HALF-FULL REPORT 02/26/10

I better be careful here, as there’s so much to talk about this week the HFR could be the length of a small novel. 

Before we begin – an important announcement.  So many TTPers can’t wait six months for another Rendezvous that we’ve decided to have an extra Spring Rendezvous in San Diego, California May 14-16.  Details next week, but mark your calendar now.

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So – let’s start with the HFR International Hero of Week, Alvaro Uribe of Colombia. 

On Monday (2/22) at a conference of Latin American heads of state in Cancun, Mexico, Hugo Chavez couldn’t stand Uribe’s criticism of a Venezuelan trade embargo on Colombia, and threatened to walk out of the meeting.f

At which point, Uribe, into the microphone so everyone could hear, said to Chavez: 

"Be a man! These issues are meant to be discussed in these venues. You’re brave speaking at a distance, but a coward when it comes to talking face to face."

Have you ever heard of a head of state calling another head of state a "coward" to his face?  Further, there is no greater insult in hyper-macho Latin society than to question a man’s manhood.  Uribe totally humiliated Chavez mano-a-mano, and as if to prove all bullies are cowards, Chavez could only respond with a playground-childish "Go to hell."

Finally, Chavez gets a comeuppance.  Now if he’ll just be provoked enough to attack Colombia militarily as he’s always threatening to do, so Uribe’s forces can parachute in and seize the presidential palace in Caracas.  The war, and Chavez’s dictatorship, would be over in hours.

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The HFR Deceased Hero of the Week is General Alexander Haig, who passed on last Saturday (2/20).

You may have heard that, in the time honored tradition of tyrants in trouble ramping up a jingoistic war, Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner ("Old Plastic Face") has picked a fight with the Brits over the Falkland Islands.  And that, in the liberal tradition of screwing America’s friends and appeasing her enemies, Zero has refused to support British sovereignty over the Falklands – which has rightfully enraged the British press.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan was president, Alexander Haig was Secretary of State, Jeane Kirkpatrick was US Ambassador to the UN, Margaret Thatcher was British Prime Minister, and the military dictatorship in Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands.

Thatcher thought she could depend on the resolute support of her friend whom she affectionately called "Ronnie," and was shocked to her core when Reagan hesitated.  This was because Kirkpatrick was friends with the Argentine generals and angrily argued that the US should not "take sides" in the war – exactly Zero’s position today.

Haig would have none of it.  He denounced Kirkpatrick’s phony neutrality and demanded Reagan support the Brits with money, materiel, and no reservations.  Then he went to see Bill Casey.

Haig asked Reagan’s CIA Director what could be done.  "We have an asset aboard the San Luis," the one really dangerous submarine the Argentines had, Casey revealed.  "He could sabotage the Argies’ German SST-4 torpedoes.  We could tell him just how to do it so everyone would think it was an unsuspicious malfunction.  The boat is still in port at Puerto Belgrano, set to sail in a few days."

Haig then went to see Reagan, who came to his senses, authorized Casey to proceed, and called up "Maggie" to apologize and offer full US support.

And so it was on May 1, 1982, when the San Luis fired a torpedo that hit the Royal Navy frigate HMS Brilliant, the torpedo – powerful enough to sink the ship – failed to explode.  On May 10, the San Luis fired two torpedoes.  The one launched at the HMS Arrow failed to leave its tube.  The one launched at the HMS Alacrity hit its target – and failed to explode.

The San Luis returned to port, the British Navy, instead of its ships disastrously sunk, controlled the sea, thus allowing for a successful counter-invasion.  The Argentines surrendered on June 14.  Thatcher had won the war and Reagan was a hero to the Brits – thanks to Alexander Haig.

To my knowledge, this story has never been told before.  The US Navy’s account of Submarine Operations During the Falklands War is oblivious to it, attributing what happened on the San Luis to unexplained circumstances.  I know the story because Casey, over a drink or two many years ago, told it to me.

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And the HFR live breathing American Heroes of the Week?  Republicans in Congress.

It’s about time we acknowledged these guys and stopped whining about what RINOs so many of them are – like Glenn Beck did in his clown-vomit rant at CPAC (2/20).  In the House, they are outgunned 178 to 255 and yet are managing to stifle most all of Zero’s agenda.

So much so that Pelosi has killed bills for homosexualizing the military and "cap & trade" climate fascism, while GOP whip Eric Cantor can confidently pronounce Zero’s latest effort to pass Zerocare in the House to be "deader than dead." 

Even more impressive is how Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been able to corral every single GOP Senator without exception into blocking all of Zero’s major legislative goals (the Stimulus Bill a year ago, unstoppable amidst Obamaphoria, doesn’t count).  Not even the two flighty ladies from Maine, Snowe & Collins, have been RINOs lately.

At the "Health Summit" yesterday, the Republicans kicked Zero’s derrière, typified by Paul Ryan of Wisconsin calmly explaining to Zero the ludicrousness of his proposals:

 

Jack Kelly says the expression of Zero, listening to Ryan and knowing he’s getting his clock cleaned, is "priceless."

Charlie Cook, the best political prognosticator in Washington, is now predicting a "horrific" loss of Dem seats in November.  A net loss of 41 seats gives the Pubs the Majority.  Cook is now saying the Dems could lose 50 to 60 seats.

It may be just as catastrophic for the Dems in the Senate.  On top of the expected losses, such as Reid in Nevada and Lincoln in Arkansas, now we hear that Dino Rossi may run against Patty Murray in Washington state.

In 2004, Rossi was elected governor, the Dems challenged and rigged a recount so he lost by 129 votes (just like they rigged Al Franken’s recount win in Minnesota in 2008).  Rasmussen shows he would win – if he decides to run.

In Wisconsin, another Dem seat thought to be solidly safe, Russ Feingold’s, would be taken away by former governor Tommy Thompson.  As is Rossi’s, Thompson’s phone won’t stop ringing as GOP heavyweights call to beg him to run.  Looks like he may.

There’s a persistent rumor on the Hill now that Maryland’s Barbara Mikulski will follow Indiana’s Evan Bayh plus North Dakota’s Byron Dorgan and announce retirement.  She’s 74 this summer, and although her staff denies it, they also admit she doesn’t want to march towards 80 in the minority.  The more she thinks that’s her fate, the higher the odds she’ll retire instead.

It’s a rarity when both Senate seats of a state are up in the same year, but that’s New York in 2010, with Dems Chuck Schumer and appointee (replacing Hillary Clinton) Kirsten Gillibrand. 

As we saw in last week’s HFR, CNBC economist dynamo Larry Kudlow may take on Schumer, while former Gov. George Pataki can’t seem to make his mind up taking on Gillibrand even though he’s way ahead of her in polls.

Then there’s New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg.  He’s not up, having been reelected in 2008, but he’s 86 years old and has just been diagnosed with stomach cancer.  Odds are high that he’ll have to retire soon – at which time the state’s new Republican governor, Chris Christie, will appoint a Republican to replace him.

Let’s recap.  The Dems are sure to lose Nevada (Lowden or Tarkanian over Reid), Pennsylvania (Toomey over Specter), Delaware (Castle over Biden’s vacant seat), Indiana (Coats over Bayh vacancy), North Dakota (Hoeven over Dorgan vacancy), Arkansas (May 18 primary winner, likely John Boozman, over Lincoln), and Colorado (Jane Norton or Ken Buck over Bennett).  That’s down seven.

The Dems are likely to lose Illinois (Kirk over Giannoulias), Washington (if Rossi runs against Murray), Wisconsin (if Thompson runs against Feingold), and New York (if Pataki runs against Gillibrand).  Four more.

The Dems may well lose California (Fiorina over Boxer) and even New York again (if Kudlow runs against Schumer).

Add in Lautenberg leaving, and the Dems will lose between seven and fourteen Senate seats in November.  If they lose 10 or more, they’re the Minority.

(Oh, that’s a net loss, you say – what about any Pub losses?  Of the 18 Pub seats up, the only maybe is Missouri’s.  Kit Bond is retiring, and Pub Congressman Roy Blunt is in a tight race against the daughter of a popular former Dem governor, Robin Carnahan.) 

The Pub plan to destroy the Dems in November is to shut up – proudly be the Party of No – so as to provide as little distraction as possible while the Dems engage in self-destruction.  If your enemy is destroying himself – don’t get in the way.

Thus Zero and the Dems’ simply demented fixation on trying once again to ram ObamaCare down America’s throat.  This is clear evidence that Zero and the Dems cannot and will not tack towards the political center, and are determined to sail over the falls on the left.

The Pubs are not going to stop them, and wait until they have clearly gone over the falls this summer to start a major push for advocating their own solutions.  That’s when pressure from TeaPartiers will be most crucial, to keep the Pubs sailing straight towards freedom and truly free market solutions.

But in the meantime, let’s give credit to those House and Senate Republicans actually in the ring, actually – and thus far successfully –  fighting the evil Zero and the Dems are determined to foist upon us all.  They need and deserve praise and gratitude from those in the stands and sidelines, not sneers. 

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Which brings up Scott Brown.  A chorus of bellows bemoaning his "betrayal" followed his vote with the Dems, along with four other Pubs, on the Dem "jobs bill" this Monday (2/22).  More moaning when he voted for the final bill Wednesday (2/24) along with 12 other Pubs.

Oh, good grief.  Brown has to make himself comfortable with his constituents, only a minority of whom are TeaPartying fire-breathers.  The canniest way to do this is to pick votes where he is not the deciding factor, and on bills that both have some merit while having the potential to cause the Dems a lot of unforeseen grief.

This "Jobs Bill" is just the Brown ticket.  Now it moves to the House – where it has immediately run into a buzzsaw of angry opposition from the liberal looters of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Rather than $13 billion of government welfare and handouts, the bill provides that much in tax credits to small businesses for hiring new workers or increasing wages.  This outrages the Marxist Black Caucus and they are vowing to defeat the bill.  That’s cool – and you don’t think Downtown Scotty Brown didn’t see that coming?

The folks who lost it regarding Brown’s vote need to start thinking with their prefrontal cortex (the seat of rational thought), rather than their limbic system (the seat of primitive emotions).  Then again, enabling this is the function of TTP – the Oasis for Rational Conservatives…

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I’m running out of time and space here, guys n’ gals.  A lot more is going on this week, like the collapse of the Euro, how the entire welfare state system of Europe is coming unglued, why US stocks may be headed for an Ice Age, how the coming attempt by Zero to rule by Executive Order is a marvelous opportunity to Defund & Disobey.  Note – please support TTPer Mitch Rapp’s dedication to American freedom by helping to fund Defund & Disobey.

So let me close with an additional plea.  Please join me in an effort to free U.S. Army Master Sergeant John E. Hatley, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for killing Iraqi terrorists.

All the details are at defendjohnhatley.com.  John Hatley is an American Warrior Hero – yet he is currently serving a 40 year sentence in Leavenworth for killing four murderous terrorists and dumping their bodies in a canal where they belonged.  His wife Kim has dedicated her life to gaining clemency for him.

This hero being in jail is a perfect example of how political correctness is destroying America‘s most noble institution, her military.  Freeing him would be a forward step in excising the cancer of political correctness infecting our armed forces.  Thanks for doing what you can for Master Sergeant John Hatley.