Let's Dish

Woebegone
The financial woes of Detroit, which last month became the nation’s largest city to file for bankruptcy protection, dwarf the financial issues here. But as Detroit makes its way through the federal court system, other cities, including Chicago, are wrestling with overwhelming pension liabilities that threaten to undermine their capacity to provide municipal services and secure their futures. (NYT, 8/5/2013)

Let's see...what do both Detroit and Chicago have in common? Yes, it's true that they are both cities, but that is not the answer we were looking for. If you said, however, that they are both cities that are financial basket cases and that have been run for decades by Democrats then you would be correct. Democrats see no connection whatsoever between their policies and financial ruin. 

We are not a big fan of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, but - credit where it is due - at least he gets it:

But Mr. Emanuel has openly called for increasing retirement ages, raising workers’ contributions toward their own pensions and temporarily freezing inflation adjustments now paid to retirees, all of which amount, union leaders say, to benefit cuts. (NYT, 8/5/2013)


Interception
The Obama administration’s decision last week to close nearly two dozen diplomatic missions and issue a worldwide travel alert came after the United States intercepted electronic communications in which the head of Al Qaeda ordered the leader of the group’s affiliate in Yemen to carry out an attack as early as this past Sunday, according to American officials. (NYT, 8/5/2013)

It has been a year since Obama ran for re-election proclaiming Al Qaeda was "on the run." Will the Legitimate Media now challenge him on this point? Of course they will not. Obama gets a pass, just as he got a pass on high unemployment, high gas prices, Solyndra, "saving" Detroit, golf, Benghazi and everything else. 


Stakeout
Michael R. Bloomberg has staked much of his reputation as the mayor of New York City on improving students’ test scores, and has trumpeted gains in math and reading as validation of his 12-year effort to remake the city’s schools.

But the mayor’s telling of history is poised to receive one of its most vigorous challenges yet on Wednesday, when New York State is expected to report drastic drops in student performance across the state because of a new set of tougher exams.

In New York City, the proportion of students deemed proficient in math and reading could decrease by as many as 30 percentage points, city officials said, threatening to hand Mr. Bloomberg a public relations problem five months before he is set to leave office.

Already, many of Mr. Bloomberg’s rivals — the teachers’ union, parent groups, and several of the Democratic candidates vying to succeed him — have begun to use the prospect of a steep drop in scores to call into question the mayor’s record on education.

The United Federation of Teachers on Friday released a 1,000-word memo, in part blaming Mr. Bloomberg for poor test results, saying he had not done enough to train teachers for the new standards, known as Common Core. (NYT, 8/4/2013)

We loved this one. We are no great fans of Bloomberg (either), but we give him credit for standing up to the teachers union. 

According to the union it is Bloomberg's fault that test scores for NYC students declined. It has nothing to do with teachers.

Why do young people so often fail to demonstrate accountability for their actions? Maybe THAT is what they are learning in school from teachers.


Quote of the Day
The second shortest distance in Washington now runs between an Obama speech and its empirical disproof. (Bret Stephens, WSJ, 8/5/2013)

The Days Last Rays

Could Have Been
President Obama spoke publicly for the first time Friday on the acquittal of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, calling for an examination of 'Stand Your Ground" laws nationwide. 

"Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago," Obama said, adding that "it's important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away."  (Washington Post, 7/18/2013)

In the good old days, presidents had trusted advisers who would quietly counsel them. Often the advice was to shut up. President Dum-Dum has only sycophants like Valerie Jarrett and she is not about to tell him to stop putting his foot in his mouth. First Obama has an imaginary son who is Trayvon Martin. Next Obama himself is Trayvon Martin.  How bizarre is it that we have a black president pandering to black people?


Nobody
No one likes bailouts or the prospect of rewarding Detroit’s historic fiscal mismanagement. But apart from voting in elections, the 700,000 remaining residents of the Motor City are no more responsible for Detroit’s problems than were the victims of Hurricane Sandy for theirs, and eventually Congress decided to help them. America is just as much about aiding those less fortunate as it is about personal responsibility. Government does this in so many ways; why shouldn’t it help Detroit rebuild itself? (Steven Rattner, NYT, 7/19/2013)

Pension fund crook Rattner gets it exactly wrong. The residents of Detroit share in the responsibility for Detroit's plight BECAUSE of their votes. They elected Democrats for the past 50 years. Those Democrats who ran the city into the dirt. 


Chain Reaction
An attempt by Washington’s City Council to force profitable chain stores to pay much higher wages than the city’s minimum has infuriated Walmart, which is threatening to pull out of up to six planned stores.

Mayor Vincent C. Gray, who worked hard to lure Walmart, finds himself caught in the middle, and many residents sound less than grateful to the lawmakers who claim to be looking out for them.

“Those big people in government, they don’t understand my situation,” said Fred Reaves, 45, who is unemployed and said he would gladly take a job at the current city minimum, $8.25. (NYT, 7/20/2013)

Proof once again that the true enemies of the poor are Liberals.


Imposition
...many European countries already have versions of Texas’s late-term abortion ban on the books. France, Germany and Italy all ban abortions after the first trimester, and impose waiting periods as well. (Ross Douthat, NYT, 7/20/2013)

Good point by Douthat for all those abortion rights hysterics who imagine the end of the world because Texas imposes a few conditions.

Outer Perimeter

All along, the state’s involvement — including Mr. Snyder’s decision to send in an emergency manager — has carried racial implications, setting off a wave of concerns for some in Detroit that the mostly white Republican-led state government was trying to seize control of Detroit, a Democratic city where more than 80 percent of residents are black. (NYT, 7/18/2013)

The New York Times provides the Liberal explanation for the Detroit bankruptcy: White Republicans want to take over control of Black Detroit. Could it be in order to enslave its residents? The Times does not say....but maybe.

The RedStateVT explanation (you heard it here first yesterday) is that Detroit has been run by Democrats since 1962. That is why it is bankrupt. 

Physical Manifestation

Liberal Hate Speech
Do you think Wyoming wants a fresh face? Cheney is extremely fresh, having lived in the Virginia suburbs until recently. In her YouTube announcement, she basically argued that her genes were from Wyoming, where her grandmother was the first female deputy sheriff of Natrona County. She frequently points out that her great-grandmother was a settler who walked across the state in her bare feet. If we could get a re-enactment of that, it could make this a campaign for the ages.

Meanwhile, her supportive father has agreed to take part in Wyoming’s annual antelope hunt competition with Colorado. Exciting things happen when Dick Cheney goes off to shoot wild critters. (Gail Collins, NYT, 7/17/2013)

With snide female New York Times Liberal columnist Maureen Dowd claiming the hate Bush space, snide female New York Times columnist Gail Collins goes for the hate Cheney space (see the pattern?) Collins takes exception to Liz Cheney running for office in Wyoming after living in Virginia. Which brings to mind a former female senator and later Secretary of State who, having decided on a career in politics, shopped around for a state to run in, eventually settling upon New York. What was her name again? 

Of course, Collins wrote extensively about that at the time. Or maybe she didn't.

As to her reference to Dick Cheney's hunting accident. Well shame on Collins. That is despicable.


Liberal Policies in Action
Detroit has become the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy.

State-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr on Thursday asked a federal judge permission to place the city into Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. (Washington Post, 7/18/2013)

Here is what you need to know: the last seven (count em, seven) mayors of Detroit have been Democrats. Dating back to 1962. That's 1962. 


Touty
President Barack Obama on Thursday will tout the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to a skeptical public during a speech at the White House as part of an effort to build support for the health law in the face of continued Republican efforts to block it. (WSJ, 7/17/2013)

We wonder. Will the president's speech address the following?:

The letter was unusually harsh. Addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, it was really intended for President Barack Obama. The letter was not from Mr. Obama's GOP adversaries but from the presidents of three powerful unions.

On July 12, James Hoffa of the Teamsters (1.4 million members), Joseph Hansen of the Food and Commercial Workers (1.3 million members) and D. Taylor of UNITE-HERE (200,000 members, mostly culinary and hotel workers) wrote to complain about the president's Affordable Care Act. (Karl Rove, WSJ, 7/17/2013)


Pursuit
The military judge in the trial of Pfc. Bradley Manning decided on Thursday not to drop a charge accusing Private Manning of “aiding the enemy.” 
......
The government has said it will not pursue the death penalty against Private Manning. (NYT, 7/18/2013)

So basically, good news/bad news.