mH8iSJvN3D0 That sequence, and so much of the testimony at the confirmation hearings, was more about Holder than Lynch. And it was devastating. Jonathan Turley, who supports Lynch, gave another stinging indictment of the Obama-Holder constitutional legacy:
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