Small Victories

Longing
Long before revelations in the spring that the Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix had manipulated waiting lists to hide that veterans were facing long delays to see doctors, senior department officials in Washington had been made aware of serious problems at the hospital, according to filings before a federal administrative board. (New York Times, 12/26/2014)

An entire article on the Veterans Affairs scandal and not one mention of the politician in charge of Senate oversight of the VA. Who would be..... Vermont's own Bernie Sanders! Can you imagine such a journalistic oversight if the senator had been, say, Ted Cruz?


Jihadist
The revival of the U.S. financial system after the crash of 2008 is arguably the Obama administration’s biggest domestic policy success. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in her jihad against Wall Street, seems determined to devalue this accomplishment — and to make financial expertise a mark of shame for Democrats, rather than a source of pride. (David Ignatius, Washington Post, 12/23/2014)

Even Liberal columnists realize that - when it comes to the financial markets - Lizzie Warren is off the reservation..... wait, can we say that? 


Let's Analyze Kat's Column
The embargo hurt the Cuban people it claimed to help and bolstered the regime that it intended to undermine. (Katrina vanden Heuvel, Washington Post, 12/23/2014)

And how we know that the U.S. embargo has "bolstered the regime" is because ... what?

The effort to isolate Cuba has been increasingly isolating the United States both in the hemisphere and across the world.

And the specific proof that the U.S. has been 'isolated' by its embargo is that Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is no friend to the U.S. Oh wait, he's dead. 

Normalizing relations with Cuba enables the United States to advocate for individual liberty, without being seen as a bully trying to club a small neighbor into submission.

Great idea Kat! Let's try this with North Korea!

The Cold War is over; the Soviet Union no more.

And Putin's invasion of the Ukraine, that doesn't count.

For more than a century, we have casually and routinely trampled the sovereign rights of our neighbors to the south.

Finally we get to the real point that Comrade vanden Heuvel wants to make: it is all America's fault! Yes, blame America.


Eyes On
Polls taken over the last three months reveal a list of home-state complaints: Mr. Christie’s favorability is at its lowest point, with more voters disapproving than approving of his job performance. New Jersey residents think he is making decisions with an eye on his national standing rather than on what is good for their state. (New York Times, 12/28/2014)

Chris Christie probably breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the New York Times had pivoted away from writing endless negative stories about him to focus on Jeb Bush. He was foolish if he thought he could let his guard down. Given that the Times will be writing no hit pieces on Hillary Clinton, Lizzie Warren or Bernie Sanders, it has plenty of capacity to focus on all the potential Republican candidates.


Bouncer
What’s the important lesson from this late Obama bounce? Mainly, I’d suggest, that everything you’ve heard about President Obama’s economic policies is wrong. (Paul Krugman, New York Times, 12/29/2014)

After six years of dreadful economic news, it is now official. We can refer to any uptick as "the Obama recovery." Yes, those specific programs that Obama put in place have led to this "bounce." Guess they just took a little time to work..... Of course, voters rewarded Obama and the Democrat party for their careful stewardship of the economy by keeping the Senate in their hands and returning the House to the Dems. That happened, right?

The Weight of Expectation

The Worm Turns
For weeks, university officials were careful not to strike a defensive tone, emphasizing that whatever doubts there were about the account, they saw a problem that needed addressing. But on Friday, the university’s rector, George Keith Martin, opened a meeting of its governing Board of Visitors with a broadside at the news media.

“Our tightly knit community has experienced the full fury of drive-by journalism in the 21st century — of callous indifference to the truth and callous indifference to the consequences,” he said, adding, “our great university’s reputation has been unfairly tarnished.”

Before reciting a long list of things the administration is doing to make the campus safer, Teresa A. Sullivan, the university president, said, “Our concern with sexual assault was not something that started with the Rolling Stone article.” And she said she felt compelled to state that “UVA’s climate and culture are generally healthy.” (New York Times,. 12/19/2014)

The University of Virginia Rape Hoax. 

Instead of an apology to the fraternity that she was quick to punish, UVA President Teresa A. Sullivan now blames...the media!

To Liberals who suddenly and unexpectedly face scrutiny from a previously docile and compliant media we offer little in the way of sympathy. Imagine for just a moment how the UVA frat that was unjustly accused feels. 

And just remember, the next time that you hear of some atrocious sexual assault on a college campus: it is undoubtedly a hoax. 


Why?
A Vermont Senator Asks, Why Not a Socialist President? (New York Times headline, 12/19/2014)

Well...because he's a nut-job.


Heavy Lifting
Still, the president acknowledged that he would have to work with Congress on contentious issues, including lifting the 54-year-old American trade embargo against Cuba. “We cannot unilaterally bring down the embargo,” he said, although his administration is undertaking a major effort to loosen key elements. (New York Times, 12/20/2014)

Prediction? 

Six months from now Obama will announce an executive order lifting the trade embargo against Cuba. He will deny ever having said that he could not take such action unilaterally. 

You read it here first. 

Beneath the Tree of Enlightenment

Danger Bird
Mr. Weiner, appearing solemn and a bit worn as he faced more than 100 journalists at a hastily arranged news conference, acknowledged that his habit of sending sexual images and text messages to female fans had continued for more than a year after he left Congress vowing to seek treatment and change his behavior. (NYT, 7/23/2013)

Never doubt RedStateVT. Ever. Many scoffed when we welcomed Weiner into the NYC mayoral race. Now you know why. We predicted that he would provide an unending series of yucks. A new prediction. Weiner will be the next mayor. Bad behavior and poor performance are no longer deterrents to a long political career. As we wrote after the re-election of Obama, accountability is dead. 


War Games
Working out of war rooms in the West Wing basement, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the Department of Health and Human Services, the team is first trying to find in the next year 2.7 million uninsured people between 18 and 35, most of whom are healthy. Just as Mr. Obama’s electoral success hinged on the turnout machine he created in Chicago, the fate of the health care law rests on whether his administration can turn out and enroll the uninsured. (NYT, 7/23/2013)

Government to healthy uninsured person: We're from the government and we are here to help you.

Healthy Uninsured Person (HUP): Help me with what?

Government: Your health insurance.

HUP: I don't have health insurance.

Government: You do now!

HUP: No I don't!

Government: You do, otherwise you will pay a fine.

HUP: How much is health insurance?

Government: For you, probably about a hundred dollars a month.

HUP: I thought you were here to help me.

Government: The truth is that we need your money to pay for the unhealthy....


Viva
In a speech to the National Assembly, Mr. Castro said that Cubans’ behavior — from urinating in the street and raising pigs in cities to taking bribes — had led him to conclude that, despite five decades of universal education, the island had “regressed in culture and civility.” (NYT, 7/23/2013)

What will Sean Penn say?