Morning Report, September 28th: A World of Rattling Sabers, Catching Polanski, Obama: Muslim Community Organizer or Olympic Champion (?), Covering Illegals, Fawning over Clinton, and the Michael Moore Alternative

September 28, 2009 By Timothy Dalrymple

One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news:

1.  A lot of saber-rattling in the world today.  Iran test-fired missiles on three separate occasions over the weekend, missiles capable of delivering a warhead to Israel, parts of Europe, and U.S. military bases throughout the Middle East (the missiles have a range of 1200 miles).  Initially, even after the announcement of Iran’s second nuclear facility (which was known to U.S. intelligence beforehand), the Obama administration spoke of a deadline of December for Iran to change its ways.  Of course, we had a deadline of early September, but that came and went with a 5-page joke of a letter agreeing to talk about anything but their nuclear program.  Others are pressing for much swifter action from Iran.

My impression is that the Obama administration is trying not to do or say anything too provocative, for fear that it would derail the plan to sit down with the Iranians in a week or so.  Even though the Iranians have said they will not discuss their nuclear program, we are assuming this is a public front.  We are assuming that once the honey pot gets sweet enough, the Iranians will be willing to cut a deal.  I’m not so sure this is true.  Saddam refused to fully cooperate in large part (according to insider accounts) because he believed that we would never attack.  Ahmadinejad may be even more justified in such an opinion.  But will Israel not strike at the nuclear facilities?  If Israel does it, it risks igniting a regional war.  If the United States, or NATO or the UN undertook to bomb them, the chances of a war are lower, lower still, and lowest.  We need to be careful not to put Israel into a position where it feels that it faces extinction unless it strikes first; the consequences could be devastating.

2.  At the same time, India claims it now has high-yield warheads, in the 200 kiloton range.  At the UN General Assembly, Obama proposed that India enter into the Non-Proliferation Treaty (it is not a signee) as a non-nuclear state, and India vehemently refused.

3.  OBAMA: MUSLIM COMMUNITY ORGANIZER?  Muslim Prayers in DC in front of the Capitol building.  Some controversy over the organizers, one of whom has defended terrorists in court, but what I found interesting was that some of the Muslims in attendance were convinced that Obama himself had organized the event.  The conspiracy theorists are going to love that one!

4.  CATCHING POLANSKI.  Roman Polanski was seized at a film festival in Switzerland, and extradition proceedings are soon to begin on whether he can be returned to the United States to be held accountable for fleeing the U. S. justice system and living as a fugitive for over three decades.  There is an unfortunate tendency amongst our cultural elites, in regards to themselves and others, to believe that the elites are above not only the laws but also the common moral standards that govern the hoi polloi.  Not love, but talent covers over a multitude of sins in our society.

Polanski has had a difficult life, to be sure.  Born to agnostics in Poland, a Jewish father and a mother of Jewish and Catholic descent, his childhood was warped by the specter of Nazi oppressions and atrocities, as he lived in the Krakow Ghetto after the Germans invaded Poland; his mother died in Auschwitz, his father survived a different camp, and Roman himself survived with the help of Polish Catholic families.  Even after he became a successful Polish director and then a successful American director, tragedy followed after him.  His first wife left him for another man after two years of marriage; his friend Bruce Lee died, and his actress wife, a pregnant Sharon Tate, was killed in the Manson murders.  Manson had been angry with the previous residents, one of whom had refused to record his music; he ordered his followers (not knowing there were new residents there) to enter the house and kill everyone there.  After the others were slain, Tate pleaded for the life of her unborn child, and Susan Atkins said she felt no pity and set about stabbing her repeatedly.  Roman was in London at the time, and he was briefly a suspect, until the Manson group was arrested on other charges and the evidence of their participation came to light.

But no tragedy in his own life, and certainly no amount of artistic genius, can justify pedophilic rape.  The story is that Polanski was photographing a 13-year-old model (31 years his junior at the time) at Jack Nicholson’s house while the latter was out of town.  He gave the girl alcohol and a part of a Quaalude, and then raped and Sodomized her.  The lawyers agreed to a plea bargain on the sole charge of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.”  The DA’s office agreed to the lesser charge because of Polanski’s fame, and the girl was reluctant to testify when it became clear that the details of her anal rape would be thrown about in the national media.  Before sentencing, anyway, Polanski fled to England and then to France, where French citizens are rarely extradited.  The U.S. requested extradition, and the French have refused.  Polanski recently won an Oscar and the Palme D’Or for The Pianist.  He is a legend in the film-making industry.

Some had been talking about appealing to President Obama for clemency, on the basis of supposed judicial misconduct “uncovered” by a dubious 2008 documentary.  I can’t imagine that Obama would really want Polanski, a hero to a community (Hollywood) that adores him and lines his pockets, dragged back to Los Angeles and put through a trial, or sentenced to prison.  Nor can I imagine that Swiss authorities, not to mention the French, really want that.  Thus, my prediction: Polanski refuses extradition, forcing a hearing, and the hearing fails to grant extradition, after which the case is dropped (perhaps with an agreement that Polanski is not to return to the United States, since that would be bad PR).

Remember, you heard it here first.

UPDATE: More info on the case from Michelle Malkin, including some background to Anne Applebaum (of the Times) and her defense of Polanski (namely, Applebaum fails to mention that her husband is the Foreign Minister in Poland, who has been pushing for the charges to be dropped).  Also, a writer for the Los Angeles Times says the charges should be dismissed because the state is short on money.  It may be the case that Polanski was arrested this time (he has gone to Switzerland often, and owns a home there) because of the whole UBS disagreement between the US and the Swiss.

5.  OLYMPIOBAMA.  Where I can root for Obama wholeheartedly: in Copenhagen this weekend as he presses for the International Olympic Committee to award the honor of hosting the Olympics to Chicago.  I’m not sure whether America should host it yet again, and I’m sympathetic to the argument that Rio should get it, since the IOC has long neglected South America — but if it were in Chicago, I would be able to go.  Finally.  So…GO BARACK!  These votes are practically all about cronyism, and I don’t like the way that media are being hushed about widespread opposition amongst Chicagoans, but hey, I want to go, and Chicagoans are just spoiled.

Another area where I support him: in pushing for more school time, including longer school days and shorter summers.  We should have a balanced perspective:

Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school.

“Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here,” Duncan told the AP. “I want to just level the playing field.”

While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it’s not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

Still, kids in some nations do have more hours, and results with charter schools and public schools too show consistently that increasing the school day by an hour, for instance, thus extending each period/subject by ten minutes, leads to marked improvements.

6.  A NEW LOW for popular support of the health care reform championed by Obama and congressional Democrats: 41%.  What might Democrats do now to change popular perception?  Obama can hardly go on television and radio more often than he has already done.  The PR blitz has not worked.  Democrats face two options: they can (1) press ahead and bend enough elbows to get the Baucus bill passed, and hope that people like the legislation better after it’s passed, or they can (2) withdraw the issue for a little while and come back later with a leaner, more moderate, more limited bill.

I prefer #2.  The rancor would only grow if Democrats forced the bill through now; all the people protesting are starting to believe that they have turned the tide; if the White House forced this through, the anger we’ve seen up until now will pale in comparison to what we would see.  A lot of arms would have to be twisted, a fair number of Blue Dogs (at least) would lose their seats in 2010, and what emerged would probably be an extraordinarily complicated and compromised piece of legislation.  That said, once the bill is passed, the issue of health care reform will fade from public attention for a while, since the changes would begin to take effect in 2011 (for taxes) and 2013 (for health insurance).  The rancor would fade slowly, and the Democrats could engage in a sort of slow-motion PR campaign and then hope that people like the changes once they set in.  But 2010 would be rough, and few will be fond of the tax changes in 2011 either.

The second option gives the Democrats a graceful way to press reset.  They could return with a more gradual approach that moves in deliberate, accountable steps.  If you think you can cut hundreds of billions from Medicare and Medicare Advantage without reducing quality of care, then show me you can do that first, and start saving up money for your big program.  If you think you can improve matters by structuring physician compensation differently, then show me that first with Medicare and military care.  In other words, in those places where we can test whether these claims are true, let’s do so — before we completely redesign 1/6th of the American economy on some fairly dubious propositions.  I understand, some changes have to be made in concert.  But not all.

7.  ILLEGAL COVERAGE.  Relatedly, I’m sure that the Democratic leadership would rather not have the words “illegal immigrants” in the air during the health care reform debate (to be addressed later, presumably).  But one group of congressional Democrats is pushing back, arguing that (1) legal permanent residents (non-citizens) should be able to purchase health insurance on the government exchange, with government subsidies, and (2) illegal immigrants should be able to purchase health insurance on the same exchanges, without federal subsidies.

I agree on both points, actually.  The second point would keep illegal immigrants, or at least those who could afford health care plans, from using the emergency room every time they’re sick.  What bothered me earlier was not the notion of giving health care to illegal immigrants, it was the duplicity in claiming they would not be covered.

8.  GENERAL DISREGARD.  The rift between Obama and General McChrystal seems to be widening; otherwise it’s hard to understand why General McChrystal would let it be known, during a television interview, that he has only spoken with President Obama once since he took over command of the Afghanistan war.  Conservatives, of course, question what this says about Obama’s priorities.

In the meantime, the White House officially received McChrystal’s report and request for more troops, and they have officially put the report on the back burner until they have reconsidered their entire approach to the region.  As Ed Morrisey writes:

Shelving the request makes it clear that Obama and the White House want to conduct a political review of the mission.  That’s not illegitimate; after all, part of the consideration has to be whether our allies have the political will to support us in the Af-Pak theater, as well as whether Americans have the political will to continue the fight.  If neither exists, then the entire question of strategy is moot, and the focus will shift to retreat from the theater.

The problem with this is that the Obama administration has already had plenty of time for political calculation.  They have been in office since January, and Obama campaigned for two years on the pledge to fight in Afghanistan with more resources and focus than the previous administration.  The politics of the war have not changed much, at least in terms other than polling.

Obama wanted to be Commander in Chief, and he has had that role for eight months.  The question of politics should have already been well settled by this time.  So far he has done a good job of fighting the war in Afghanistan, but this very public vacillation undermines the projection of American strength in the region and encourages a defeatist attitude.  It’s time to fish or cut bait on the politics and start seriously addressing the strategy, if we’re going to fight and win this war.

9.  If you want to see the very definition of fawning news coverage, check out this article from the French news service, AFP, about former President Bill Clinton.  Yikes.

10.  Background info on the strange “Hymn to Obama” that made the YouTube rounds.  I can’t manage to get too upset about it.  The lyrics were vaguely worshipful, but apparently the song was made and performed at an assembly in recognition of Black History Month in February.  It makes sense to have a song about Obama and his historic achievement.  I could have done without the “Jesus Loves the Little Children” reworked lyrics, but it’s probably more a matter of poor lyric-writing than political indoctrination.

11.  TODAY’S TWO-SIDES, I.  From the Right, Eliot Cohen on the options that remain with Iran.

12.  TODAY’S TWO-SIDES, II.  Michael Moore on why he hates capitalism.  Kyle Smith wonders what alternative he prefers.

13.  COLUMN OF THE DAY: This remarkably clear essay from one former Secretary of Health and Human Services and two former members of the White House Economic Council.  I made this argument long ago: that the health care reform proposed right now is another form of income distribution.

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Morning Report, September 24th: Finding the Right College, Recession and Racial Integration, The Missing Index, Faith at Harvard, Terrorism Central, Suing the Truth-Exposers, Mamas and (Bad) Papas, Palinasia, Hollywood Morality and Cracking the Nut of Iran

September 24, 2009 By Timothy Dalrymple

One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news:

1.  For those who are guiding children toward college, or interested in the best way to do so, Thomas Sowell has a nice article with some direction on how to find the right college.  The rankings one finds in a place like US News and World Report are not meaningless, but they have very little to do with the quality of the experience the student will have.  I should add, however, that college is largely what one makes of it.  Approached rightly, I believe that almost any student can be happy at almost any institution, if s/he develops the right relationships, maintains the right attitudes and pursues the right things.  For all the focus on finding the right college, there should be more attention to how one makes the college the right college through the actions one takes once there.

2.  RECESSION AND RACIAL INTEGRATION.  Along these same lines, Christianity Today has an interesting account of how the financial pressures of the recession have led black and white churches to integrate and worship together.  Ours is a God who makes good things out of evil, or what the world calls evil.

3.  THE MISSING INDEX.  With the emergence of the Baucus plan, we’re no longer dealing with multiple possible bills and all the confusion that brings.  The Baucus plan represents the Democratic game plan right now.  So it’s gaining more and more scrutiny.  Dick Morris, who is apparently no fan, details (some of) the costs of the Baucus plan for non-rich Americans.  He claims that the uninsured will only receive subsidies for insurance coverage after they have paid 20% of their income.  Of course, Dick Morris could be mistaken, so I will wait for confirmation on that.

What is interesting to me, however, is the 35% tax on “gold-plated” health insurance policies ($8000 for individuals), which is intended to help pay for the subsidies that will be given to the poor.  So  imagine that an individual receives an insurance policy worth $10K.  The insurance provider will then be taxed $3500.  The profit margin in the health insurance business is exceedingly small.  A study in 2003 showed that 70% of insurance providers either had a negative profit margin or one underneath 5%.  Average returns recently have been about 3%, making health insurance less profitable (by margin) than 85 other industries.  So there’s no way the insurer can simply eat the 35% increase in cost.  Naturally, then, the provider will pass that cost along.  Those who paid $10K for their own insurance will now pay $13.5K; those who receive insurance through their employers may find their plans dropped (sending them into the government plan, if there is one) or lowered in quality in order to fall beneath the trigger point.

The Democrats (and of course the Republicans, though they’re not the ones in charge right now, so the Democrats get to enjoy the burden of leadership here) do not want to tax everyone.  So this is a way of taxing individuals indirectly, by taxing those who provide them services with very little profit, knowing full well the cost will be passed along.  But it won’t seem like a tax, since the cost is coming from those evil insurance providers (further cultivating animosity between patients and insurance providers…sending more into the arms of the government?).

But what’s interesting to me is that the “trigger” of $8K for individuals (something like $21K for families) is not indexed to inflation (not to mention, as Morris notes, medical inflation, which has been twice the ordinary inflation rate).  Indexing to inflation would be an obvious thing to do, so someone must have decided not to do so.  According to estimates, 10% of Americans presently have health insurance policies that fall into this category.  Many of them are not rich; many belong to unions that have used their bargaining power for Cadillac insurance plans.  Bear in mind that the reformed system would not “begin” until 2013, by which time 15% or 20% of Americans may reach that trigger.

There are two reasons why Democrats may not want to index the trigger to inflation.  First, of course, is if they intend to spread the burden beyond the 10% over time.  You pass the bill when only 10% would qualify, minimizing the push-back from voters, but by the time the plan is enacted its costs fall on more.  The other reason is if the politicians want the power, as they currently enjoy with the Alternative Minimum Tax, that comes with annually patching the problem.

But who knows?  The Baucus plan may change in dramatic ways.  Pelosi is trying to liberalize it.

4.  OBAMA TIRED OF PAYING FOR YOUR OIL.  Barack Obama wants to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, at least if he can get everyone around the world to do it in conjunction (so there are no competitive disadvantages posed to any one country’s businesses), which seems reasonable to me.  Also, this piece at The New Republic makes the strong point that “the one way” Barack Obama can bring his term back to success is by improving the economy and in particular unemployment.  I have not bought into the argument many have made that Obama’s administration is in mortal peril.  But I think this is roughly correct; the complicating factor is, the economy will eventually turn around, and will almost certainly do so before 2012.  Assessing the extent to which Obama deserves credit for that will prove a complicated matter.

Another move from the Obama White House that deserves notice: they’ve decided that Bush was right about the power of the executive to detain terrorists as combatants indefinitely without trial, based on the war powers already given the President by Congress.  This doesn’t bother me, but we should learn a lesson: some things are easy to castigate when the other party is in power, but look different once you’re in the Oval Office and you’re responsible for keeping America safe from homicidal maniacs.

5.  LIFE OF FAITH AT HARVARD.  Today I met with some great young men from Harvard’s Ichthus journal, and the Evangelical Portal will be developing a relationship with them (and hopefully with some of its sister journals at other schools).  I’m quite impressed with the quality of their material — even at their blog.  Here is a very nice reflection on the “abundant life” found in Christ:

It was Nietzsche who said it first, but it’s a common thought—Christianity is nihilistic. People may not express themselves in so many words, but who hasn’t heard the argument that Christians are prudish, repressed, reactionary, life-denying—life-hating? That Christians want to stamp out natural loves and pleasures? That Christians are so fixated on their pie-in-the-sky, ethereal heaven that they completely lose sight of life on earth?

Read the rest here.

6.  TERRORISM CENTRAL.  A lot of terrorism-related news all at once.  The terror arrests in Queens and Denver — leading to warnings on rail safety.  A new video from Ayman al-Zawahiri.  The terror probe expands.  Warnings also for stadiums, hotels and transit, and travel to Germany.  All coincidence that these things are coming together?  Apparently the video of bin Laden’s lieutenant, which was probably intended to be released on 9/11, may have been delayed for a few weeks by jamming the web sites that distribute these things.  Was that to throw off an intended attack?  To prevent it long enough to give us time to make the arrests?  And was the message a sort of “trigger” intended to rouse a sleeper cell to action?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Just the discovery of what appears to be an active al Qaeda cell within the United States is disturbing enough:

The terror probe that burst into the spotlight in New York last week may have led authorities to the first active al Qaeda cell uncovered inside the U.S. since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to officials familiar with the matter.Current and former U.S. officials say the allegations in the case embody their worst fears — that a legal U.S. resident could quietly leave the country, receive explosives training from al Qaeda in a lawless region of Pakistan, then return to U.S. soil.

7.  TURNING YOUR BACK ON MADNESS.  Congratulations to the UN delegates who walked out on Ahmadinejad.  And I’ve got to say that I’m enjoying this new tone from Obama:

UNITED NATIONS – President Barack Obama challenged world leaders Wednesday to shoulder more of the globe’s critical burdens, promising a newly cooperative partner in America but sternly warning they can no longer castigate the U.S. as a go-it-alone bully while still demanding it cure all ills.

“Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world’s problems alone,” said Obama in put-up-or-shut-up comments before a packed U.N. General Assembly hall. “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”

In his first appearance before the group, Obama promised the U.S. would reach out in “a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” but he also wagged a rhetorical finger at leaders who spend much of their time at international gatherings excoriating the U.S. He said “an almost reflexive anti-Americanism” that swept the globe under the administration of his predecessor, George W. Bush, is not “an excuse for collective inaction.”

“Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles and absolving ourselves of responsibility for our choices and our actions,” he said.

You mean, the US isn’t responsible for all the evils in the world?  And you mean that other countries would rather sit back and let us address the world’s gravest problems, and then criticize us for doing it wrong?  Hmm.

8.  SUING WHISTLE-BLOWERS.  ACORN sues the filmmakers James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles for the recorded conversation in the Baltimore ACORN office.  It may be the case that Maryland law allows ACORN to sue them, while other state laws do not.  Which is not to say that ACORN will win the case; that seems unlikely.  They may be testing the waters to see whether Andrew Breitbart, whose media organization has rather sheltered and cultivated the filmmakers, will offer to settle out of court.  One has to suppose that ACORN would not want this to go to court, since the discovery process could be incredibly damaging to them.  Or it may be more of a PR move intended to portray themselves as victims, and later, when the lights of public attention have faded, ACORN will withdraw the suit.  You can read the story of the background of the video here.  Conservatives have long felt that ACORN, and in particular its electoral arms, are more extensions of the Democratic party than independent entities, and have shielded illegal activities under the banner of noble intentions and community service.

I’m not a fan of this kind of journalism, whether it’s done on the Right or the Left, and whether it’s high-end material like Michael Moore or low-end material like O’Keefe and Giles.  We need more media products that examine issues from every angle, not polemicizing from one angle, mocking the opposition, showing them in the worst possible light, or in their worst moment.

9.  MAKING THE BAND.  Children wearing different colored bands that denote the different kinds of sexual favors they must bestow if their bands are snapped?  Apparently.  Read about the callous disregard of the store owner who sells these items.

10.  THE BAD PAPA OF THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS.  Mackenzie Phillips, daughter of John Phillips, musician for the Mamas and the Papas, tells about how her father raped her when she was 19, on the night before her wedding.  He taught her to roll a joint at 10, and introduced her to heroin at a very young age.  They carried on an incestuous affair for 10 years.  But, she says: “My father was not a bad man. He was kind of a testament to what drugs and alcohol – in huge quantities – can do to a person’s priorities. Their motives.  I don’t hate him. I understand that he was a very tortured man, and he sort of passed that torture down to me.”  Ugh.  Those 60′s peace musicians were so enlightened, weren’t they?

11.  A NEW LEAF?  Not a link here, but just a note: I greatly appreciated the different tone Obama seemed to offer on the talk shows on Sunday.  I thought he was much more conciliatory, much more willing (following his own advice) to avoid attacking the motives of those who disagreed with him.  That’s what I was hoping to see in the speech he gave before Congress.

12.  COMPETING POLLS.  Some time ago I noted that a majority of physicians seemed to be in favor of health care reform along the lines proposed by Obama and Democrats.  Now another poll appears that suggests the opposite.  Hmm.

13.  SCHOOL PROPAGANDA?  Does this high school quiz seem propagandistic to you?  Before you decide, read the full story here.  It does seem to encourage students to assume that President Obama is telling the unvarnished truth, and doesn’t encourage a critical attitude or assessment.  But I don’t recall many instances in my own education (granted, I did independent study during my high school years because of my gymnastics career) when I was encouraged to view a President’s claims with skepticism.  It doesn’t sound as though the teacher, however, allowed a critical discussion, so that seems wrong to me, if the account is correct.  On the other hand, I have no idea what to make of this video.  The commenters take it too far when they warn of moving toward fascistic indoctrination.  But it is worrisome.  If it doesn’t bother you, ask yourself whether you’d mind if such a song were sung to President Bush in his first year, or after 9/11?

One of my fundamental precepts, however, is that people are more or less the same (profound, I know), and that includes Democrats and Republicans.  Not necessarily the same in their principles, but in their neuroses, their weaknesses, their faults.  There was a tendency after 9/11 to glorify Bush as the leader chosen by God for such a time as this.  Yet I don’t recall quite the same tendency to leader-worship as one finds with Obama.  In some ways that’s understandable; Obama is the first African-American President, so he accomplished something historic simply by being elected.  He speaks in the loftiest of rhetoric, at least on occasion, and inspires many people.  In office, however, Obama should be held to the same critical standard as all politicians, and we should expect him to stumble in much the same way other politicians do.

14.  PALINASIA.  Sarah Palin gave her speech in Asia, and reviews varied from those who thought it was “brilliant” to those who walked out (American delegates who were presumably against her to start with).  And again it always fascinates me to read the comments from the enlightened on websites like Swampland.  My favorite is cfukara, who suggests that Palin only got her degree by giving sexual favors to her professors.  Granted, Palin does not have the preferred ideology of the intellectual elite, and she performed poorly in some early interviews on national policy issues, but she’s accomplished, with no help from her husband or a big-name patron, a great deal more than 99% of the population.  She may not be a genius, and I think she’s wrong on certain issues, but she’s clearly an intelligent woman, competent, courageous, ambitious, and hard-working.  The loathing on the Left for Palin continues to amaze.  My suggestion: like Bush Derangement Syndrome, and the Obama version, let’s call this Palinasia.  And speaking of Palin, this Democratic operative has an interested prediction, if current trajectories hold, for Palin “with her arms raised in triumph on Election Day 2010.”

15.  LANDSCAPE ASSESSOR.  Information on the political landscape, from Byron York:

It’s also far smaller than the massive 19-point lead Democrats held over Republicans in June 2008. So in less than a year and a half, the Democratic margin has fallen from 19 points to 3. (The last time the Democratic lead was so slim was five years ago, in October 2004. The last time Republicans held the lead in the Congressional question was October 2002.)

16.  WONDERFUL HOLLYWOOD.  Yet another television show (“Cougar Town“) with no moral compass.

17.  COLUMN OF THE DAY.  Thomas Friedman on the hopes of cracking Iran with threats of biting sanctions and military action.

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Morning Report, September 3rd: "Trigger" to a Snowe Job, Another Palin-Bashing Party, the Best Military Reporter Ever?, Giving the Finger to Opponents, First Lady from Venus, and the Rove-Daschle Clash of '09

September 3, 2009 By Timothy Dalrymple

One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news.

1.  BIGGEST NEWS ITEM OF THE DAY: Happy Birthday to my beloved Joyce.

2.  FORECASTING SNOWE.  The health care reform saga takes another turn, or at least another trial balloon is being floated.  Talk emerges from the White House that the Obama camp and Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine, are working on a compromise in which a government option is realized only if other reforms amongst private insurers fail to meet certain targets.  The idea is ostensibly this.  If costs can be made sufficiently low through free-market mechanisms, then wonderful.  If they cannot, if costs are still too high after a certain amount of time has elapsed, then this “triggers” the institution of a government option.

In theory, this is an excellent idea, and something I (and many others, of course) have advocated as a reasonable compromise.  I like the way it asks both parties to be true to their convictions.  Both parties want lowered costs, and, therefore, more accessible coverage for the poor.  If Democrats are truly interested only in increasing choices and competition and lowering costs (i.e., if they do not mean this as a first step toward the socialization of health care), then they should be satisfied if those goals can be met through private market means.  If Republicans are truly convinced that free market mechanisms are sufficient to lower costs and make coverage more accessible, then they should accept a test of this sort.

The devil is in the details.  Conservatives do believe that free market mechanisms are sufficient to lower costs, but the health-care market, even today, is not a free market.  It is radically regulated and constrained by the state, and will only become moreso under the new reform bills.  It is not only a question, given current rates, of whether private insurers can provide a reasonably reduced rate; it is a question of whether private insurers can do so with the added constraints and requirements and regulation entailed in the rest of the health-care reform bill.  Let’s imagine that the average low-cost insurance plan today costs X.  It may seem reasonable under present circumstances to ask private insurers to develop plans that cost 0.8X.  Yet present circumstances will change under the new regime, in ways that no one presently can understand in full.  The free market of private insurers might be able to do it (look at some promising new approaches here).  But they might not, through no fault of their own.

Essentially: the absence of a government option does not a free market make, and absent a truly free market it may prove impossible for private insurers to offer plans at sufficiently low rates.  Thus this would not constitute a true “test” of whether the free market is sufficient when it comes to health care, because the market will remain unfree even if the government option is removed.  Also, if one is concerned about the government gaming the system in order to institute a government plan, it is not sufficient to agree upon a target rate and establish a non-partisan arbiter to determine whether the target has been met.  This is because the government, by altering a single regulation or requirement or mandate, can force insurance companies over the target.  It is partly a question of good faith, then, and neither party presently is inclined to trust in the good faith of the other.

If the signals coming out of the White House are confusing, perhaps it’s because they’re confused.  Ezra Klein reports on divisions within the White House on where to go with health-care reform.

3.  Regular readers of this blog will know that I have mixed feelings regarding Sarah Palin, but that I cannot stand the way in which the mainstream media has abandoned all journalistic standards in its quest to mock and vilify her.  Now comes another hit piece from Vanity Fair, excerpts of which can be found here.  The piece is based entirely on the say-so of Levi Johnston, formerly the boyfriend of Bristol Palin, Sarah’s eldest daughter.  Since when have daughter’s ex-boyfriends become reliable sources?  Yet no attempt is made to verify Johnston’s claims, nor even to compare the present claims with previous ones (which they blatantly contradict).

Picture from www.michaelyon-online.com

Picture from www.michaelyon-online.com

4.  By far the best reporter on the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts has not been employed by any of the major news organizations.  He is rather a citizen-reporter, funded by those who contribute through his website because they value what he offers.  His name is Michael Yon, and if you have never read his material, you are in for a treat.  Ed Morrisey of Hot Air interviews Michael Yon by phone, and it’s worth hearing.  Check it out.

5.  In the midst of this contentious health-care reform debate, surely many on one side have given the finger to many on the other.  This is the only case of which I know, however, in which a man on one side took the finger of a man on the other side.  At a MoveOn.org rally, a supporter of Obama’s proposed reforms was “walking through” (just walking through?) the anti-reform group when an “altercation” began.  Who knows how the fight started, or who was at fault; probably both.  What we do know is that the pro-Obamacare fellow bit off the little finger of a 65 year old man who was protesting against Obama’s reform.  The older man picked up his finger and walked to a nearby hospital for treatment.

6.  Just as liberals feared that Bush would turn the country into a theocratic totalitarianism, conservatives fear that Obama will turn the country into a fascist totalitarian state.  Let me just say: not likely.  Sigh.

7.  A vile commercial, exploiting the 9/11 tragedy, for a pro-environment group.  It’s safe for work; it’s just morally obtuse and in unbelievably bad taste.

YouTube Preview Image

I’m not opposed to showing the planes crashing into the towers (this is an animation, obviously), if the purpose is to remind Americans of the men, women and children who were slain on that day.  I do mind if it is cynically exploited, not to mention minimized, for other purposes, even if those purposes in themselves are worthwhile.  Also, what happened on 9/11 was not a “tragedy” on a par with environmental disasters.  Speaking of it as a tragedy or disaster removes the agency involved.  It was a murderous act, an attack–and, like the killing of Archduke Ferdinand, its detrimental consequences cannot be measured, much less compared to natural disasters, in terms of the number of lives lost.

8.  Tim Pawlenty clearly intends to run for the Republican nomination for President.  Yet does he have the charisma and the keen intelligence that will be required to defeat Obama.  Call me skeptical.

9.  Nine out of ten Americans say the country is still in a recession.  Why is this news?  Got me.

10.  Apparently Japan’s rising First Lady was abducted by aliens and taken to Venus.  Some might see this as a negative, but I say good for her.  We could use a little interplanetary perspective right now.  And why couldn’t the aliens have taken her to Uranus?  The jokes would practically write themselves.  She also claims to have met a previous incarnation of Tom Cruise in a previous life.  I wonder if his thetan count, or midichlorian count or whatever it is, was as high back then as it is now.  Anyway, we can all rejoice that we will have a more entertaining First Lady of Japan than we have in quite some time.

11.  International rumblings.  Remember, Obama’s deadline for Iran’s response to his overtures is in a few days.  And the V-word is, inevitably, spoken: Afghanistan, says one author, is looking like Vietnam.  For a countervailing opinion, two highly respected Washington journalists explain why Afghanistan is not Vietnam.

12.  Column of the Day: the award goes to Michael Barone, who explains that the “facts on the ground” with regard to immigration, and underlying the immigration reform debate, have changed.  The most salient fact to change: there is no longer a flood of immigrants.  Barone gets the prize for turning out attention to a new topic (anyone else feeling health-care burnout?) but also for reexamining old positions in light of new facts.

13.  Today’s Two-Sides comes from two major political players.  Karl Rove, writing (obviously) for the Right, contends that Obama is selling a more radical health-care reform than America really needs.  Tom Daschle, writing (obviously) from the Left, and (it should be noted) in the employ interested parties, provides a different perspective.

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Morning Report, Weekend Edition, August 28th: Burying the Last Lion, Intercepting North Korean Arms, the "Church of Hate," Health Care for Unions, Michelle's Hair, and Investigating the Investigators

August 29, 2009 By Timothy Dalrymple

One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news:

1.  Ted Kennedy was remembered last night, and whatever your politics it was a pleasure to hear the stories and remembrances of some of the most prominent people in the nation.  (A note for Bostonians: didn’t Mumbles Menino come across poorly, like a kid at the adult’s table?)  Today there is a funeral mass, and Kennedy will be flown down to Washington for a prayer at the capital and burial at Arlington National Cemetery.  I was never a fan of Teddy’s.  I find much more to appreciate in JFK, whose politics were quite different from what Teddy’s politics became.  But I understand why so many regard Teddy so highly, and it was nice to hear the tributes last night in particular from those who sat across the aisle from him.

Obama will deliver the eulogy.  Read an account here.  I’m tempted to wander of to Our Lady of Perpetual Help basilica if only to see the various luminaries gathered there.  Here is one picture from before the mass, which captures our past two Presidents, our current President and quite possibly our future President:

Again, may Teddy rest in peace.

2.  The UAE interdicted an arms shipment from North Korea to Iran, containing everything from missiles to what could very well be nuclear arms parts.  The UN was informed of this two weeks ago, apparently.  What has the UN done about it?  They’ve sent two letters.  Yawn.

3.  Amy Sullivan is not wrong to call this a “Church of Hate.”  A pretty damning recording from a sermon given in Phoenix the day before Barack Obama’s visit–the visit where protesters were standing around with assault rifles.  I don’t think much of this guy and his “rant” (who doesn’t seem to consider it possible that such a pastor would have opposed the Iraq or Afghan wars; he’s assuming a lot about the pastor, but 99% of what the pastor speaks about is the issue of abortion), but this video is worth watching if only to hear the sermon from Steven L. Anderson.

These are sound-bites cut out of a sermon in order to make a political argument, of course.  The other 95% of the sermon could have been saying “no one should take this into their own hands, and we should pray for the President, and I appreciate some of the things he’s done.”  Who knows?  But regardless, whatever the context, these sorts of statements are hateful and wrong.  Of course there was all kind of assassination porn directed toward George W. Bush from the Left–nothing worse than we are seeing now.  The pastor tries to defend himself here, but the sermon segments are pretty damning.  But this is unacceptable; it is vile; it is un-Christian.  And it deeply, deeply compromises our witness.

4.  We have been following events in Honduras on this blog.  Robert Micheletti, who was given power after the Supreme Court removed Manuel Zelaya and the military shipped him out of country, has offered to step down from power if Zelaya himself renounces power forever.  Zelaya would not be sent to jail for his crimes against the nation’s constitution, but would be allowed to live as an ordinary citizen.  No word yet on Zelaya’s response, but I’m not holding my breath.  I suspect he still holds Chavez-style dreams of being a “benevolent” Leftist dictator for life.

5.  Charges continue to be made (in this case by a Congresswoman from Los Angeles) that opponents of Obamacare are motivated by racism.  And yet when the press refers to the ugliness of the debate, they refer only to the protesters?  On a more substantive level, Mike Enzi, one of the Senators who was considering cooperating with Obamacare, has decided it can’t be saved.

6.  Another gift to supporters?  The health care reform bill that passed out of a House committee before the recess includes a $10B subsidy for union pension plans.  As the Detroit news says: ”

One reason the public so distrusts the health care plan being considered by Congress is that so many troublesome details keep bubbling out of the massive legislation.

The latest example is the $10 billion taxpayers will be asked to shell out to prop up the United Auto Workers’ retiree health insurance program. …

In effect, it would ask every taxpayer, regardless of whether they’ll have health insurance coverage themselves after they retire — and most won’t — to chip in to maintain the UAW’s coverage, which even after the union’s givebacks is still better than what the average American worker receives.

No wonder the unions have sent out their toughs to stand against the town hall protesters.

7.  Catnip for conspiracy theorists.

8.  Apparently, Michelle Obama’s hair matters.  Time says so.

9.  Mike Huckabee claims that Ted Kennedy would have been told “to take pain pills and go home and die” instead of receiving quality end-of-life treatment under Obamacare.  Joe Klein accuses him of “bearing false witness.”  Is Huckabee trying to out-Palin Palin?  I don’t think so.  As others have shown, there is legitimate reason to be concerned that any movement toward nationalized health insurance is a movement toward rationing, and in particular rationing of those who are near death.  According to some estimates, 80% of our health care costs come in the final year of life.  If you’re looking to cut costs, and if there will be government pressure to cut costs because the government is footing the bill, it’s common sense that there will be pressure to cut end-of-life treatments.  Ezekiel Emanuel strongly advocated, as recently as February, little to no coverage for those under a few years of age and the very old.  Here is the graph in which he proposed how much money should be spent on individuals at certain ages:

As McCaughey explains:

Dr. Emanuel concedes that his plan appears to discriminate against older people, but he explains: “Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not.”

The youngest are also put at the back of the line: “Adolescents have received substantial education and parental care, investments that will be wasted without a complete life. Infants, by contrast, have not yet received these investments. . . . As the legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin argues, ‘It is terrible when an infant dies, but worse, most people think, when a three-year-old dies and worse still when an adolescent does,’ this argument is supported by empirical surveys.” (thelancet.com, Jan. 31, 2009).

Ezekiel Emanuel, of course, is Rahm Emanuel’s brother and a health care advisor to the President.  So Huckabee may be wrong.  But he is not simply bearing false witness.  This is a difference of opinion, a way of reading the health care proposals that Klein disagrees with.  But it calls for a reasoned and detailed response, not just name-calling.

9.  Today’s Two-Sides.  The Washington Post’s Fred Hiatt, from the Left, says that we need a Souter-O’Connor Commission to investigate CIA abuses.  The Washington Times’ Clifford May, writing from the Right, laments how we are “demonizing the defenders.”  And here is an account in the Post of how Khalid Sheikh Mohammad became an asset after waterboarding.  You decide.

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Morning Report, August 28: Family Missions, the Gospel in Space, Insurance for Aliens, Mindless Fandom, Stupid Senators, More on KennedyCare, and the Rise of the "Afterbirthers"

August 28, 2009 By Timothy Dalrymple

One Christian’s perspective on the day’s news:

1.  An excellent new website directs families to ministry opportunities locally and internationally.  Families looking to spend purposive time together will find great resources, and organizations in need of volunteers will find families eager to serve.  I am interested in creating a similar resource for individuals at Patheos, so try it out and let me know what you think works and what could be improved.

2.  An astronaut takes a piece of missionary history with him into space.

3.  Iranian “President” Ahmadinejad, who recently stole an election, is pressing hard for the protesters to be prosecuted.  Will the Obama administration take a stand?   Will we, as Christians?

4.  I applaud the Obama administration for going after illegal tax havens.  The Swiss government agreed a little while ago to hand over account information on UBS customers who sought to avoid paying taxes by stowing money away in the famously secretive Swiss bank accounts, and now says that the IRS may seek information on customers in other Swiss banks as well.  Even those Christians, such as myself, who prefer minimal taxation, should hope that those who illegally evade tax payment are caught and forced to pay their share.  It’s hard to see a Christian case against transparency and complying with the law of the land.  In fact, the whole Swiss banking system, which keeps money on behalf of dictators and drug lords the world over, is in need of serious reform.  I am sure it is a major source of income for the Swiss government (Swiss banks hold $2 trillion in accounts for overseas customers), but it is morally repugnant, and time for Switzerland to give it up.  Germany and France have been especially vocal in opposition to Swiss banking secrecy, and the government is making new treaties to prevent tax fraud.

UBS admitted to participating “in a scheme to defraud the U.S.,” and tax evasion through Switzerland costs us, at least, tens of billions of dollars in lost tax revenue every year.  Which makes it peculiar (though not necessarily wrong) that Obama played golf the other day with UBS’ CEO of American operations, Robert Wolf.  Since Robert Wolf was one of Obama’s biggest donors, bundling at least $250,000 for him, and is an Obama appointee to the Economy Recovery Advisory Council, some, such as Amy Goodman from Democracy Now!, object.  Perhaps UBS got off lightly, since they are paying only $780 million to settle the U.S. suit against them, and handing over information on fewer than 1/10th of the number of clients the U.S. government requested?  Perhaps.  One imagines that, in a split government, such potential conflicts of interest would be supervised by Congress.

Goodman is wrong, however, when she objects to the “backdoor bailout” UBS received through AIG.  When the U.S. government gave taxpayer money to AIG, some of that money went to other companies, such as Goldman Sachs and UBS, who had taken out insurance against loan defaults and etc.  In order to keep functioning, AIG had to give the money it had promised.  (UBS was given $2.5B from the bailout–or perhaps $5b total, according to some reports I’m seeing.)  Goodman writes: “UBS, this bank that shelters wealthy tax dodgers, was actually being bailed out by hardworking U.S. taxpayers.”  Not really; AIG was being bailed out, and was contractually obligated to give money to UBS.  The issue of tax dodging at UBS is a separate issue.

5.  The reports of the Congressional Research Service are not released to the public; the CRS works to answer questions raised by people in Congress.  Yet the CRS report that concludes that illegal immigrants would receive coverage–and in fact would be required to get coverage through the health insurance exchanges–is seeing the light of day.  In short, there are no meaningful enforcement mechanisms that would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving coverage–and they, like all people, would be required to get coverage.  Democrats defeated each Republican attempt to introduce enforcement mechanisms that would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving health insurance courtesy of the United States government.  I am making no claim on where Christians should stand in regard to health insurance for illegal immigrants; I am only saying that the notion that illegal immigrants would receive coverage is, despite the President’s protestations (does he not know what it is in the bill? or is he simply being dishonest?), not a myth, lie or distortion.  It is quite reasonable.  The Congressional Research Service says so.

6.  More Evidence of the Fall, exhibit #11: a man named Phillip Garrido in California kidnapped an 11-year-old girl from South Lake Tahoe and took her to his home 200 miles away, where he hid her from the world for 18 years and fathered two children by her.  Not quite as horrific, but still horrific and reminiscent of the Austrian madman.

7.  I don’t mind that Michael Vick is back playing in the NFL, at least in the pre-season.  I do mind that he received a standing ovation.  Support from fans, even Philadelphia fans, does not have to be mindless and automatic.

8.  Sometimes the stupidity of our elected representatives astonishes me.  As anyone who has worked in the Congress can tell you, Congressmen are not necessarily much smarter than the average American.  Senators tend to be more intelligent than Representatives.  Yet even the intelligent ones, given that their words are constantly recorded and reported to the world, make stupid mistakes.

Consider this one.  Senator Jim Inhofe, at a town hall meeting Wednesday, said of the health-care reform bill: “I don’t have to read it, or know what’s in it. I’m going to oppose it anyways.”  In context, the point is clearly that the headlong rush to pass a massive and sudden transformation of the American system is not a process that he accepts, and he will oppose anything that emerges from that process in order to oppose the process itself.  As the report goes on to say: “Inhofe said publid opinion and information provided by news media have helped him become a staunch non-supporter of the bill.  He said he would prefer waiting until after the mid-term elections to enact reforms.  He did not say nothing should be done.  He simply feels that a topic as important as healthcare should not be rushed through the Senate or House of Representatives.”

Yet we will, inevitably, see another story about how the Republicans don’t care about health-care reform, don’t care to accomplish anything to serve the American people, and are committed to opposing the bill simply in order to bring down Obama.  You can bet on it.

The report received attention because Inhofe says that Americans are not accepting the transformation of government into a far larger and more intrusive form, and “we are almost reaching a revolution in this country.”  Also not the best language.

As an indication of the greater stupidity of House members, however, consider Kansas Republican representative Lynn Jenkins, who said that the Republican party is still looking for its “great white hope” to oppose Obama in 2012.

9.  As predicted, Republicans accuse Democrats of “exploiting” Ted Kennedy’s death in order to revive the fortunes of health-care reform.  Although I’m sure the same accusation would be leveled by Democrats if the situation were reversed, this is easily dismissed as ordinary partisan politics without meaning.  Kennedy would be thrilled to have his death “exploited” in this way if it helped pass health-care reform, which he had sought for ages.  One thing I did not know about Kennedy, but which was mentioned by Howie Carr in yesterday’s anti-hagiography: Kennedy was pro-life into the 1970s.  This was his take in 1971: “Wanted or unwanted, I believe that human life, even at its earliest stages, has certain rights which must be recognized – the right to be born, the right to love, the right to grow old.”

And speaking of hagiographies, see this one from CNN.  Even the Robert Bork slander, which should be indefensible to any reasonable person, is cast in the most positive possible light.  Consider that one of Kennedy’s favorite things to joke about was Chappaquiddick itself.  Ed Klein, a liberal journalist (“he always saw the other side of everything, and the ridiculous side too), seems to think this shows what a big heart he had.  Huh?

It’s also worth remembering that Ted Kennedy could have achieved universal health-care if he had cut a deal with Nixon in the 1970s.  Nixon had political reasons for favoring universal coverage (by employer mandate (which Joe Klein loathes) and federal subsidies for insurance to low-income individuals), and Kennedy had political reasons for rejecting it.  Largely it was a question of who would get the credit.

10.  The consequences of Kennedy’s death, for health-care reform, are still unclear.  More now are suggesting that Democrats, without the hope of getting the 60 votes they would need to break a Republican filibuster, will retreat to the “reconciliation” process and actually pass a more sweeping and more partisan bill with 51 votes.  That would have to pass muster, however, with the Senate parliamentarian, as discussed earlier, or else Democrats can divide the reform into two bills, one to pass by reconciliation and another to pass by regular vote.

Or the Democrats who control the legislature in Massachusetts may change the law so that the Democratic governor can appoint an interim Senator to Kennedy’s seat.  No less a figure than Harry Reid, head of the Senate, is pressing for them to do so.  (Ironically, Kennedy led the movement to take away the governor’s appointment power a mere five years ago, when Republican governor Mitt Romney would have been able to appoint a replacement for John Kerry if Kerry had won the White House.  This hypocrisy, if such it is, is rarely mentioned in these stories.)  The leaders of the Massachusetts legislature are being mum so far on whether they will change the law–but this is wise.  There really shouldn’t be any doubt that they will do whatever they have to do to help the Democrats nationally, but they are waiting for the offers to come in.  Sure, I’ll change the law so the governor can make an appointment–but what’s in it for me?

11.  The 8-year war in Afghanistan saw its deadliest months in July and August.  July had 44 deaths, and August has 44 so far.  Now that American commanders have called for more troops, Obama is going to have some tough decisions to make.  Let’s remember we have a war ongoing that is still bloody for American servicemen and women, and we need to keep them, and their commanders, and Afghanistan and especially the innocent citizens who are at risk, in our prayers.

12.  Brilliant.  First came the “birthers.”  Now, courtesy of The Onion, come the “afterbirthers,” who demand to see Obama’s placenta.

13.  Today’s Two Sides, #1.  A quickie.  Charles Krauthammer, writing from the Right, believes that “Obamacare 1.0″ is dead and recommends how Obama might recover and pass a different version of reform nonetheless.  (Many, even on the Left, are calling for a relaunch.)  Jonathan Cohn, writing from the Left, also suggests things Obama should do differently, and contends that the fight is far from over.

14.   Sign of the Times: Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is the victim of identity fraud.

15.  Mickey Kaus, who maintains a center-left blog for Slate, tries to throw cold water on the theory that a loss of the Democrat’s Congressional majority in 2010 would be the best thing that could happen for Obama.  I’m not sure he entirely overturns the theory, but he does show that it’s not so simple.  Kaus has always been one of my favorite bloggers on the left of center.

16.  Youth unemployment hits a record high.  A consequence of the minimum wage increase?  Some think so.

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