Where is Barry's FEMA?

The addition of 3,000 soldiers and airmen makes 4,600 Guardsmen pressed into service. It's the largest call-up in Kentucky history, which Beshear called an appropriate response to a storm that cut power to more than 600,000 people, the state's largest outage on record. Many people in rural areas cannot get out of their driveways due to debris and have no phone service, the governor said.

"With the length of this disaster and what we're expecting to be a multi-day process here, we're concerned about the lives and the safety of our people in their own homes," Beshear said, "and we need the manpower in some of the rural areas to go door-to-door and do a door-to-door canvass ... and make sure they're OK."

.....The storm that began in the Midwest had been blamed or suspected in at least 42 deaths, including 11 in Kentucky, nine in Arkansas, six each in Texas and Missouri, three in Virginia, two each in Oklahoma, Indiana and West Virginia and one in Ohio.

Nary a mention of FEMA in the article.
Money quote:
"Barack Obama doesn't care about Middle American white people." -- Larry Faren

UPDATE -- 6:25 P.M.
And Ed Driscoll explains how "Obama Dozed, People Froze!"

UPDATE -- February 1, 2009 -- 11:31 A.M.

And HERE is a great "takedown" by The Anchoress and others. One element of FEMA "non-reaction" covered at the link reminds me of the Investor's Business Daily editorial on 9/8/2005 that said:
Hillary Clinton says FEMA was more effective when her husband was president. The victims of Hurricane Floyd might venture a different opinion -- and it wasn't FEMA that kept supplies from the Superdome.
During a post-Katrina conference call with reporters, Sen. Clinton said, "Helping localities do what they needed to do to mitigate damage — that philosophy governed FEMA during the Clinton administration. It obviously was rejected by this administration."
Does that mean Clinton's FEMA was the model of government efficiency and effectiveness? Or was it closer to the DMV and post office? Just ask the tens of thousands of people left stranded up and down the Eastern Seaboard by Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
"We're starting to move the trailers in," said then-FEMA director and current Hillary favorite James Lee Witt, nearly a month after Floyd first hit. "It's been so wet, it's been difficult to get things in there" — an explanation that sounds familiar.

You see, blog fans, the internet and my own PC have conveniently-long "memories" that should not be underestimated.

Calling Barry. Come in, Barry.

From the Columbia Journalism Review:

While it is too early to judge just how this will work out, the early signs are troubling. And interviews with a dozen Washington reporters indicate that the Obama press operation tends to embrace friendly questions, while treating skeptical questions as not worth their time or, worse, as coming from an enemy.

I have called 202-456-2580, the main number for the White House press office, going back to the Nixon administration. Never has anyone in the press office declined to spell his name, give his job title, or hung up, even after the kind of aggressive exchanges that used to be common between journalists and flacks—and between journalists and high government officials, for that matter.

Well He did promise Hope-n-Change! My wife attempted to send a fax to the White House for two days last week -- to no avail. I never had any problem the past 5-6 years -- and I sent over 10 faxes by my conservative estimate. Go figure.

Another One Bites the Dust

If one chooses to read or listen to sources other than ABC, NBC, MSNBC, the NYTimes, LATimes, Chi Trib, etc you will easily learn that many canards from the Left against George W. Bush & Co. are simply FALSE. A very recent example may be found at some posts at the Corner "group" blog:

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January 27, 2009

Obama Speaks to the Muslims [Michael Ledeen]

On al Arabiyah. And after the usual pablum (George Mitchell is a great man, George Bush was a rude dolt, I know something about Islam having lived in the largest Muslim country, and so forth), the interviewer asks a straightforward question:

Q: Will the United States ever live with a nuclear Iran? And if not, how far are you going in the direction of preventing it?

Obama hits the dance floor:

THE PRESIDENT: You know, I said during the campaign that it is very important for us to make sure that we are using all the tools of U.S. power, including diplomacy, in our relationship with Iran. Now, the Iranian people are a great people, and Persian civilization is a great civilization. Iran has acted in ways that's not conducive to peace and prosperity in the region: their threats against Israel; their pursuit of a nuclear weapon which could potentially set off an arms race in the region that would make everybody less safe; their support of terrorist organizations in the past — none of these things have been helpful. But I do think that it is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress. And we will over the next several months be laying out our general framework and approach. And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.

In simple English: I dunno.
Posted at 09:46 AM

January 29, 2009

But, but . . . We've DONE All That [Michael Ledeen]

I'll keep this short, in the interests of my impressive blood pressure. There are two "stories" about Iran/U.S. relations bubbling around. One has to do with direct talks, the other with Ahmadinejad's demand that we apologize for our many past sins.
I know this is spitting into the wind, but neither is news. There have been talks between Washington and Tehran ever since 1979 (the Revolution). EVERY president has authorized them. On the public record, there were nearly thirty such talks during the Bush years, and there are "private" channels as well. So there is nothing new in this, it is business-as-usual. Iranian leaders have constantly demanded that we apologize, and we have. Clinton did it. Albright did it. And then, having obtained his ounce of humiliated flesh, Khamenei told them both to go to hell. Any story about talks with Iran or apologizing to Iran should contain those historical facts. Otherwise, you can just do what most of the journalists do: Pretend the world was created fresh just before you woke up, so all that matters is how you feel about it all.
Posted at 9:21 AM

Re: But, but... [Michael Rubin]

Michael, you're right. Putting aside Albright's apology, Obama's letter would not be the first: Remember that, after the hostage crisis began, Jimmy Carter wrote a letter to Ayatollah Khomeini which he tried to deliver through Ramsey Clark. Rather than ameliorate the crisis, it ended up making things worse.
Posted at 9:31 AM

Talking to Iran... [Michael Ledeen]

By popular demand, here is a list of twenty-eight publicly documented talks (direct and indirect) between the Bush Administration and Iran. Nobody ever mentions these. Everybody acts as if we hadn't talked to the Iranians since the seizure of the Embassy in Tehran in 1979. As for the apologies from Clinton and Albright, you're just gonna have to get your own copy of The Iranian Time Bomb.
Posted at 10:41 AM

---------------------------------------------------------------

What follows is that list that Ledeen found at http://www.meforum.org/article/2011 :

(Direct U.S.-Iran meetings shown below. A number of indirect meetings also listed at MEforum)

November 2001 through December 2002, more than sixteen meetings were held in Geneva and Paris (at least one every month except January 2002) between Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ryan Crocker, (who was also serving as the interim envoy to Afghanistan) and senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials.

November-December 2001, Special Afghanistan Envoy James Dobbins negotiated with Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Bonn, leading to the Bonn Agreement on Afghanistan.

January 21-22, 2002, Special Afghanistan Envoy James Dobbins discussed the Karina-A incident with a senior Iranian diplomat at the Tokyo donors conference for Afghanistan.

March 30 2002, Special Afghanistan Envoy James Dobbins discussed the future of the Afghan National Army with an Iranian general, in full uniform, who had been the commander of their security assistance efforts for the Northern Alliance throughout the war.

January 2003, acting U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (and NSC Senior Director) Zalmay Khalilzad and Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (soon to become UN ambassador) assume control over the negotiations; they meet in Paris.

March 16, 2003, Khalilzad and Crocker hold second meeting with Zarif in Geneva

April 2003, Khalilzad and Crocker hold third meeting with Zarif in Geneva

May 3, 2003, Khalilzad and Crocker hold fourth meeting with Zarif in Geneva

March 10, 2007 - The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, holds a meeting with an Iranian team at a conference of Iraq's neighbors in Baghdad.

May 28, 2007 - The US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and Iranian Ambassdor to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi meet in Baghdad

July 24, 2007 The US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi, held a second round of talks in Baghdad

August 6, 2007 The US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Kazemi Qomi held a third round of talks in Baghdad

November 20, 2007 The U.S. and Iran agree to fourth round of Crocker/Qomi talks

January 27, 2008 U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad attends multilateral meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Mojtaba Samare Hashemi, a top advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Davos, Switzerland. State Department says it was "unauthorized."

July 19, 2008 Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns accompanied Solana and representatives of the E3+3 to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Geneva.

---------------------------------------------------

Now Barky & Co. would like you to believe that they're gonna embark on a truly fresh approach in dealing with ImAdamnNutJob and the mullahs. Be careful what you buy-into over the next four years, citizens.

My New Hero

From his House page:

IRS Penalties and Interest Eliminated for All U.S. Taxpayers under new “Rangel Rule” Legislation

All U.S. taxpayers would enjoy the same immunity from IRS penalties and interest as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel [2 links!] and Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, if a bill introduced today by Congressman John Carter becomes law. Carter, a former longtime Texas judge, today introduced the Rangel Rule Act of 2009, HR 735, which would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from charging penalties and interest on back taxes against U.S. citizens. Under the proposed law, any taxpayer who wrote “Rangel Rule” on their return when paying back taxes would be immune from penalties and interest.

“We must show the American people that Congress is following the same law, and the same legal process as we expect them to follow,” says Carter. “That has not been done in the ongoing case against Chairman Rangel, nor in the instance of our new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. If we don’t hold our highest elected officials to the same standards as regular working folks, we owe it to our constituents to change those standards so everyone is abiding by the same law. Americans believe in blind justice, which shows no favoritism to the wealthy or powerful.”

Carter also said the tax law change will provide good economic stimulus benefits, as it would free many taxpayers from massive debts to the IRS, restoring those funds to the free market to help create jobs.

HOT Dining Deal

Restaurant.com is offering 70% off their certificates when you enter code SUPER at checkout through 1/31/09. $25 certificates which normally sell for $10, are now $3. I just ordered 5 for some restaurants within 12 miles of home. [Just enter the zip code area/surround in which you intend to use.] I paid the regular $10 each for 4 last year. Just learned of the $3 deal about an hour ago. They're typically not usable on Friday or Saturday or holidays and there's always a minimum food purchase amount. They expire one year from purchase. YOU'RE WELCOME.

The Typically-Unspoken Choice

In any decision-making process one of the possible competing choices is to do nothing. Ever think about that, Bucky? And it applies to the current credit/economic challenges. From Politico [excerpts]:

“The economy was too big. It was all phantom wealth borrowed from abroad. All this stimulus money is geared toward getting consumers spending and borrowing again. But spending and borrowing were the problem in the first place.”

....a painful recession is the best way to destroy America’s runaway culture of irresponsibility and debt. Economic turmoil, after all, has a way of grounding Americans....

“Our standard of living needs to come down to the point where it can be supported by organic output. It’s brutal, but it’s called capitalism, and it works. The alternative is called socialism, and it doesn’t work.”

....They say that borrowing more money to finance a stimulus package will pass a crushing and possibly permanent debt load on to the next generation. “The question is,” says Chris Edwards, the director of tax policy studies at Cato, “is this morally proper?”

....“Policymakers are saying: ‘Screw the future generations.’”

....housing prices are coming down to a more sustainable level. For first-time buyers, this is reopening a path to home ownership that had been all but blocked by hyper-inflated prices. The National Association of Realtors reported this week that housing sales rose 6.5 percent from November to December, largely on the strength of bargain hunters snapping up foreclosed properties. That could be a sign that the housing market is on its way to a balancing point at which lower prices once again draw new buyers into the system.

....An even better consequence of recession, say the Do-Nothings, is that American families are finally starting to pay down the dangerously high debt levels they’ve accumulated. One of the reasons last year’s economic stimulus failed, in fact, was that Americans used the money to pay off bills, not to spend on new products.

.... For all that, the Do-Nothings fully expect to lose the argument in Washington this week. The political momentum is all on the side of the stimulus. “Politicians feel a need to validate their own political authority, and they feel they have to do something.”

Translation: Let capitalism work.

No Mystery Here

About 20 young Somali-American men in Minneapolis have recently vanished. Newsweek has the story. I'll say it again: The Real "World War I".

UPDATE -- January 26, 2009 -- 6:40 PM

Gee, ya reckon THIS might be related?

"Eleven youths suspected of being trained with the hardline Islamist group of Al-Shabaab in the south-central Somalia were arrested. The youths reportedly arrived from Mogadishu to Hargeisaand had lived in the United States."

Know When to Holder. Know When to Folder.

"...the questions are still worth asking -- asking of Republicans, most of whom seem content to go with the Obama flow, and Democrats, who told us during the Gonzales days that a lawyer who is not accurate and forthright in answering Congress's questions is unfit to lead the Justice Department." -- Andy McCarthy, regarding AG-designate Eric Holder's "feeble explanation for the central role he played in the [2001] Marc Rich pardon was that he didn't really know who fugitive financier was, and never took the time to inform himself, when he was approached to intercede on Rich's behalf."

Ouch

UPDATE -- January 26, 2009 -- 1:18 PM

K-Lo posits yet another reason to oppose the confirmation of Holder.