Category Archives: Politics
Obama Lectures Reporters
President Obama lectures reporters on reporting.
Jack Shafer reported in Politico on the president’s address at a journalism awards ceremony.
The occasion was the Toner Prize for Political Reporting awarded to Alley Mac Gillis by Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Ayatollah Banking Behavior
IBD had an editorial and the WSJ had an op-ed on Ayatollah banking behavior. Zany authoritarians worth billions who aren’t Donald Trump – I thought it was worth a cartoon.
Now that the mullahs are getting their moola back, possibly 100 billion in frozen assets thanks to the Iran nuclear deal, they want to be able to move it through the U.S. banking system. That’s been a no-no in the past. Apparently it would make it easier to launder money for terrorism. On the other hand it could make it easier for U.S. intelligence to keep track of Iran’s money.
Ayatollah Banking Behavior
Anyway, last summer Adam Szubin of the Treasury Department told Congress, “Iran will not be able to open bank accounts with U.S. banks, nor will Iran be able to access the U.S. banking sector.” Now Treasury Secretary Jack Lew seems less committal saying the administration is trying “to make sure Iran gets relief.”
Since the Iran nuclear deal isn’t a signed treaty, Iran could walk away if it doesn’t get what it wants.
Last Tango in Brussels
President Obama’s been dancing around the Islamic terror threat. He doesn’t want to take the lead. He says the threat isn’t “existential” and more people die in bathtub accidents.
He danced the Tango after the Brussels attacks. He played golf after James Foley was beheaded. John Kerry sent James Taylor to Paris to sing you got a friend after the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
While ISIS is losing ground in the Middle East the WSJ reports interlocking terror cells are growing throughout Europe.
Terror Wave
President Obama did the wave at a baseball game in Cuba while a terror wave swept Belgium. Last night he tangoed in Buenos Aires. A round of golf would give him a hat trick of indifference to terrorism.
He feels ISIS can only win if it knocks him off his game.
That and he’s just not that into terrorism. According to the WSJ, he says more Americans are killed by gun violence than terrorism. He’s more worried about the weather.
By Obama’s lights the Vietnam War was no big deal. In 1968, the deadliest year of the war, 16,899 Americans died in Vietnam. That same year 53,831 died on American highways.
Merrick Garland
Some Senate Republicans are sticking around in DC to prevent President Obama from putting Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court as a recess appointment. They believe the next president should nominate Justice Scalia’s replacement. As it looks now that would mean Hillary or The Donald will do the nominating.
Hillary could be indicted.
As for Trump – George Will says he is “a stupendously uninformed dilettante who thinks judges sign what he refers to as bills.” Will doesn’t think much more of the Senate if it holds out to allow Trump to pick a justice. Even though he has a “very good brain“.
