Support Tom Cotton for Arkansas Senate

Who says that dour white men are all Republicans? Why support Democrat Mark Pryor, who even looks angry, when he's misrepresenting his opponent.

when you can support someone with common sense who also doesn't take himself so seriously even though he is serious about the problems the country faces.

By the way Arkansas, those of you who don't recall, Pryor supported Obamacare, something your Democratic candidate for governor didn't even do.

Friday Musical Interlude - Walk This Way

This week a throwback to 1977 (the year it hit Billboard's Top 10) or 1975 (the year it was originally released).  Aerosmith's rock classic Walk This Way.

Thursday Hillary Bash - Hillary tacks left, just in time.

"Liberal Democrats feel the wind at their backs."

I'm not sure why that would be the case going into the 2016 presidential election, but let's assume that is indeed the way they feel.  In the article in The Hill, it's pointed out that Hillary Clinton might not be the ideal candidate for the progressive liberal left wing of the party.

“If Hillary Clinton embraces the rising economic populist tide in America, there will be little political space for a credible primary challenger,” said Laura Friedenbach of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “But if she sides with big corporations against everyday people, there will be a huge amount of political space for some insurgent to run on an economic populist platform.”

The far left has been increasingly openly laying down the gauntlet for Hillary Clinton - move left or you will not get our support.  With a president who regularly spout progressive agenda platitudes and clearly has a sympathetic ear for the cause, the far left may feel empowered to turn out another progressive president - an Elizabeth Warren or a Howard Dean  type.  As we inch closer to primary season, their 'encouragement' will grow more strident and louder and may become outright political threatening of Hillary Clinton.

There's a worry already that she cannot possibly represent grassroots progressives because she's too rich.  I'd argue (tongue-in-cheek) that perhaps progressives are being sexist because the same wealth standard does not seem to apply to George Soros.  Nevertheless, the thought is there and Hillary understands the nature of elections - run to the base first and run back to the center during the general election, that's how you will win.  She's started movement accordingly;

When your own minimum wage reportedly is in the neighborhood of $200,000 a speech, it might be difficult to sell yourself as the populist champion of the working class.

In recent weeks, Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun a calculated transition from respected diplomat to fierce advocate for the 99 percent, using a “haves versus have-nots” message to build support among progressives who are desperate for a strong voice to battle Wall Street, protect entitlement programs such as Social Security and promote income equality.

But for Mrs. Clinton, a rich, successful woman and part of one of America’s most powerful political families, there are questions about how effectively she can carry that banner if she runs for president in 2016.

Her comments indicate that she understands which way the political wind is blowing, at least within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

For Republicans, this is a welcome opportunity.  The further this fracture on the left grows, the less likely is a Hillary Clinton primary win.  And even if the fracture is fixed as Hillary plays to the far left to gain their support, the more ammunition the eventual GOP candidate will have during a general election season.  She'll say things that can be brought up during the debates to call out her leftist extremist positions.  Either she'll be forced to defend some outlandish positions or she will stumble all over herself trying to backtrack on her statement.  She's done it before.  Remember the driver's licenses for illegal immigrants issue during the 2008 Democratic primaries?  She'll flub again, guaranteed, if the questions are put to her in a way where she has to think quickly on her feet.

Meanwhile there's a whole other front in which Hillary will have to fight back.  The Wary of Hillary Democrats have begun to get some notice.  They are at least superficially concerned about her inevitability, although I suspect many progressives are using the group as cover for their real, far left agenda-based concerns;

“She is an enormously capable candidate and leader, but I do worry about the inevitability, because I think it’s off-putting to the average voter,” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a longtime Obama ally, told CNN earlier this month. “And I think that was an element of her campaign the last time. As an enthusiastic Democrat, I just hope that the people around her pay attention to that this time around.”

The public commentary about the risks of Clinton as fait accompli seems less a harbinger of a messy primary fight than an effort to nudge Clinton to the left. There’s no apparent candidate with President Barack Obama’s political skill to catch Clinton by surprise this time. But the Democratic base doesn’t want Clinton to get a free pass, lest she give short shrift to the progressive agenda and tack to the center before the primary campaign is even fully underway.

All this in-fighting doesn't hand a win to the GOP, but a divide on the left does make the Republicans' job easier in 2016. A smart RNC will be prepared to take advantage of the opportunity this presents. Let's hope smart applies this time around.

President Obama's Foreign Policy Pivot Fails on Many Levels (Part 1)

The president today made a speech at West Point today to a graduating class that was full of problematic statements. The speech was so full of...misinformation, that I've been forced to break down my breakdown of it, into more than one part. in this part I will focus on the president's cherry picking of facts in his speech.  But that's just the starting point.

In order to support his positions, the president, no stranger to cherry-picking facts to support his positions, did not disappoint in this speech, if cherry picking is something you were looking forward to hearing.

Here's the first example of cherry picking his facts:

Al Qaida's leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated, and Osama bin Laden is no more.

True - but al Qaida is still an existential threat worldwide. The president has selected a narrow window to define success, because beyond that window, the problems are nowhere near being fixed.  Of course, the president tries to minimize the geo-political threats, because it helps justify a minimized military, enabling more social engineering programs.

In fact, by most measures, America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise, who suggest that America is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away, are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics. Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War.

He has parsed his words carefully -"rarely" been stronger. Yet relative to China, America is losing it's military superiority advantage. And while no nation has any reason or power to invade the United States, North Korea and Iran are both working diligently towards long range nuclear missiles capable of reaching the United States. Russia and China still do of course. The threats faced today are not the same as they were during the Cold War.

Wasn't it president Obama who chided Mitt Romney when he stated that the 1980's called and wanted their foreign policy back during the presidential debates? Mitt Romney was of course right that Russia is the biggest geopolitical threat (you could argue China is a bigger threat now). And while Russia is poised to indulge in a nefarious landgrab in the Ukraine, Obama argues that the world is a different place. Well, if it is, then comparing the dangers of today to the different dangers of a different era is most definitely cherry picking.

But there's more egregious examples.

And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or schoolgirls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine -- it is America that the world looks to for help.

Exactly what is America doing about the kidnappings in Nigeria or the violent unrest in the Ukraine? Effectively, zilch.  The world may have looked to America, but with missing leadership from an American president, that is not likely to continue.  At least it will not until someone else comes along who can create a sense of global leadership that an apology tour and obvious disinterest didn't do.

When the president bases his speech on selectively choosing facts, or portions of the whole picture to act as a foundation for whatever else it is he has to say, you know his arguments have started on shaky grounds.

Next I'll take a look at the implications of the president's pivot and vision for America's future beyond Afghanistan and Iraq.

Iran's losing proposition - don't let youth be "Happy"

By now you've probably heard that Iran has jailed everyone in the video below - 6 young Iranians who danced to the Pharrell Williams song Happy.

As the person who uploaded this particular iteration of the video on youtube (it's not the original posting of the video) noted:

About a month ago, 6 Iranian boys and girls (in this video) danced to the famous song by Pharrell Williams called "Happy" on the rooftops of Tehran and uploaded their video on the YouTube. It was widely distributed in the social media. The police decided to track them down and arrest them and make them repent in front of the camera. It then showed this capture on the national TV channels as a bunch of deceived Iranian youth who regretted their deed. In the past 35 years, Islamic Republic has managed to steal freedom and happiness from the Iranian youth and replace it with a culture full of mourning and sorrow. We, too, are human. We, too, have the right to be happy and live happily and learn how to be happy.

What the video points out is two different things that must be remembered.

(1)  Iranian people are like anyone else - individuals, interested in the pursuit of happiness, capable of being happy and eager to do so.  Sometimes people outside of the country forget that fact and that there is a diversity of opinion in Iran.

(2) Those in power in Iran who are suppressing individuality, freedom and the pursuit of happiness through any path other than the one they prescribe (a strict religious adherence with no room for interpretation) are on the wrong side of history.  By stifling your own people you can hold onto power for a time, with increasingly white knuckles.  But the longer you deny people fundamental freedoms the harder it becomes to do so.  The Soviet Union managed to do so for seven decades.  Other countries are seeking to beat that mark.  But you cannot suppress an entire people forever.

At least that has been the case in human history.  Perhaps some day some regime may come along that manages to keep humanity downtrodden indefinitely.  But that time has not come and with the advent of social media, it is even less likely.  

In fact, it is even less likely in Iran.  There is already a diversity of opinion in Iran that undercuts the monolithic government view of the world.  With each rhetoric-fueled suppression, the awareness of something not being right will grow.  And with each instance of defiance, or even self-expression, the justification for a more aggressive crackdown will create a more brutal government response and in turn drive more awareness of the injustice and consequently, more resistance to it.

Iran is not about to erupt into democracy.  They tried that a few years ago and the results, without any international support, were catastrophic.  But you simply cannot suppress ideas with brutality.  If Iran's leadership were so confident in the rightness of their own ideology, they would not feel the need to do so.

Economics Must Reads

Due to some personal scheduling challenges I have gotten a bit backlogged on posting.  In particular, I have fallen behind on opining on some items that are quite worth sharing.  Rather than letting them fall by the wayside, I've decided to include the links and some excerpts here in order to hopefully generate some interest in these terrific articles/posts.