Speaking this morning at the Joint Chiefs of Staff change of command ceremony, President Barack Obama hailed the killing of radical cleric and Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, a dual Yemeni/American citizen, as a major blow to jihadism. Today’s operation was a drone strike carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command working with the CIA.
** QUICK HITS. In defiance of party rules, Florida has officially picked January 31st for its Republican presidential primary. So look for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina to move to early and mid-January. … While most Republican candidates struggle in their fundraising (we haven’t heard from Rick Perry yet), President Barack Obama is somewhere over his $55 million target for the quarter just ending in fundraising for his joint party and presidential committees. … Obama’s fundraising was slowed by having to cancel more than a dozen major fundraisers while the preposterous debt ceiling/deficit reduction struggle dragged on over the summer. … A very quiet day in California politics, with Governor Jerry Brown signing and vetoing some more bills, amusing himself with a signing message on a bill allowing the display in a Kern County museum of a dead mountain lion which has been in deep freeze for three years due to a 1990 initiative mandating that dead wildlife be disposed of by the state Department of Fish and Game. As it changed the sacrosanct provisions of an initiative, the bill required and got a 4/5 vote. “This presumably important bill earned overwhelming support by both Republicans and Democrats. If only,” he lamented, “that same energetic bipartisan spirit could be applied to creating clean energy jobs and ending tax laws that send jobs out of state.”
** DETAILS OF AWLAKI TAKE-DOWN BEGIN TO EMERGE. The US is taking a more low-key approach in discussing and revealing details of the operation that killed radical cleric and Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki today in a town less than a hundred miles from Yemen’s capital city of Sanaa.
In part because it was an American operation in a nation, Yemen, which in the midst of a tricky insurrection against a longtime US ally, Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom the US is trying to get to step down from power.
And in part because Awlaki, born in New Mexico, with university degrees from Colorado and California, who preached at mosques in Colorado, California, and Virginia (ministering to 9/11 hijackers in California and Virginia), still held American citizenship but had been convicted in no court of law.
U.S. military and intelligence forces have been tracking Anwar al-Awlaki for years. On Friday, they found him and killed him.
Awlaki, who apparently inspired the Fort Hood major who killed 13 service members and whose ties to al Qaeda may go back as far as the 9/11 hijackers, was tracked down leaving a funeral in Yemen and killed by a rocket fired from a U.S. drone aircraft.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the hunt for Awlaki was code-named “Objective Troy” and had been in high gear for months.
A CIA drone finally got him, but that was only the tip of a much larger military operation. Missiles fired by the drone took out Awlaki’s vehicle. That made the American-born cleric the first U.S citizen to be targeted and killed as a terrorist.
A senior defense official said, “a very bad man just had a very bad day.”
President Obama seemed to have no qualms about Awlaki’s American roots. “Awlaki was the leader of external operations for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” Mr. Obama said after Friday’s attack. “In that role, he took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans.”
Samir Khan, another American member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and two passengers were also killed. But Awlaki was the main target. He had narrowly escaped an earlier drone strike the week after the Bin Laden raid, and this time the U.S. was taking no chances.
His hideout in a remote Yemeni town was under continuous surveillance and the pattern of his daily routine monitored.
Harrier jets flying from an amphibious carrier off the coast were ready to take a shot if the CIA drone missed. There was even an option for sending in Marine Ospreys with Special Operations Forces to collect any intelligence left after the strike, but that was never used. It was all part of a secret buildup which has occurred in and around Yemen as that country emerged as home to one of al Qaeda’s most active branches.
“This is further proof that al Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world,” Mr. Obama said.
Since the bin Laden raid last May, the U.S. has killed seven other senior al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Awlaki is number 8.
** NEW POLL: MORE ALARMING NEWS FOR DEMOCRATS. A new Gallup Poll brings fresh news for alarm among Democrats. Although the Republican presidential field is providing more than ample evidence of its extremism, a plurality now feels that Republicans would be better than Democrats in handling the nation’s problems.
Both on the economy, and on national security.
The latter is not unusual. But the former certainly is.
In addition, reflecting the multiple failures in government, a majority favors the creation of a third party.
Americans see the Republican Party as better able than the Democratic Party to protect the country from terrorism and military threats, and to keep the country prosperous over the next few years. …
These views come as record numbers of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed and express highly negative opinions about a number of other dimensions of the federal government. Next year’s elections provide Americans with an opportunity to vent their frustrations in the presidential and the congressional elections. At this point, Republicans, who currently control the House but not the presidency or the Senate, appear to be at least slightly better positioned going into the elections, given Americans’ preference for the GOP to handle the nation’s domestic and international woes.
Democrats held the advantage over the Republican Party on the “prosperous” dimension from 2003 through 2009, a period that included the majority of George W. Bush’s presidency and the first year of Barack Obama’s. The advantage switched to the GOP last year and remains so this year, by 48% to 39%. …
Americans’ current tilt toward the Republican Party as better able to handle terrorist and military threats has generally persisted over the past decade, with the exception of a September 2007 survey in which the Democrats edged out the Republicans. …
Americans are highly dissatisfied with the way things are going in the nation and have low economic confidence, creating an environment in which a third-party challenger could find significant backing from American voters. Indeed, 55% of Americans say the two major parties do such an inadequate job of representing the American people that a third party is needed.
Americans’ current views regarding a third party are similar to what was measured last year and in 2007. However, in other years over the past decade, interest in a third party has been somewhat lower — particularly in September 2008, in the middle of a spirited presidential election campaign involving Obama and John McCain, the two major-party candidates.
>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 9 AM Pacific, President Barack Obama presides over the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairmanship Change In Office Ceremony at Fort Myer. After that, White House press secretary Jay Carney delivers a briefing in the James S. Brady Briefing Room. The events will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
Radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a New Mexico-born, California-educated jihadist who prompted the Christmas Day bomber over Detroit and the Fort Hood shooter, was killed today in Yemen.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Virginia.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have received the daily intelligence and economic briefing and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama was then scheduled to deliver remarks at 8 AM Pacific at the “Change of Office” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ceremony at Fort Myer, Virginia, but the event has been delayed, perhaps because of the killing of Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki.
Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, a native Californian, gives way to Army General Martin Dempsey.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, White House press secretary Jay Carney delivers a briefing in the James S. Brady Briefing Room.
The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
At 10:40 AM Pacific, Obama will be interviewed live by radio host Michael Smerconish in the Oval Office.
At 5:05 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event in a private residence.
In the ever exciting Republican presidential race, former frontrunner Mitt Romney is coming up over $5 million short of the last quarter’s fundraising mark, which in turn was down from the same period four years ago.
And Jon Huntsman is closing up shop in Florida, where he had headquartered his presidential campaign, throwing all his chips into the New Hampshire pot. Where he has actually cracked double digits in recent polling.
Ron Paul has reportedly raised $5 million for the quarter, which is less than Obama raised in his recent California trip.
Michele Bachmann is apparently out of money.
The big question is how did Rick Perry do? We’ll know soon enough.
An apparent major triumph for the Obama Administration today with the death of radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. Awlaki, a key Al Qaeda leader, operationally and especially as an Internet preacher and recruiter, was killed by an air strike in Yemen.
While Awlaki’s father was a Yemeni politician, Awlaki himself was born in New Mexico, where he lived for the first seven years of life. After the family returned for a time to Yemen, he came back to the US, where he garnered a bachelor’s degree at Colorado State University in civil engineering and a master’s degree in educational leadership at San Diego State University.
Despite his engineering degree, Awlaki quickly gravitated to a life of religious activism, becoming a Muslim cleric.
Awlaki ministered to some of the future 9/11 hijackers at his mosque in San Diego. From there, he transferred to a mosque in Virginia, where he ministered to more of the 9/11 hijackers.
After the 9/11 attacks, he made moderate-sounding statements. But he quickly revealed himself as a jihadist, though some credulous liberals like Salon commentator Glenn Greenwald, unaware of his ties to the 9/11 hijackers, believed that Awlaki was forced into radicalism by the Bush/Cheney Administration’s excesses.
Awlaki went on to become a sensation as a mass preacher of radical Islam. He corresponded extensively with Major Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood shooter, prompting him into his murderous acts of homegrown jihadism.
Mitt Romney, claiming that the Obama agenda is “the most anti-business agenda I’ve ever seen in my life,” campaigned yesterday at the Eagle-Tribune editorial board meeting in New Hampshire.
The Christmas Day 2009 would-be bomber of a Detroit-bound jetliner said that Awlaki, who had inspired him with his teachings and corresponded with him, was one of his trainers in Yemen, to which Awlaki had decamped and where he had become the best known member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the Al Qaeda franchise causing more trouble than the increasingly decimated Al Qaeda Prime.
The Obama Administration tried and failed on several occasions to kill Awlaki, whose death warrant Obama signed early on. But today they have apparently succeeded.
Obama is monitoring a variety of geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
It’s been little more than a week since Mad Men won a record-tying fourth straight Emmy Award for best drama, and it’s all looking and feeling rather anti-climactic. Ironic, since Mad Men joins only The West Wing (2000-2003) and Hill Street Blues (1981-84) in accomplishing the feat. LA Law also won four best drama awards in the late ’80s and early ’90s, though not consecutively.
It’s a great feat for a great show, a show which, as is obvious from all the writing I’ve done on it, is my favorite, though hardly perfect. This is a landmark series about important things, not the least of them being America at the apex, on the cusp of change in the 1960s, imperial New York at its peak, the rise of consumerism and the persuasion industry, men, women, and some very cool fashion and design. To name a few. …
History, deep and multi-faceted, swirls around us, but our culture increasingly focuses on the momentary. … From my September 28th essay.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon. … From my September 22nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $81 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $33 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
A convoy carrying U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford was attacked today by a pro-Assad regime crowd in the capital city Damascus. Ford, who was on his way to visit an opposition leader, was unharmed.
** QUICK HITS.Terrific read in the new Vanity Fair from best-selling author Michael Lewis (Liar’s Poker, Moneyball) on the crisis in public finance, California’s ungovernability, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the lizard brains shared by all Americans. The former governor, who was not accompanied by his blue oxen Babe, after a scarifying bike ride through the streets of Santa Monica and an encounter with a pedestrian who thought he was Bill Clinton (“another sex scandal guy”), offered up a humorous rendition of events before getting down to cases on the state’s chronic budget crisis and his own time as governor which he actually did enjoy. (Mostly.) I may run through this piece, which may be both too entertaining and too wonky, in another piece. … In the ever exciting Republican presidential race, former frontrunner Mitt Romney is coming up over $5 million short of the last quarter’s fundraising mark, which in turn was down from the same period four years ago. … And Jon Huntsman is closing up shop in Florida, where he had headquartered his presidential campaign, throwing all his chips into the New Hampshire pot. Where he has actually cracked double digits in recent polling.
** NEW POLL: DISPIRITED DEMOCRATS.A new Gallup Poll indicates that Republican voters are much more fired up about the 2012 elections than are Democrats.
I think those numbers will change as politics shifts more clearly into campaign mode, and as the Republican presidential nominee becomes more clearcut.
President Barack Obama has not done a good job of the admittedly very challenging task of seeking compromise solutions to keep the country on the rails while effectively identifying his antagonists.
Now that it’s utterly clear that there is little if any compromise to be had, Obama is at last defining the differences.
Also keep in mind that there are fewer Republicans than there are Democrats, and that the not so GOP is much more lockstep now in its rightward marching ideology.
And that prominent left-leaning figures and media outlets have been talking down Obama for the past few years.
In thinking about the 2012 presidential election, 45% of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic say they are more enthusiastic about voting than usual, while nearly as many, 44%, are less enthusiastic. This is in sharp contrast to 2008 and, to a lesser extent, 2004, when the great majority of Democrats expressed heightened enthusiasm about voting. …
Democrats’ muted response to voting in 2012 also contrasts with Republicans’ eagerness. Nearly 6 in 10 Republicans, 58%, describe themselves as more enthusiastic about voting. That is nearly identical to Republicans’ average level of enthusiasm in 2004 (59%) and higher than it was at most points in 2008. …
Democrats’ net enthusiasm (+1) now trails Republicans’ net enthusiasm (+28) by 27 percentage points. By contrast, Democrats held the advantage on net enthusiasm throughout 2008 — on several occasions, by better than 40-point margins. Democrats occasionally trailed Republicans in net enthusiasm in 2004, but never by as much as is seen today. The current balance of enthusiasm among Republicans and Democrats is similar to what Gallup found in the first few months of 2000.
** NEW CALIFORNIA POLL: NO SURPRISE THAT DEATH PENALTY RETAINS BIG BACKING.A new Field Poll tells us what we should already understand; namely, that capital punishment retains supermajority support in California.
So much for a proposed initiative next year to do away with the death penalty for convicted murderers.
A whopping 68% favors the death penalty. Only 27% oppose it.
But a plurality say they favor life imprisonment without parole, 48% to 40%.
Why the seeming discrepancy?
Field, naturally, doesn’t address the question. I love polling in California. (Incidentally, Field is a highly credible pollster for what it does. There are plenty of non-credible pollsters, such as Probolsky and M4, both of which have silly push-polls out on conservative web sites.)
I think it has to do with two things.
First, people respond differently to different questions, and many like to sound more moderate and seemingly kindly. Not that this question is how a campaign would be framed, in the least, mind you.
Second, people are noticing that there aren’t any executions in California. Some even notice that it costs a lot of money to execute a convicted murderer, more than it costs to house that murderer.
Why is that? Because of endless legal delays. The latest being an odd shortage of the proper chemicals needed to conduct an execution, a matter beyond the scope of this little item.
But the important point in the Field Poll is that basic attitudes toward the death penalty — yes or no — are essentially unchanged.
Over the course of more than five decades The Field Poll has consistently found substantial public support in California for keeping the death penalty as a form of punishment for certain capital crimes.
At present, 68% of voters favor retaining the death penalty for serious crimes, 27% favor doing
away with it, while 5% have no opinion. There has been no appreciable change in this division of sentiment over the past fifteen years.
The period between 1960 and 1971 was the high water mark for opposition to the death penalty in
the state, when between 34% and 39% favored its elimination.
By contrast, the period 1981 – 1992 saw the highest levels of public support for the death penalty (75% to 82%), and opposition was at its lowest point (14% to 17%).
Since then support has generally remained in the high 60% range, while opposition has been in the mid-20% range.
>>>>>> LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 10 AM Pacific, White House press secretary Jay Carney delivers a briefing in the James S. Brady Briefing Room. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
Senator John McCain led a bipartisan delegation of U.S. senators to Libya today, where he spoke in Tripoli.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
He then met with Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner in the Oval Office.
Following that, Obama did regional media interviews on the American Jobs Act in the Diplomatic Room.
At 10 AM Pacific, White House press secretary Jay Carney delivers a briefing in the James S. Brady Briefing Room.
The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
Obama has some good economic news this morning. Not only have global markets stabilized, at least for now, jobless claims are down to the lowest level since April.
But he is dealing with yet another apparent instance of homegrown jihadism, in this case a recent physics graduate of Northeastern University who evidently planned to fly large remote-controlled model aircraft filled with explosives into various Washington targets.
And Obama is struggling with Israel, which, after Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu insisted in a UN address last Friday that he is ready to compromise and begin negotiations immediately on a Palestinian state, has gone in the exact opposite direction this week.
After Israel announced that it would build another 1100 housing units in East Jerusalem, its cabinet rejected the proposal of the Middle East Quartet that Netanyahu seemingly embraced last week. So the Palestinians feel vindicated in their course at the UN, which they are pursuing, their full membership having been referred yesterday to the committee on memberships.
Apparent homegrown jihadist Rezwan Ferdaus has been arrested on suspicion of trying to fly explosives-packed model jets into U.S. landmarks.
Meanwhile, China today launched what is intended to be the first module in its space station program, which it plans to be fully functioning by the end of the decade.
Obama is monitoring a variety of geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
At 11 AM, Brown will join public safety, local government, and health and social services leaders from around the state for a Capitol press conference to discuss realignment in advance of the program’s October 1st roll-out.
It’s been little more than a week since Mad Men won a record-tying fourth straight Emmy Award for best drama, and it’s all looking and feeling rather anti-climactic. Ironic, since Mad Men joins only The West Wing (2000-2003) and Hill Street Blues (1981-84) in accomplishing the feat. LA Law also won four best drama awards in the late ’80s and early ’90s, though not consecutively.
It’s a great feat for a great show, a show which, as is obvious from all the writing I’ve done on it, is my favorite, though hardly perfect. This is a landmark series about important things, not the least of them being America at the apex, on the cusp of change in the 1960s, imperial New York at its peak, the rise of consumerism and the persuasion industry, men, women, and some very cool fashion and design. To name a few. …
History, deep and multi-faceted, swirls around us, but our culture increasingly focuses on the momentary. … From my September 28th essay.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon. … From my September 22nd column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
China today launched its space module lab called “Heavenly Palace” or Tiangong 1 which will remain in orbit for docking missions. It is a precursor to a Chinese space station, set for 2020.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $83 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $49 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $31 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Not everyone was happy with President Barack Obama during his California fundraising swing. At the House of Blues in LA on Monday night, a heckler screamed repeatedly that Obama is “the Anti-Christ.”
** OBAMA’S BIG CALIFORNIA FUNDRAISING SWING. There’s some apocryphal chatter about the financial backers of President Barack Obama being upset with and let down by him. My observation is that is a bit of a phenomenon in New York, and with some of those who supported him online, more than elsewhere.
His backing in California, on the latest evidence of his trip here Sunday and Monday, looks strong.
Obama raised upwards of $5 million here during a string of fundraisers in Silicon Valley, San Diego, and Los Angeles.
He attracted the stalwarts, such as former state Controller and greentech venture capitalist Steve Westly and former Disney CEO and DreamWorks partner Jeff Katzenberg, and brand new people such as Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who hosted a big event on Sunday.
Obama was reportedly relaxed and energetic at these events. He talked up what he sees as his achievements, such as new health care coverage for 30 million Americans, the orderly and markedly uncontroversial ending of the Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy on gays and lesbians in the military, the reset of relations with Russia and nuclear arms reduction treaty, the end of Osama bin Laden, and the successful multilateral campaign to protect the Libyan people and oust Moammar Gaddafi, executed with no American casualties.
He also seemed anxious to get into campaigning against his would-be opponents, noting how far out on an ideological limb the Republican Party has gotten.
Just as happened earlier in the summer with a Michelle Obama event in Berkeley, when actress Jennifer Garner made a surprise appearance, another, bigger name showed up out of context in Silicon Valley for the president.
That, of course, was Lady Gaga — given name Stefani Germanotta — in what’s described as a completely over the top outfit. (Well, at least for these sensibilities.) Gaga, who is Juilliard-trained — something she takes care to conceal from her audience — reportedly held court with mega venture capitalists John Doerr and Vinod Kosla and turned out to be a very enthusiastic Obama supporter.
As reported elsewhere, she asked Obama about bullying, a particular cause of hers.
With 14 million Twitter followers, spun the right way, she could do some damage.
** MAD MEN‘S FEAT.Out of sight, out of mind?
(There be some spoilers ahead, just so you know.)
It’s been little more than a week since Mad Men won a record-tying fourth straight Emmy Award for best drama, and it’s all looking and feeling rather anti-climactic. Ironic, since Mad Men joins only The West Wing (2000-2003) and Hill Street Blues (1981-84) in accomplishing the feat. LA Law also won four best drama awards in the late ’80s and early ’90s, though not consecutively.
It’s a great feat for a great show, a show which, as is obvious from all the writing I’ve done on it, is my favorite, though hardly perfect. This is a landmark series about important things, not the least of them being America at the apex, on the cusp of change in the 1960s, imperial New York at its peak, the rise of consumerism and the persuasion industry, men, women, and some very cool fashion and design. To name a few. …
But I also think of Mad Men as not unlike a show about upper-middle and lower-upper Romans, and how they relate to those below them. We seldom see the very top, the Hiltons, the Rockefellers, though we see their courtiers and others who serve them and, more significantly, their interests.
Driven by post-World War II dynamism and dynamics, the city of Mad Men, New York, is still the most powerful city in what is still the only superpower on the planet. But the peak, which coincides with the time of Mad Men, has passed, and the era of dominance is clearly passing.
We saw it last week. With the United Nations gathered in New York — in current international commentary much more the place that has nearly crashed the world than the epicenter of rising power — Barack Obama hoped for a victory lap on Libya. But that was overshadowed by metastasizing AfPak and Israeli/Palestinian crises which again suggest that Osama bin Laden’s strike on 9/11 against the “belly of the American beast,” New York, is turning out to be a masterstroke after all.
History, deep and multi-faceted, swirls around us, but our culture increasingly focuses on the momentary. …
** NEW POLL: A CONFUSED AND DISPARATE VIEW OF GOVERNMENT. A new Gallup Poll points up some underlying reasons for the swirl of confusion that is American governance in the post-9/11 era.
One big chunk of the electorate wants government to do as little as possible.
Another big chunk of the electorate wants government to do as much as possible.
The rest are, wait for it, in between.
And in the midst of it all, 50%, the highest since Gallup began asking the question nearly 20 years ago, think that government is doing too much to regulate business and industry. Despite the evident recent problems with deregulations in finance, energy, and more.
And most say they would be willing to trade lower taxes for fewer services.
It would be interesting to see if they think that after experiencing fewer services. Cue Jerry Brown.
Americans have divided opinions when asked to think broadly about the purpose of government. About as many Americans (35%) prefer an activist government that tries in every way to improve the lives of its citizens as prefer a government that provides only the most basic government functions (37%), with the rest placing themselves between these two positions. …
These attitudes, basically unchanged from a year ago, underscore the complex nature of Americans’ views of government. Americans have strongly negative views of the way the nation is being governed and of Congress. They also, as will be reviewed here, have significant concerns about the power of the federal government, believe that government is doing too much that individuals and businesses can do, and prefer fewer services and lower taxes. Yet, in a broad sense, Americans are as likely to prefer a more active government as a more limited one. …
Half of Americans say there is too much government regulation of business and industry, by one percentage point the highest in Gallup’s history of asking this question, dating to 1993. Americans were least likely to say the government regulated business too much in February 2002, just months after 9/11 and at a time when President Bush and Congress were involved in efforts to combat terrorism and had high approval ratings. The “too much regulation” attitude held in the 30% range for most of the rest of the last decade, but jumped after President Obama took office in 2009. …
A majority of Americans (56%) say they would be willing to pay less in taxes and accept fewer services, rather than either leaving things as they are now or paying more taxes for more services.
This supports the general position of some conservatives and libertarians, including GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul. They argue that citizens should want their government to do less, and thus collect fewer taxes. Liberals, on the other hand, have focused on the value of the services the government provides, particularly in terms of creating jobs and providing a social safety net, and the necessity of keeping tax revenue flowing in order to fund those services. Fewer than half of Americans, however, currently want to keep or add to the level of taxes and services they have now.
As would be expected, 81% of Republicans would opt for reduced taxes and fewer services, as would 58% of independents. Democrats have more mixed reactions, but about two-thirds would either keep things as they are now (36%) or would opt for more services and more taxes (30%).
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 10:30 AM Pacific, President Barack Obama delivers his annual Back To School speech at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was a hit last night at the Reagan Library.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing in the Oval Office.
He then took part in an “Open for Questions” roundtable in the Map Room.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet for lunch in the Private Dining Room.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama delivers his third annual Back-to-School Speech at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School.
The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in the Oval Office.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, touted once again as the latest Republican presidential hope, spoke last night at the Reagan Library outside Los Angeles on “transformative leadership and American exceptionalism.”
Is he in or is he out? I think he’s out, even if he’s in. But he sees the interest and hears the pleas from big Republican money men who fear that none in the current field can beat Obama.
Florida is throwing the Republican race into further disarray, with a plan to move its primary to January 31st.
Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina are supposed to lead the way. If Florida moves forward, it would have to give up half its delegates under party rules if it does so, then the lead four and others will jump ahead, too.
Just days after working the United Nations to try to forestall the move toward recognizing a Palestinian state, insisting that negotiation is the key, Israel verified yesterday day that it has approved 1100 new housing units for East Jerusalem, territory hotly disputed by the Palestinians. Not exactly a move of a nation looking to jump start peace talks. Things became clearer today.
Haaretz reports that the Israeli Cabinet failed to agree on the Middle East Quartet’s new call for talks with the Palestinians, undermining the core of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s speech last Friday to the UN General Assembly.
The White House says the public disclosure demanded by the right-wing Judicial Watch of graphic photos and video taken of Osama bin Laden after he was killed in May by a U.S. Navy SEAL team would damage national security and lead to attacks on American property and personnel.
There’s a tremendous amount of tension on the AfPak front, with US officials seeking to shift blame for stunning security failures in the Afghan capital — and elsewhere in areas supposedly ready to be turned over to Afghan forces — to Pakistan. In the midst of this, the right-wing Judicial Watch group is suing in federal court to force the release of photos and video of the dead Osama bin Laden taken in the raid of his compound in Pakistan.
It’s hard to think of many more moves guaranteed to stir up the Pakistani people than the release of this material.
The people at Judicial Watch are either very stupid, or determined to screw up American geopolitics under Obama.
The group was formed in 1994 to attack and harass President Bill Clinton, though it also pursued a few lawsuits against the Bush/Cheney Administration.
Obama is monitoring a variety of geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon.
Months after losing in a landslide to Governor Jerry Brown, billionaire Meg Whitman is back at the helm of a big Silicon Valley company. The former eBay CEO, who waged the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history last year, only to be crushed by Brown, 54% to 41%, joined the board of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard in January. And today, with the HP board firing its third CEO in six years — a spate which began with Carly Fiorina, who also lost in a landslide last year in her bid against Senator Barbara Boxer — Whitman became the CEO of the Palo Alto-based firm founded by high tech legends David Packard and William Hewlett.
If she’s not simply an interim choice, and nothing emanating from HP is indicating that now, Whitman seems an odd choice. … From my September 22nd column.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $83 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $49 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $31 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Speaking today in Denver, President Barack Obama exhibited a more combative tone in discussing his economic proposals.
** QUICK HITS. Just days after working the United Nations to try to forestall the move toward recognizing a Palestinian state, insisting that negotiation is the key, Israel verified today that it has approved 1100 new housing units for East Jerusalem, territory hotly disputed by the Palestinians. … New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gives a much-anticipated address on American exceptionalism at the Reagan Library tonight at 6 PM Pacific. Is he in or is he out? My read: Out. …
** JERRY-RIGGING: A SUSPENSELESS SIGNING. Governor Jerry Brown today signed some legislation in Los Angeles amidst some trappings of suspense. It was a signing at the LA Convention Center, it was related to job creation, and, ah, that was all that was revealed.
What it was, of course, was a pair of bills to, as discussed below in the daily set-up, streamline the permitting process for a new LA football stadium and for “leadership projects,” principally renewable energy projects selected by one Jerry Brown.
In fact, Brown worked out much of this legislation himself with state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. So, naturally, he signed it.
The legislation was opposed by the Sierra Club and the Planning and Conservation League, who were loathe to see CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) altered in any way.
On hand for the signing were business and labor leaders, a bunch of high school football players, and various political figures including LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Governor Gray Davis, Assembly Speaker John Perez, and the other legislative authors, state Senator Alex Padilla and Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan.
Brown made plain his approach to pushing through renewable energy projects over the summer at his summit on renewable energy, when he vowed to “crush” opposition. The football side of it is more of an acquired taste for the former Jesuit and Zen aficionado, though he did develop a certain appreciation for the Raiders as Oakland’s mayor.
“We’re going to remove some regulations, we’re going to speed things up, and we’re going to protect the environment,” Brown stated. “There are too many damn regulations, let’s be clear about that.”
They all talked up big job creation around the Anschutz Entertainment Group’s so-called Farmers Field stadium project. But one very important thing is lacking. An NFL football team.
It’s not clear how much of a call there is for NFL football in the LA market, which has been without one for years. The LA Rams and the Oakland-turned-LA-turned-Oakland Raiders are long gone.
In the interim, USC reigned as the big football cheese in the nation’s second largest market. But SC, hit by NCAA sanctions, has fallen off its game.
Still, where is the team? If it’s the San Diego Chargers, a frequent rumor, well, that is a California team. More jobs in LA would mean fewer jobs in San Diego.
Meanwhile, Brown has what he really wants, more authority to move renewable energy projects past NIMBY and other opposition.
** NEW POLL: PERRY CONTINUES TO HAVE STRONGEST IMAGE AMONG BETTER-KNOWN REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES, WITH CAIN STRONG AMONG LESSER-KNOWNS.A new Gallup Poll survey shows that frontrunning Texas Governor Rick Perry has by far the strongest image rating with Republican primary voters among the best-known candidates. And that former pizza mogul Herman Cain, winner of a touted Florida straw poll over the weekend, continues to be the highest rated among the lesser known candidates, i.e., though with about 50% name ID and lower.
Despite a lot of media chatter about his less than impressive debate performances, Perry doesn’t seem to be hurt with actual Republican primary voters. Nor does former frontrunner Mitt Romney, the putative winner of the debates, seem to be helped.
One of the fascinating sub-dynamics of the Republican race is how much of a free ride Romney has been getting in all the debates, from the moderators and questioners and from all his supposed opponents, with the exception now of Perry. Romney has been given every opportunity to shine, unmolested by attacks or even questions about his rampant history of flip-floppery and intellectual authorship of “Obamacare,” which is of course anathema to the Republican base.
My theory is that few, if any, of the other candidates not named Perry or Romney are actually running to win, and so didn’t want to upset the apple cart of the then frontrunning Romney. That doesn’t explain the kid glove treatment from the media.
Herman Cain’s image among Republicans familiar with him is more intensely positive than any other Republican presidential candidate’s, but his 51% name recognition continues to rank near the bottom of the field. Among the better-known candidates, Rick Perry has the strongest positive image. …
Cain’s name recognition increased from the low 20s in March to 40% in late May/early June, shortly after he announced his official candidacy. Since then, gains in recognition for Cain have been slower, increasing a total of 11 percentage points in the last four months. …
As a result, Cain remains stuck in the second tier of candidates in terms of name recognition along with Jon Huntsman (44%) and Rick Santorum (53%), with the five other official candidates known by at least three-quarters of Republicans. …
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 1:15 PM Pacific, President Barack Obama pushes his American Jobs Act proposal in an appearance at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, Colorado. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
In an unintentionally apt metaphor, crews are rappelling down the Washington Monument today checking for cracks. The national icon was closed last month after the East Coast quake.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in California, Colorado, and Washington, DC.
At 10:25 AM Pacific, Obama departs Los Angeles on Air Force One en route Denver, Colorado.
At 12:25 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in Denver, Colorado.
At 1:15 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, pushing the school refurbishing aspects of his American Jobs Acts proposal.
The school is just a few miles from Mile High Stadium, where he delivered his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Obama went on to win Colorado, which will again be a key swing state in 2012.
The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the audio button.
At 2:50 PM Pacific, Obama departs Denver on Air Force One en route Joint Base Andrews.
At 6 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Joint Base Andrews, where he boards Marine One.
At 6:15 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
With the latest Washington dysfunction surrounding a potential government shutdown over failure to fund emergency management activities after multiple disasters looking especially preposterous, the U.S. Senate last night voted 72-19 for a bipartisan compromise measure. The bill will provide less emergency management funding, but will not require cuts elsewhere.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, touted once again as the latest Republican presidential hope, speaks Tuesday at 6 PM Pacific at the Reagan Library on “transformative leadership and American exceptionalism.” The event will be netcast live on NWN.
Fighting continues in deposed Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte, with rebel forces in the middle of the city. It’s slow going, despite NATO air support — which does not include close-in air support from Apache gunships, something which would risk NATO’s first casualties of the war — as regime loyalists are holding out and fighting house to house.
Israeli religious fundamentalists resumed some settlement activities in disputed Palestinian areas in the wake of the UN move to recognize a Palestinian state. This does not seem calculated to build the peace process.
Gunmen attacked the big natural gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel last night, leaving it ablaze.
Last night the big natural gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel was attacked and set ablaze.
Obama is monitoring a variety of geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Los Angeles.
At 10:30 AM, he joins with business and labor leaders in an event at the LA Convention Center to discuss job creation action.
His office has not released this, but word is that Brown will sign legislation easing the way to a new football stadium in Los Angeles.
It would also ease the way for renewable energy projects directly approved by the Governor’s Office.
This would be done by streamlining California Environmental Quality Act strictures, making the state appellate court a court of rapid appeal and decision/rejection, with any CEQA lawsuits required to be filed and decided in six months.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon.
Months after losing in a landslide to Governor Jerry Brown, billionaire Meg Whitman is back at the helm of a big Silicon Valley company. The former eBay CEO, who waged the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history last year, only to be crushed by Brown, 54% to 41%, joined the board of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard in January. And today, with the HP board firing its third CEO in six years — a spate which began with Carly Fiorina, who also lost in a landslide last year in her bid against Senator Barbara Boxer — Whitman became the CEO of the Palo Alto-based firm founded by high tech legends David Packard and William Hewlett.
If she’s not simply an interim choice, and nothing emanating from HP is indicating that now, Whitman seems an odd choice. … From my September 22nd column.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $84 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $50 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $30 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
In a town hall meeting today in Silicon Valley, President Barack Obama pressed his American Jobs Act proposal.
** QUICK HITS.With the latest Washington dysfunction surrounding a potential government shutdown over failure to fund emergency management activities after multiple disasters looking especially preposterous, the U.S. Senate tonight voted 72-19 for a bipartisan compromise measure. … New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, touted once again as the latest Republican presidential hope, speaks Tuesday at 6 PM Pacific at the Reagan Library on “transformative leadership and American exceptionalism.” The event will be netcast live on NWN. … Governor Jerry Brown announced today that he has formally asked the California Public Utilities Commission to use its regulatory authority to replicate much of the so-called public goods charge under which utilities paid $400 million per year to fund renewable energy programs. Brown and legislative leaders are criticized by some environmentalists for a late-developing drive during this year’s session to extend the program through normal legislation. … Brown is holding a jobs-oriented event tomorrow morning at the LA Convention Center. More to follow.
** NEW POLL: AMERICANS AT OR NEAR HISTORIC LOWS IN VIEWS TOWARD GOVERNMENT. A new Gallup Poll survey indicates that popular dissatisfaction with governance is at stratospheric levels.
This is due to the country’s undoubted problems.
It is also due to the split power structure in Washington, which blocks movement in either direction.
And it is due to the heightened partisanship and mutual hatreds of the era. Each side is free to blame the other, and thus the divided government, without accepting any responsibility.
A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years. …
Majorities of Democrats (65%) and Republicans (92%) are dissatisfied with the nation’s governance. This perhaps reflects the shared political power arrangement in the nation’s capital, with Democrats controlling the White House and U.S. Senate, and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. Partisans on both sides can thus find fault with government without necessarily blaming their own party. …
Key Findings:
* 82% of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job.
* 69% say they have little or no confidence in the legislative branch of government, an all-time high and up from 63% in 2010.
* 57% have little or no confidence in the federal government to solve domestic problems, exceeding the previous high of 53% recorded in 2010 and well exceeding the 43% who have little or no confidence in the government to solve international problems.
* 53% have little or no confidence in the men and women who seek or hold elected office.
Americans believe, on average, that the federal government wastes 51 cents of every tax dollar, similar to a year ago, but up significantly from 46 cents a decade ago and from an average 43 cents three decades ago.
* 49% of Americans believe the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. In 2003, less than a third (30%) believed this. …
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 11 AM Pacific, President Barack Obama takes part in a town hall meeting sponsored by LinkedIn at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
In the latest stunning security breach, an Afghan employee shot one one American CIA officer to death and wounded another last night at the CIA station in Kabul before being killed himself.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
An intriguing week on tap in presidential politics, and a relatively quiet one in California politics.
Fresh from spending much of last week at the United Nations in New York, where he was alternately uplifted (Libya) and embarrassed (Israel/Palestine, AfPak), President Barack Obama is in campaign mode much of this week across the West. Back in Washington, another government shutdown, at least of a sort, looms again with Republicans refusing to fund emergency management efforts in the wake of recent disasters. (And, yes, it’s just as strange an experience to type that as it is for you to read it.) Freshman New Jersey Governor Chris Christie comes under renewed pressure from some Republicans to jump into the presidential race, which I think would be a big mistake for his future.
Obama also deals with many geopolitical repercussions, not the least of them from the Palestinians’ insistence on pursuing their statehood ambitions at the UN after failed negotiations.
In California politics, a somewhat disgruntled Governor Jerry Brown continues digging through the hundreds of bills on his real and metaphorical desk. He’s reading bills himself, which is something certain to prompt thoughts of a part-time legislature. He has till October 9th to decide the fate of these bills, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with the core concerns of governance which prompted Brown’s return to the governorship.
Palestinian leaders defied pressure from the US last week and formally applied for full membership in the United Nations. The UN Security Council will begin taking up the matter this week, with many possibilities for resolution as the Middle East Quartet powers (US, EU, UN, Russia) announced an accelerated negotiation timeline which may or may not be relevant.
But that negotiation is to run on a separate track. If in fact it runs at all. It hasn’t for quite some time.
As for the UN application, Palestinians leaders said that they will give the UN Security Council two weeks to act on it. The US and others would prefer a much slower walk than that.
The fast-emerging BRIC powers — Brazil, Russia, India, China — all back the Palestinian play at the UN. But the US is lobbying other nations on the Security Council furiously, hoping to avert the Palestinians gaining the needed nine of the 15 Security Council votes for approval without a veto. Because the US desperately wants to avoid having to use its veto power to back Israel once again.
If the Palestinians lose at the Security Council, they have several other options. They can go to the UN General Assembly and seek a two-thirds vote to gain full membership on grounds of supposed gross human rights violations. Or they can go to the General Assembly and, on a majority vote, become a non-member state with permanent observer status like the Vatican — the Palestinians are currently an observer mission — which affords them membership in some UN agencies and the ability to become parties to important global treaties with leverage over relations with Israel.
This latter is the compromise position being pushed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who increasingly is taking on the role of broker in regard to the Arab world with the Obama Administration forced into backing Israel rather playing a mediating role.
With this, and the overthrow of longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi, Sarkozy would seem to be on an upswing. But he’s still in trouble in the polls in France, where he faces re-election next year, and in fact the Socialists won Sunday’s election for the French Senate. But it’s unclear how strong a presidential candidate they will have, former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Straus Kahn having been rendered too controversial as a result of ultimately dropped rape charges brought against him by a New York prosecutor.
Speaking of the BRICs, in what should have been a surprise to no one, Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev today announced in Moscow that they will switch jobs in next year’s Russian national elections.
President Medvedev, a personal friend of Obama, will defer to his former boss the former president with regard to the presidency, moving over to the prime minister post that Putin currently holds.
Putin, who is not a personal friend of Obama — he pointedly delayed Obama’s big speech last year in Moscow after forcing the president to travel out to his dacha and detaining him in lengthy conversation — will, absent the upset of all time, return to the presidency next year. This will enable him to preside over the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where Putin has a huge estate.
It will also enable him to unleash more of his rather waspish view of the US on the global stage. Putin is driving the Russian bid to open up the Arctic to petrochemical development as the greenhouse effect increases and the ice cap recedes.
Russia, of course, is one of the world’s greatest powers in oil and natural gas and a competitor of the US in the aerospace and arms businesses. It also has an improved relationship with the US.
But much of the tone of that is due to Medvedev. If the US continues to flounder, Putin won’t hesitate much to take advantage.
Meanwhile, Libyan rebel forces have secured most of the small desert towns, including the city of Sabha, which had remained in the hands of diehard Gaddafi regime loyalists. On Saturday, they pushed into the center of Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte. But on Sunday, facing fierce resistance, they pulled back. They’re back again on Monday, having benefited from NATO air strikes overnight.
The whereabouts of the deposed dictator remain unclear.
The Arab awakening continues to run into fierce, though less violent, opposition elsewhere.
In Yemen, where there has been major fighting, President Ali Abdullah Saleh surprised US officials by returning at the end of last week from Saudi Arabia, where he had been convalescing for the past three months following an assassination attempt that killed a dozen of his advisors and bodyguards. The Saudis apparently didn’t tell the US that Saleh was returning, something which came as a bad surprise. Riyadh, which has tried to broker Saleh’s departure, is unhappy with the US for opposing UN recognition of Palestine.
Not that the Saudis, who alternately bought off potential opposition and cracked down on it, aren’t doing their own part for democracy. Women will be allowed to vote for the first time. In four year, that is. Still no word on whether they will be allowed to drive.
In Bahrain, where the ruling Sunni monarchy cracked down hard on pro-democracy reformers, mostly Shia in the island nation that hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, weekend elections to replace parliamentarians who resigned in protest largely fizzled due to poor turnout.
And there’s more bad news from Afghanistan, where an Afghan employee working in the CIA station in the capital city Kabul shot one American CIA officer to death and wounded another before himself being shot to death.
Meanwhile, the long vaunted Florida Republican Straw Poll on Saturday saw former pizza mogul Herman Cain win, with frontrunning Texas Governor Rick Perry second.
This follows a California GOP convention straw poll win by Ron Paul. And of course Michele Bachmann’s supposedly big win in the Iowa straw poll.
Remember how I trashed straw polls a few months ago as ridiculous exercises hyped by the media?
Rick Perry hasn’t done very well in his three quick debate to date. But he hasn’t done as badly as some over-analyzing types suggest.
And Mitt Romney, oddly, continues to draw little fire, allowing him to win the debates. For whatever that is worth, since John Edwards won most of the debates in the 2008 Democratic presidential contest.
Not that Romney is actually benefiting measurably. Perry leads in all national polls. And he leads in all the early contest states, except for New Hampshire, where Romney has a home.
So there is renewed chatter about Chris Christie. I don’t see it. Speaking of not seeing it, there’s this unintentionally amusing misreading of Yeats by Christie cheerleader Bill (I’m not an intellectual but I play one on TV) Kristol. Yikes, indeed.
Here’s what Obama’s week looks like.
On Monday, Obama will participate in “Putting America Back to Work: LinkedIn Presents a Town Hall with President Obama” in Mountain View, California. In the afternoon, Obama will travel to San Diego to attend a DNC event. Later in the afternoon, Obama will travel to Los Angeles, California to attend two DNC events.
On Tuesday, Obama will travel to Denver, Colorado where he will visit Abraham Lincoln High School to highlight his American Jobs Act proposal to put workers back on the job by rebuilding and modernizing schools across the country. The American Jobs Act proposes a $25 billion investment in school infrastructure that will modernize at least 35,000 public schools. Obama will return to Washington late that night.
On Wednesday, Obama will deliver his third annual Back-to-School Speech at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Washington.
On Thursday, Obama will follow his usual practice of keeping things loose to deal with emerging events. He will attend meetings at the White House.
On Friday, Obama will deliver remarks at the “Change of Office” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ceremony at Fort Myer. And on Saturday, Obama will deliver remarks at the pro-gay and lesbian rights Human Rights Campaign’s 15th Annual National Dinner in Washington.
In his Saturday night address to what he called “the conscience of the Congress” during an appearance at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner, President Barack Obama called on Democrats to get off the sidelines and get engaged.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in California.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama participates in a LinkedIn Town Hall Meeting at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Mountain View is in Silicon Valley and has — well, how to put this? — not much in the way of a mountain view.
The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
At 12:25 PM Pacific, Obama departs Mountain View on Air Force One en route San Diego.
At 1:40 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in San Diego.
At 3 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at a private residence in San Diego.
At 4 PM Pacific, Obama departs San Diego on Air Force One en route Los Angeles.
At 4:40 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in Los Angeles.
At 6:20 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at the House of Blues in West Hollywood.
At 8:20 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a campaign event at a private residence.
Obama is monitoring a variety of geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** JERRY BROWN SCHEDULE UPDATE: In an announcement made shortly before noon, it emerged that Governor Jerry Brown is meeting today with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at a luncheon hosted by Los Angeles City Councilmember Paul Krekorian at Los Angeles City Hall.
At 2 PM, Brown will meet with the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration to discuss realignment issues.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon.
Months after losing in a landslide to Governor Jerry Brown, billionaire Meg Whitman is back at the helm of a big Silicon Valley company. The former eBay CEO, who waged the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history last year, only to be crushed by Brown, 54% to 41%, joined the board of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard in January. And today, with the HP board firing its third CEO in six years — a spate which began with Carly Fiorina, who also lost in a landslide last year in her bid against Senator Barbara Boxer — Whitman became the CEO of the Palo Alto-based firm founded by high tech legends David Packard and William Hewlett.
If she’s not simply an interim choice, and nothing emanating from HP is indicating that now, Whitman seems an odd choice. … From my September 22nd column.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
China is about to launch its most massive rocket yet this week and to place The Heavenly Palace, an experimental unmanned spacecraft, into orbit. The module will form the basis for China’s own space station, and will joined by two more modules in the coming years. Analysts say the space station could be operational by the year 2020.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $46 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $34 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Speaking Saturday night at the annual awards banquet of the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, President Barack Obama hammered on the theme of job creation.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington, DC, the State of Washington, and California.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing in the Oval Office.
Obama then departed the White House and flew on Air Force One to Seattle, Washington,
At 11:50 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Seattle, Washington.
At 12:35 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a DNC event at a private residence in Seattle.
At 2:05 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a DNC event at the Paramount Theater in Seattle.
At 3:10 PM Pacific, Obama departs Seattle on Air Force One en route San Jose, California.
At 5 PM Pacific, Obama arrives in San Jose.
At 6:25 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a DNC event at a private residence in Silicon Valley.
At 7:45 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at a DNC event at a private residence in Silicon Valley.
Obama will be in California all day on Monday, doing a Silicon Valley town hall at LinkedIn and moving on to fundraisers in San Diego and Los Angeles.
On Tuesday, Obama flies from Los Angeles to Denver, Colorado, where he tours a high school, speaks about the American Jobs Act, and holds a fundraiser.
Meanwhile, Libyan rebel forces have secured most of the small desert towns, including the city of Sabha, which had remained in the hands of diehard Gaddafi regime loyalists. On Saturday, they pushed into the center of Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte. But today, facing fierce resistance, they pulled back.
The whereabouts of the deposed dictator remain unclear.
And a giant dead NASA satellite, expected to fall to Earth Friday giving North America the miss actually fell to Earth early Saturday. Where did it fall? Early forecasts were that it might hit North America after all.
While the government is being quite vague about it all, the debris, most of which should have burned up during the atmospheric re-entry, apparently fell into the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, the long vaunted Florida Republican Straw Poll on Saturday saw former pizza mogul Herman Cain win, with frontrunning Texas Governor Rick Perry second.
This follows a California GOP convention straw poll win by Ron Paul. And of course Michele Bachmann’s supposedly big win in the Iowa straw poll.
Remember how I trashed straw polls a few months ago as ridiculous exercises hyped by the media?
Obama is monitoring a variety of geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SUNDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
Two odd columns today by old-time political types.
Former Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown does a weekly, chatty, self-oriented Sunday column in the San Francisco Chronicle marked by a lot of amusingly wrong forecasts.
Today he claims that Jerry Brown doesn’t know that state budget revenues are coming up short of forecast, which will then trigger additional automatic budget cuts.
Decades long Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters says something similar today as well.
Actually, Brown is well aware of this. It’s why he vetoed legislation to steer the process away from the budget cuts trigger mechanism.
Which was covered here at the time, and which Brown himself made plain in his veto message.
At Saturday’s ruling United Russia Party conference in Moscow, Prime Minister, former President, and United Russia chairman Vladimir Putin announced that he will run next year for president. Current President Dmitri Medvedev, Putin’s former chief of staff, will — assuming, as we should, that Putin wins the election — become prime minister and chairman of United Russia.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing in the Oval Office.
At 5:35 PM Pacific, he delivers remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Phoenix Awards at the Washington Convention Center.
Palestinian leaders defied pressure from the US yesterday and formally applied for full membership in the United Nations. The UN Security Council will begin taking up the matter next week, with many possibilities for resolution as the Middle East Quartet powers (US, EU, UN, Russia) announced an accelerated negotiation timeline which may or may not be relevant.
But that negotiation is to run on a separate track. If in fact it runs at all. It hasn’t for quite some time.
As for the UN application, Palestinians leaders said today that they will give the UN Security Council two weeks to act on it. The US and others would prefer a much slower walk than that.
The fast-emerging BRIC powers — Brazil, Russia, India, China — all back the Palestinian play at the UN. But the US is lobbying other nations on the Security Council furiously, hoping to avert the Palestinians gaining the needed nine of the 15 Security Council votes for approval without a veto. Because the US desperately wants to avoid having to use its veto power to back Israel once again.
If the Palestinians lose at the Security Council, they have several other options. They can go to the UN General Assembly and seek a two-thirds vote to gain full membership on grounds of gross human rights violations.
Or they can go to the General Assembly and, on a majority vote, become a non-member state with permanent observer status like the Vatican — the Palestinians are currently an observer mission — which affords them membership in some UN agencies and the ability to become parties to important global treaties with leverage over relations with Israel.
This latter is the compromise position being pushed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who increasingly is taking on the role of broker in regard to the Arab world with the Obama Administration forced into backing Israel rather playing a mediating role.
Speaking of the BRICs, in what should have been a surprise to no one, Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev today announced in Moscow that they will switch jobs in next year’s Russian national elections.
President Medvedev, a personal friend of Obama, will defer to his former boss the former president with regard to the presidency, moving over to the prime minister post that Putin currently holds.
Putin, who is not a personal friend of Obama — he pointedly delayed Obama’s big speech last year in Moscow after forcing the president to travel out to his dacha and detaining him in lengthy conversation — will, absent the upset of all time, return to the presidency next year. This will enable him to preside over the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where Putin has a huge estate.
It will also enable him to unleash more of his rather waspish view of the US on the global stage. Putin is driving the Russian bid to open up the Arctic to petrochemical development as the greenhouse effect increases and the ice cap recedes.
Russia, of course, is one of the world’s greatest powers in oil and natural gas and a competitor of the US in the aerospace and arms businesses. It also has an improved relationship with the US.
But much of the tone of that is due to Medvedev. If the US continues to flounder, Putin won’t hesitate much to take advantage.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama urges that states have greater flexibility to find innovative ways of improving the education system.
In other action, Libyan rebel forces have secured most of the small desert towns, including the city of Sabha, which had remained in the hands of diehard Gaddafi regime loyalists and today pushed into the center of Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte. The whereabouts of the deposed dictator remain unclear.
And a giant dead NASA satellite, expected to fall to Earth yesterday giving North America the miss actually fell to Earth early today, perhaps somewhere in North America. I say perhaps because the government isn’t saying. Most debris was expected to burn up on re-entry. If someone was hit, we would, probably, have heard about it.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES – SATURDAY. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
As expected, he signed compromise legislation yesterday under which online retail giant Amazon will begin collecting California sales tax in a year if Congress doesn’t come up with a national solution in an election year.
Brown also signed legislation to help pave the way for needed refurbishments for the America’s Cup competition in San Francisco Bay as the famed international sailing championship points to 2013.
These bill signings were packaged as job creation events, and done away from the Governor’s Office as Brown raises his public profile again.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon.
Months after losing in a landslide to Governor Jerry Brown, billionaire Meg Whitman is back at the helm of a big Silicon Valley company. The former eBay CEO, who waged the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history last year, only to be crushed by Brown, 54% to 41%, joined the board of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard in January. And today, with the HP board firing its third CEO in six years — a spate which began with Carly Fiorina, who also lost in a landslide last year in her bid against Senator Barbara Boxer — Whitman became the CEO of the Palo Alto-based firm founded by high tech legends David Packard and William Hewlett.
If she’s not simply an interim choice, and nothing emanating from HP is indicating that now, Whitman seems an odd choice.
Her entire background is in consumer products, and non-technical consumer products at that. Procter and Gamble, Disney, Stride Rite, FTD, Hasbro, plus her management consultant stint at Bain. Yes, she was head of eBay, but eBay uses technology, or more accurately, a technology platform, to sell stuff, it does not sell technology.
HP, in contrast, was arguably the principal seedbed of Silicon Valley. (Yes, there is an argument about it, but for purposes of this little piece, let’s let the point stand that HP is a high tech archetype.)
HP was a very big-time hardware company. It became famed for scientific calculators, for those who needed more than a slide rule. (If you’re asking, “what’s a slide rule?” we’re getting onto a telling tangent.) It produced scientific instruments. It produced large computers, then known as mini-computers. It later produced personal computers and laptops, not to mention very fine printers, and a promising new tablet which it just dumped.
I got one of its great LaserJet printers back in the day, for a godawful amount of money. I have an HP ink jet printer in this office. But I don’t use it for much other than photography, and I’m not a big photographer, as I don’t print things out very often. Which begins to get at HP’s problem. … From my September 22nd column.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Friday at $79.85 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $46 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down $34 from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas presented the formal request for full United Nations membership today and delivered a major address to the UN General Assembly.
** QUICK HITS.Palestinian leaders defied pressure from the US today and formally applied for full membership in the United Nations. The UN Security Council will begin taking up the matter next week, with many possibilities for resolution as the Mideast Quartet powers (US, EU, UN, Russia) announced an accelerated negotiation timeline which may or may not be relevant. Stay tuned. … A giant dead NASA satellite, expected to fall to Earth today giving North America the miss may now hit tomorrow, somewhere in North America. Most debris is expected to burn up on re-entry. … Governor Jerry Brown, as expected, signed compromise legislation today under which online retail giant Amazon will begin collecting California sales tax in a year if Congress doesn’t come up with a national solution in an election year. He also signed legislation to help pave the way for needed refurbishments for the America’s Cup competition in San Francisco Bay as the international sailing championship points to 2013. …
** NEW CALIFORNIA POLL: PROP 13 STILL STRONGLY BACKED, SPLIT ROLL OPPOSED BY BARE MAJORITY OF VOTERS. One of the shibboleths of liberal commentary in California is the need to get rid of 1978′s Proposition 13 property tax cut measure.
Or at the least, alter it to enable increases on commercial property owners.
In addition, ending the two-thirds legislative vote requirement is repeatedly put forth as the solution to the new era of right-wing Republican legislative intransigence.
And people wondered why Governor Jerry Brown was cool to LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s speech calling for such changes over the summer.
To put it another one, all the talk hasn’t changed anyone’s mind.
Californians continue to strongly back Proposition 13, the Jarvis-Gann property tax reduction
amendment approved by voters in 1978, and resist proposals aimed at amending some of its
provisions.
By a greater than two to one margin (63% to 29%) voters say that if Prop. 13 were up for a vote
again today they would endorse it. By a five to four margin (50% to 41%) voters also oppose the
idea of amending Prop. 13 to permit business and commercial property owners to be taxed at a
higher rate than residential owners. In addition, two to one majorities oppose changing Prop. 13 to enable the state legislature to increase taxes by either a simple majority vote or a 55% majority vote of the Assembly and State Senate. …
** NEW POLL: DISTRUST OF NEWS MEDIA NEAR RECORD LEVELS. A new Gallup Poll points up anew how cynical an age this is, and perhaps how dysfunctional our media culture has become.
Intriguingly, but not all that surprisingly, far more view the news media as too liberal than view it as too conservative.
This is really not what folks on the left want to hear.
The majority of Americans still do not have confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly. The 44% of Americans who have a great deal or fair amount of trust and the 55% who have little or no trust remain among the most negative views Gallup has measured. …
The majority of Americans (60%) also continue to perceive bias, with 47% saying the media are too liberal and 13% saying they are too conservative, on par with what Gallup found last year. The percentage of Americans who say the media are “just about right” edged up to 36% this year but remains in the range Gallup has found historically. …
Partisans continue to perceive the media very differently. Seventy-five percent of Republicans and conservatives say the media are too liberal. Democrats and liberals lean more toward saying the media are “just about right,” at 57% and 42%, respectively. Moderates and independents diverge, however, with 50% of independents saying the media are too liberal and 50% of moderates saying they are just about right. …
Americans remain largely distrusting of the news media, with 55% saying they have little or no trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly, and 60% perceiving bias one way or the other. These views are largely steady compared with last year, even as the media landscape continues to change rapidly.
In a report released Thursday, the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found record-high negativity toward the media on 9 of 12 core measures it tracks. These measures may help explain some of the underlying negativity, though Gallup does not find sharp changes in overall views of the media this year compared with last. The types of media one consumes likely play a role in one’s overall perceptions, and Gallup is planning more research in this area.
Scientists in Switzerland say they seem to have disproved Einstein’s theory of relativity by discovering particles that travel faster than the speed of light, long thought to be a physical absolute limit. Needless to say, this is the most important story of the week.
** A STRANGE DELAY FOR NEW WEST NOTES. Today’s NWN was late in getting online this morning when I suddenly could not get on the Internet. After the usual very lengthy passage to India comedies of miscommunication in dealing with Earthlink customer service, I learned that my password had mysteriously changed sometime in the past several hours. Which of course kept me off the Internet, as the password had suddenly become a gobbledygook I would never have guessed.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama has received the daily intelligence and economic briefing in the Oval Office.
Obama then met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Following that, he delivered remarks on a reform of No Child Left Behind in the East Room.
Obama then met with members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in the Cabinet Room.
Obama, of course, is monitoring developments at the UN surrounding the Palestinian question and today’s addresses to the General Assembly by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta meet with leaders from the Gulf Cooperation Council today in New York. The GCC is the organization of Gulf Arab states that is increasingly a key geopolitical bloc, both in general and specifically for the US, especially with the increasing isolation of Israel.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh suddenly returned to his country today from Saudi Arabia, where he has spent months recuperating from an assassination attempt. The move came as a surprise, and Saleh keeps refusing to step down from power.
There is still no resolution of the Palestinian question this morning at the UN. This may be heading, as I’ve been suggesting for some time, toward a compromise with Palestine recognized as a non-member state, a move with real geopolitical complications.
The Palestinians say that tremendous pressure is being applied against them, with the US actively working with Israel to lobby against their drive for recognition.
Intriguingly, France is emerging as a leader searching for a compromise solution that still advances Palestinian interests, pushing the non-member state option I’ve been discussing here for weeks.
This would actually be a huge advance for the Palestinians in that it would elevate the Palestinians to signatories of various international treaties which can be extremely complicating for ongoing Israeli sway over the territories.
The assassination of former Afghan President Rabbani leaves the peace process in that country, which was not going well, in obvious tatters.
Thousands of people turned out in Kabul for the funeral of Afghanistan’s former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of the Peace Council.
His funeral was held today in Kabul, and turned into an impromptu demonstration against President Hamid Karzai.
The speed of light, long held to be the theoretical limit, has reportedly been exceeded by neutrinos fired through the CERN particle accelerator outside Geneva. If accurate, this upends what we thought we knew about physical limitations.
Which is another way of saying that this is almost certainly the most important story of the week, far more important than the latest sniping Republican presidential debate last night in Florida.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
At 11:30 AM, Brown appears at Gap Inc. Headquarters in San Francisco to sign job creation-oriented legislation. The Gap is First Lady/Special Counsel Anne Gust Brown’s former business home.
At 1:30 PM, Brown appears at Pier 27 in the Embarcadero to sign more job-oriented legislation.
One of the bills Brown will sign is the Amazon tax compromise bill, in which the online retail giant is able to avoid one more year of sales tax, some $200 million, while pursuing a longshot national resolution in Congress before paying starting next fall.
Brown also meets today with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Faymann, who is Schwarzenegger’s guest in California and chairs Austria’s Social Democratic Party, flew to San Francisco yesterday from New York where he was attending the UN General Assembly meeting.
Schwarzenegger, of course, holds dual U.S. and Austrian citizenship. Meeting the various Austrian consuls was a staple of the early days around Schwarzenegger as he explored a political career.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
Governor Jerry Brown hasn’t had any comment on his defeated rival Meg Whitman being named the new CEO of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett Packard.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)!The 2010 Republican nominee for governor of California is back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. She won’t be running California, but she will be running a California icon.
Months after losing in a landslide to Governor Jerry Brown, billionaire Meg Whitman is back at the helm of a big Silicon Valley company. The former eBay CEO, who waged the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history last year, only to be crushed by Brown, 54% to 41%, joined the board of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard in January. And today, with the HP board firing its third CEO in six years — a spate which began with Carly Fiorina, who also lost in a landslide last year in her bid against Senator Barbara Boxer — Whitman became the CEO of the Palo Alto-based firm founded by high tech legends David Packard and William Hewlett.
If she’s not simply an interim choice, and nothing emanating from HP is indicating that now, Whitman seems an odd choice.
Her entire background is in consumer products, and non-technical consumer products at that. Procter and Gamble, Disney, Stride Rite, FTD, Hasbro, plus her management consultant stint at Bain. Yes, she was head of eBay, but eBay uses technology, or more accurately, a technology platform, to sell stuff, it does not sell technology.
HP, in contrast, was arguably the principal seedbed of Silicon Valley. (Yes, there is an argument about it, but for purposes of this little piece, let’s let the point stand that HP is a high tech archetype.)
HP was a very big-time hardware company. It became famed for scientific calculators, for those who needed more than a slide rule. (If you’re asking, “what’s a slide rule?” we’re getting onto a telling tangent.) It produced scientific instruments. It produced large computers, then known as mini-computers. It later produced personal computers and laptops, not to mention very fine printers, and a promising new tablet which it just dumped.
I got one of its great LaserJet printers back in the day, for a godawful amount of money. I have an HP ink jet printer in this office. But I don’t use it for much other than photography, and I’m not a big photographer, as I don’t print things out very often. Which begins to get at HP’s problem. … From my September 22nd column.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $80 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $46 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
U.S. officials are increasingly blaming Pakistan for the gross security lapses being seen in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan, with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen blaming the ISI intelligence service and fellow Californian Defense Secretary Leon Panetta taking a slightly less confrontational tack. The ISI has always been a problem, but this blame game attempts to distract from failures in Afghanistan.
** 9/23 TECH PROBLEMS, AGAIN. My Earthlink password was mysteriously changed this morning, without my permission, keeping me of the Internet while I dealt with the usual obscurantism and delaying New West Notes.
** QUICK HITS.Republican presidential candidates face off once again tonight in a debate in, once again, Florida broadcast, once again, on Fox News. Texas Governor Rick Perry has taken the Florida primary lead over former frontrunner Mitt Romney, and the jockeying between the two camps is intense. … The situation surrounding Palestinian recognition at the United Nations remains unsettled on the night before Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s big speech to the UN General Assembly. … After signing renewable energy bills at a school outside Fresno today, Governor Jerry Brown holds two job creation bill-signing events tomorrow in San Francisco. … The speed of light, long held to be the theoretical limit, has reportedly been exceeded by neutrinos fired through the CERN particle accelerator outside Geneva. If accurate, this upends what we thought we knew about physical limitations.
** MEG WHITMAN TO RUN CALIFORNIA (ICON)! She’s back. And apparently out of her leading role in her mentor Mitt Romney’s formerly frontrunning campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Months after losing in a landslide to Governor Jerry Brown, billionaire Meg Whitman is back at the helm of a big Silicon Valley company. The former eBay CEO, who waged the biggest-spending non-presidential campaign in American history last year, only to be crushed by Brown, 54% to 41%, joined the board of Silicon Valley icon Hewlett-Packard in January. And today, with the HP board firing its third CEO in six years — a spate which began with Carly Fiorina, who also lost in a landslide last year in her bid against Senator Barbara Boxer — Whitman became the CEO of the Palo Alto-based firm founded by high tech legends David Packard and William Hewlett.
If she’s not simply an interim choice, and nothing emanating from HP is indicating that now, Whitman seems an odd choice.
Her entire background is in consumer products, and non-technical consumer products at that. Yes, she was head of eBay, but eBay uses technology, or more accurately, a technology platform, to sell stuff, it does not sell technology.
HP, in contrast, was arguably the principal seedbed of Silicon Valley. (Yes, there is an argument about it, but for purposes of this little piece, let’s let the point stand that HP is a high tech archetype.)
HP was a very big-time hardware company. It became famed for scientific calculators, for those who needed more than a slide rule. (If you’re asking, “what’s a slide rule?” we’re getting into tangent.) It produced scientific instruments. It produced large computers, then known as mini-computers. It later produced personal computers and laptops, not to mention very fine printers.
I got one of its great LaserJet printers back in the day, for a godawful amount of money. I have an HP ink jet printer in this office. But I don’t use it for much other than photography, and I’m not a big photographer, as I don’t print things out very often. Which begins to get at HP’s problem.
The world of technology has changed away from HP’s core hardware emphasis. So HP, like IBM before it, is trying to transition to becoming a software/business services/enterprise solutions-oriented company.
This is not Meg Whitman’s world any more than it’s my world. Her entire background is in consumer products.
Before she ran for governor of California, the brainstorm of her friend and former boss Mitt Romney, she made a real run at becoming CEO of Disney.
The expertise and skill set of someone who can run Disney and someone who can run Hewlett Packard are very different.
Whitman had appeared to be putting her major commitment of time and effort into Romney’s presidential candidacy. She was a national finance co-chair of his 2008 presidential campaign and was supposedly taking on a larger role this time around.
But with the “inevitable” nominee Romney now running second to Rick Perry — and America not terribly likely to elect a leveraged buyout artist as its president in any event — her focus seems to have changed.
Will that hurt Romney? Perhaps.
And perhaps not. The Perry campaign has delighted in quoting Romney’s national co-chair Whitman back at the former Massachusetts governor.
In her ill-fated run for governor of California, which personally cost her more than $150 million, Whitman repeatedly cited Perry’s Texas record as the model for what governance in California should be.
** NEW POLL: FOR THE FIRST TIME, MAJORITY NOW BLAME OBAMA FOR ECONOMY, BUT MANY MORE BLAME BUSH. A new Gallup Poll reveals that, for the first time, a slight majority of Americans blame President Barack Obama for the nation’s still sputtering economy. But many more blame former President George W. Bush.
And as we learned yesterday, most think the economy has been in recession all along, even when it was in recovery.
The great global recession began in 2007 during the Bush/Cheney Administration, though officials denied it until well into 2008.
The problem for Obama is he isn’t getting credit for improvements, mostly because there’s little perception of improvement for most.
The opportunity for Obama is that his would-be Republican rivals, such as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, offer more of the same policies employed in the Bush/Cheney years.
Among independents, 60% blame Obama and 67% blame Bush.
A slight majority of Americans for the first time blame President Obama either a great deal (24%) or a moderate amount (29%) for the nation’s economic problems. However, Americans continue to blame former President George W. Bush more. Nearly 7 in 10 blame Bush a great deal (36%) or a moderate amount (33%). …
Gallup found a substantially wider gap in public perceptions of how much responsibility Bush and Obama each bore for the economy when it first asked the question in July 2009, the sixth month of Obama’s presidency. That narrowed by March 2010, caused mainly by a jump in the percentage blaming Obama a great deal or moderate amount, and has since changed relatively little. However, the results from a new Sept. 15-18 USA Today/Gallup poll are the first showing a majority of Americans, 53%, assigning significant blame to Obama. Forty-seven percent still say he is “not much” (27%) or “not at all” (20%) to blame. …
President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York, dashing the hopes of Palestinians and their advocates pushing for full recognition of statehood but drawing praise from Israeli leaders.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Ohio.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have received the daily intelligence and economic briefing in the Oval Office.
Obama then met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama departs the White House on Marine One for Joint Base Andrews, where he boards Air Force One.
At 9:45 AM Pacific, Obama departs Joint Base Andrews on Air Force One en route Cincinnati, Ohio.
At 11:05 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Cincinnati, Ohio.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on the American Jobs Act at Hilltop Basic Resources.
Obama will be outside Cincinnati at the Brent Spence Bridge in House Speaker John Boehner’s and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s political backyards. The aging bridge in need of repair connects Ohio and Kentucky.
At 12:50 PM Pacific, Obama departs Cincinnati on Air Force One en route Joint Base Andrews.
At 2:10 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Joint Base Andrews, where he boards Marine One.
At 2:25 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
There is still no resolution of the Palestinian question this morning at the UN following a multiplicity of meetings, including separate one-on-one sessions between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This may be heading, as I’ve been suggesting for some time, toward a compromise with Palestine recognized as a non-member state, a move with real geopolitical complications.
The Palestinians say that tremendous pressure is being applied against them, with the US actively working with Israel to lobby against their drive for recognition.
Intriguingly, France is emerging as a leader searching for a compromise solution that still advances Palestinian interests, pushing the non-member state option I’ve been discussing here for weeks.
This would actually be a huge advance for the Palestinians in that it would elevate the Palestinians to signatories of various international treaties which can be extremely complicating for ongoing Israeli sway over the territories.
All this has obscured the victory lap on Libya for Obama at the UN, as well as the latest disaster in Afghanistan.
The assassination of former Afghan President Rabbani leaves the peace process in that country, which was not going well, in obvious tatters.
China has strongly condemned US plans for a $5.3 billion upgrade to Taiwan’s US-built F-16s, calling it a “grave interference” in its internal affairs. The Taiwanese wanted new fighter jets. This was the Obama Administration’s compromise.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the other side of the world, aspiring superpower China is angered by the Obama Administration’s compromise move to bolster Taiwan’s air defense.
Taiwan wanted new planes, but they’re getting refurbished and upgraded planes. Which offends the PRC’s very expansive sense of “internal affairs.”
It also offends Obama’s critics on the right, who wanted new planes for Taiwan and seem to insist that he pursue as provocative a path in every area as possible.
Speaking of Obama’s critics, the Republican presidential candidates debate again tonight in Orlando, Florida on Fox News.
Despite two rather shaky performances, Texas Governor Rick Perry remains solidly atop the polls as the frontrunner. But he needs to do better. He’s seemed to fade toward the end of debates, perhaps because he had back surgery earlier this year.
In addition to leading in all national polls, Perry leads former frontrunner Mitt Romney in all the early contest states except New Hampshire, where Romney has a home.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
At 11 AM, he appears at Marshall Elementary School in the Fresno County community of Fowler to discuss renewable energy.
Brown has been doing more public events of late, after playing a virtually exclusively inside game for most of the early period of his new/renewed governorship.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA AND THE REPUBLICANS: TWO CONTRASTING NIGHTS.“You should pass it. I intend to take that message to every corner of the country.”
In his big economic speech to Congress, President Barack Obama made plain his intention to take a page from Harry Truman’s playbook and run against what he clearly sees as a reactionary, do-nothing Congress. Too bad for Obama he’s been so late in identifying that particular problem.
The night before, Obama got a bit more of a boost as Texas Governor Rick Perry held up pretty well in his first debate.
Fortunately for Obama’s cause, the Republicans have largely played their assigned parts, ignoring the evident post-partisanship of Obama’s proposals, reacting with the hyper-partisan rejectionism that has generally marked their behavior since his inauguration. … From my September 9th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $81 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
In its latest bid to boost a dreary economy, the Federal Reserve says it will sell $400 billion of its shorter-term securities to buy longer-term holdings.
** QUICK HITS.Still no resolution of the Palestinian question tonight at the UN following a multiplicity of meetings, including separate one-on-one sessions between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. This may be heading, as I’ve been suggesting, toward a compromise with Palestine recognized as a non-member state, a move with real geopolitical complications. … Governor Jerry Brown, who signed and vetoed some bills today, along with speaking at conference on public safety realignment, speaks late tomorrow morning in Fresno at a renewable energy event. Brown has been doing more public events of late, after playing a virtually exclusively inside game for most of the early period of his new/renewed governorship. …
** JERRY-RIGGING: A FEW MOVES HEADING INTO 2012. Governor Jerry Brown made a speech this morning in Sacramento, had an article published about him in the New York Times, and saw a poll with relevance to next year’s elections.
In it, Brown tells former Times chief political writer Adam Nagourney, since moved to the mysterious wonderland west from the Big Apple, that he is amazed by how conservative and hyper-partisan legislative Republicans have become.
You know, I may have noticed that once or twice myself over the years.
Old Brown friends Jodie Evans, Brown’s 1992 presidential campaign manger, and Tom Quinn, his original gubernatorial campaign manager, talk about how taken aback Brown has been.
Well, I can tell you that he has been taken aback. But is he still surprised? I mean, since finding his grand bargain of big budget cuts balanced by tax extensions blocked by knee-jerk Republican opposition last spring?
Also of some note this morning is the latest offering from the Field Poll, which continues to dribble out. In it we learn that most voters, including Republicans, support what looks like a power grab move in the form of late-breaking legislation now pending on Brown’s desk to move all statewide initiatives to the November ballot.
This would end the practice, enshrined for decades and endorsed by Brown in the ’70s in his role as secretary of state (running California’s elections), of placing initiatives and referenda on the statewide primary ballot as well as the statewide general election ballot. On the grounds that the statewide primary is not a “general election.”
Brown can solve a number of political problems by signing that bill. But it would be a reversal of his past position to do so.
However, if Republicans are simply, and shockingly, transformed into dyed-in-the-wool intransigents, why not?
There is a good government argument to be made for signing the bill. Many more people vote in November than vote in June.
And there is a good government argument to be made for vetoing the bill. Voters are already confused by initiatives and their particulars. Putting too many on one ballot will lead to even less informed decision-making.
In case anyone is interested in the good government aspects of the issue.
Brown continued looking ahead to 2012 with his speech this morning to 500 or so local government and law enforcement officials at the Sacramento Convention Center. The occasion was a conference on the realignment of public safety, which among other things means principally that state inmates will become local inmates. That’s going to require funding moving forward.
“I’m not leaving Sacramento until we get a constitutional guarantee to protect law enforcement and the whole realignment process,” Brown declared. “We will do whatever it takes to get the constitutional protection because public safety is the number one responsibility of government. I recognize that and I want to work with you to achieve it.”
Translation: This will be part of Brown’s emerging initiative agenda next year.
** NEW POLL: A SOMBER VIEW OF THE ECONOMY — LOWERING EXPECTATIONS. A new Gallup Poll contains a very somber view of the economy.
It looks like a time of lowered expectations, to borrow a phrase from a certain former governor-turned-yadayadayada-turned governor once put it.
Most think the economy will be no better in a year, and may be worse.
Intriguingly, most Americans think the economy never actually recovered from the Bush/Cheney recession.
Which is false, but which also contains an opportunity for President Barack Obama, if you think about it.
With this perspective, we’re still trying to recover from the deep recession which started under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Three in four Americans assess the U.S. economy as no better than a year ago, with 35% saying it is about the same and 42% saying it is worse. Looking ahead to a year from now, Americans remain largely pessimistic, with 61% expecting economic conditions to be similar to now, or worse. …
Gallup has asked Americans to predict the course of the economy a year ahead in the late summer or early fall of 2009, 2010, and 2011. Americans were generally optimistic about improvement in 2009 — with 65% believing the economy would be better, if not fully recovered, a year out. Each succeeding year, Americans have become less likely to expect conditions to improve, with 37% in 2011 believing the economy will be better a year from now. …
These views appear to be colored by politics. Democrats are most likely among key subgroups to believe the economy will improve in the next year, with 59% saying so. That compares with 28% of Republicans and 27% of independents. More Republicans and independents expect the economy not to change in the next year than to get worse. …
Optimism about an economic recovery has declined at least marginally among all party groups in each of the last three years. In 2009, at least half of all three party groups thought the economy would improve in the year ahead. …
Although the last U.S. recession officially ended in 2009, the poll finds 80% of Americans believing the economy is currently in a recession, similar to what Gallup measured in each of the previous three years. …
The lack of consistent economic progress since 2009 has dashed Americans’ optimism that things will get better in the near future. Just over a third of Americans expect the economy to be better a year from now. With the economy and unemployment firmly atop Americans’ list of the most important problem facing the United States, both the health of the overall economy and Americans’ perceptions of its health have obvious implications for President Obama as he seeks re-election next year. His jobs plan, which Americans generally support, is perhaps his most important step in trying to improve the economy. To be successful, it must not only move the needle on official economic statistics, but also re-instill confidence in Americans that the economy is getting better and will continue to do so.
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 11:45 AM Pacific, President Barack Obama addresses the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
President Barack Obama addressed the United Nations early this morning, saying little if anything that is new.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in New York.
At 7 AM Pacific, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Building.
At 8 AM Pacific, he held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the United Nations Building.
At 9:25 AM Pacific, he holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan at the United Nations Building.
At 10 AM Pacific, he meets with Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the United Nations General Assembly and ambassador of Qatar at the United Nations Building.
At 10:05 AM Pacific, he meets with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations Building.
At 10:20 AM Pacific, he attends a luncheon hosted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations Building.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, he delivers remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers.
Obama’s speech will be netcast live here on New West Notes.
At 12:45 PM Pacific, he holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 1:45 PM Pacific, he holds a bilateral meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy of the French Republic at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 2:35 PM Pacific, he meets with President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 2:55 PM Pacific, he meets with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 4:05 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend the United Nations General Assembly Reception at the New York Public Library.
At 6:45 PM Pacific, the Obamas depart New York on Air Force One en route Andrews Air Force Base.
At 7:40 PM Pacific, the Obamas arrive at Andrews Air Force Base, where they board Marine One.
At 7:55 PM Pacific, the Obamas land on the South Lawn of the White House.
There is a tremendous scramble underway around Palestinian statehood, with the US, Israel, Britain, and France all trying to stave off the need for a US veto in the UN Security Council. The Palestinians say that tremendous pressure is being applied against them.
But it may be that the US and allies other than Israel will end up behind a compromise that is actually a huge advance for the Palestinians; i.e., the non-member state UN status previously discussed here on NWN. This would elevate the Palestinians to signatories of various international treaties which can be extremely complicating for ongoing Israeli sway over the territories.
In other tumultuous news, yesterday’s assassination in Kabul of the head of Afghanistan’s Peace Council, former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, is having tremendous reverberations. Rabbani, who’d been making little progress, was charged with finding a compromise solution to the fighting in Afghanistan.
The former president’s assassination is yet another blow to the security situation in Afghanistan, coming just a week after a 20 hour-plus jihadist siege in central Kabul. Rabbani lived in the so-called green zone, a supposedly secured area.
Frustrated US officials are again attempting to blame Pakistan for the latest Afghan disaster, saying that it harbors the Haqqani network, a Taliban affiliate which may or may not have had anything to do with the assassination.
Better news for Obama on Libya. Rebel forces are making some progress in remaining Gaddafi regime enclaves, though the deposed dictator remains at large.
Libyan rebels took the erstwhile Gaddafi regime stronghold of Sabha today after very limited fighting.
And the UN came together yesterday behind the Libyan rebels, with widespread acclaim for Obama’s call for ongoing support.
But it was a very short victory lap for Obama with more immediately pressing crises.
On Israel and Palestine, the new Republican presidential frontrunner, Texas Governor Rick Perry, shrewdly ventured to New York to hoist himself onto the same stage with the president, avoiding in the process the lingering controversy within his primary race around Social Security.
Perry, who met privately, I’m told, various backers of Israel including some surprising people, attacked Obama as an “appeaser” for being insufficiently supportive of Israel. Obama, he opined, is responsible for the crisis with the Palestinians, if not the entire wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world.
The Israeli government, in Perry’s formulation, easily the most right-wing in the country’s history, must be backed to the hilt no matter what. Perry made these remarks while appearing with an Israeli parliamentarian who is the head of World Likud, the international arm of the conservative Likud Party, which received 729,000 votes in the Israeli national elections. World Likud works closely with far right commentator Glenn Beck.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
Those wacky UC Berkeley alums who wandered across the border between Iraq and Iran in 2009 were finally released today in Tehran, after $1 million in “bail” was deposited.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Sacramento.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decide upon by October 9th.
At 10 AM, he speaks at the Sacramento Convention Center at a one-day conference on programs and strategies for implementing public safety realignment in California.
The conference is just in advance of the October 1st rollout of public safety realignment.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA AND THE REPUBLICANS: TWO CONTRASTING NIGHTS.“You should pass it. I intend to take that message to every corner of the country.”
In his big economic speech to Congress, President Barack Obama made plain his intention to take a page from Harry Truman’s playbook and run against what he clearly sees as a reactionary, do-nothing Congress. Too bad for Obama he’s been so late in identifying that particular problem.
The night before, Obama got a bit more of a boost as Texas Governor Rick Perry held up pretty well in his first debate.
Fortunately for Obama’s cause, the Republicans have largely played their assigned parts, ignoring the evident post-partisanship of Obama’s proposals, reacting with the hyper-partisan rejectionism that has generally marked their behavior since his inauguration. … From my September 9th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $53 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, was assassinated this evening at his home in Kabul’s protected green zone by a Taliban suicide bomber with explosives concealed in his turban.
** QUICK HITS.No resolution on the Palestinian situation at the United Nations today, with the Palestinian foreign minister saying in a TV interview that US officials are pushing hard behind the scenes to get them to drop their statehood bid and word that Israel is threatening to withhold Palestinian fees which Israel currently collects. … Governor Jerry Brown, the Zen archer of American politics who goes up (slightly) in the polls with a decidedly minimalist PR effort while everyone else is going down, ventures forth for another rather rare public appearance tomorrow for a 10 AM speech at a statewide conference on realigning public safety efforts to the local level. At the Sacramento Convention Center with leading local and law enforcement officials. …
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … 9/11 AT 10+: DID OSAMA BIN LADEN WIN AFTER ALL?
** CALIFORNIA 2012: REPUBLICAN STUMBLES ON REDISTRICTING. California’s troubled Republican Party, its ballyhooed presidential straw poll won over the weekend in Los Angeles by Ron Paul, is having trouble getting even its defensive act in gear.
Republicans benefited from a sort of incumbents protection act in the last gerrymandered redistricting a decade ago. While some backed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s redistricting reform initiative in 2008, in part to avoid a big-time Democratic gerrymander in 2011, the hard partisans did not. They knew their best chance lay in cutting political deals, as was always done in the past. Which left them with slim chances.
While efforts to block the Citizens Redistricting Commission’s new state Senate districts have picked up a little steam, efforts to block the new Congressional districts are fizzling badly.
The effort to qualify a referendum on the state Senate districts has garnered about a half million dollars in contributions so far. Proponents need to gather just over half a million valid signatures by mid-November to qualify a referendum for the June statewide primary election. That means at least 700,000 signatures to be sure of having the necessary valid ones.
Meanwhile, the drive to place a referendum blocking the new congressional districts on the June ballot has apparently raised no money.
Republicans look to lose a significant number of seats in both the state Senate and Congress. But some important Republican incumbents, like House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, like their seats.
And the bigger factor is that there are limited amounts of funds available. Even losing half a dozen congressional seats in California might not affect affect the House Republican majority. If that goes, it’s because the party is in deep trouble nationwide.
But allowing Democrats to get to two-thirds in the state Senate — they are just two seats away now — would remove any further direct relevance for Republicans in California governance.
The party has defined its relevance around its no tax ever stance. So there they are.
There’s just one thing. If Governor Jerry Brown signs a bill passed at the last minute in the legislative session just past, there won’t be any referendum on the June ballot. That would defer to November.
** NEW POLL: STRONG BACKING FOR OBAMA’S MORE POPULIST APPROACH ON ECONOMY. President Barack Obama’s more populist tack on the economy gets thumbs up in a brand new Gallup Poll.
Big majorities favor his approach of raising taxes on the rich and closing corporate tax breaks.
By a 70-26 ratio, they favor ending some corporate tax breaks.
By a 66-32 ratio, they favor increasing taxes on individuals making more than $200,000 per year and families making more than $250,000 per year.
With such a sustained economic slowdown, and greatly increased gaps in wealth, it’s hardly a surprise.
In addition, voters favor virtually all of the elements in Obama’s American Jobs Act.
Hmm, you don’t think the White House had some advance polling on this, do you?
The only element in his plan which does not have big majority support is Social Security taxes for workers and employers. Which is odd in a sense because that will put money in people’s pockets.
Perhaps respondents didn’t understand that part of the question.
Obama laid out his proposals for the jobs bill in an address to Congress on Sept. 8, and sent the bill to Congress a few days later. Since then, the president has been pushing Congress to adopt the plan, although there are no signs yet as to when either House of Congress will begin to debate the bill.
The president also proposed raising taxes on wealthy Americans in his deficit-reduction proposal announced on Monday at the White House. Republican leaders have responded that this idea represents nothing more than “class warfare,” but the current data show that the majority of Americans generally favor increasing taxes on the rich as a way to increase revenue.
Slightly more than half of rank-and-file Republicans and Republican-leaning independents favor the idea of eliminating certain corporate tax deductions as a way to pay for a jobs creation bill. Forty-one percent of Republicans favor raising taxes on higher-income Americans. Democrats strongly favor both proposals for paying for the cost of the jobs bill. …
Bottom Line
This is the second Gallup survey conducted in the last two weeks showing that the American public broadly supports Obama’s jobs plan. A majority of Americans interviewed this past weekend believe the plan would help at least a little to create jobs and improve the economy.
Many of the proposals embedded in the plan receive majority support, and Americans strongly endorse the idea of paying for the plan by raising taxes on higher-income individual taxpayers and by eliminating tax deductions for some corporations. While Republicans are considerably less positive about the potential efficacy of the plan than are Democrats, a majority of the former favor a number of Obama’s proposals, and also favor eliminating tax deductions for corporations to help fund the plan.
>>>>>>LIVE VIDEO NETCAST
At 11:15 AM Pacific, President Barack Obama speaks at the Open Government Partnership event in New York. The event will be netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
** LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
With massive geopolitical events swirling and the 2012 presidential race unfolding, the White House is increasingly a pivot point for the day’s events. Live streaming of key presidential events is now available as a matter of course here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
NWN will continue to present other live netcasts in full streaming mode, as it did with the Ronald Reagan Centennial events from the Reagan Library, as they emerge and are technically available and as significance dictates.
Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell is no more.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in New York.
At 7:15 AM Pacific, Obama met with the Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) Chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil at the United Nations Building.
At 7:30 AM Pacific, Obama attends a Libya Contact Group Meeting at the United Nations Building.
At 8:45 AM Pacific, Obama holds a bilateral meeting with President Hamid Karzai of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 8:55 AM Pacific, Obama meets with President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 11:15 AM Pacific, Obama and President Dilma Rousseff join in a family photo with leaders attending the Open Government Partnership Event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 11:25 AM Pacific, Obama attends the Open Government Partnership Event at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama attends a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
At 5:20 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend a DNC Event at Gotham Hall.
The Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell policy on gays and lesbians in the US Armed Forces ended just after midnight today. The world has not ended.
In less uplifting news, the head of Afghanistan’s Peace Council, former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated today in Kabul. Rabbani, who’d been making little progress, was charged with finding a compromise solution to the fighting in Afghanistan.
The former president’s assassination is yet another blow to the security situation in Afghanistan, coming just a week after a 20 hour-plus jihadist siege in central Kabul. Rabbani lived in the so-called green zone, a supposedly secured area.
With the Palestinians continuing their push for statehood at the United Nations, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak arrived this morning for consultations at the Pentagon with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the veteran California political figure.
Better news for Obama on Libya. Rebel forces are making some progress in remaining Gaddafi regime enclaves, though the deposed dictator remains at large. But the real good news is in New York, where Obama enjoys something of a victory lap today with the new Libyan officials recognized, seated, and feted at the United Nations and in related forums such as the Libya Contact Group.
But Obama has only a brief respite from the geopolitical rapids, for the Palestinian question is very far from any resolution, and Palestinian leaders are pushing on to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s speech on Friday for statehood at the UN General Assembly.
Obama is monitoring a variety of other geopolitical crises, mostly related to the Arab awakening, AfPak, and Iraq.
War Zone Times: Libya is nine hours ahead of Pacific time, Iraq is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
Brown is working his way through some 600 bills which he must decided upon by October 9th.
He has very good news today.
He is practically the only major politician in America whose job approval rating has actually improved.
That is a three-point rise since the last sounding.
It’s also in line with Brown’s own private polling, which recently had his job approval at 51% and disapproval at 29%.
Meanwhile, the supposed longtime most popular politician in California, Senator Dianne Feinstein, finds her job approval down, her inclined to re-elect number lower than her disinclined to re-elect number.
Of course, the Republicans would have to have a credible candidate to run against Feinstein. There is no such person.
There is a fly in the ointment for Brown, in the form of a Field Poll finding that most voters don’t like the automatic budget cut triggers in this current state budget. But the opposition seems based on confused reasons, which, to be utterly frank about it, is typical of voter attitudes toward fiscal matters.
And the poll doesn’t make something rather important clear; namely, that there are very disparate and contradictory reasons for the finding.
At 9:15 AM Pacific, former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers an address on renewable energy and energy access for all at the United Nations in New York. The event is netcast live here on New West Notes. You can mute the audio by clicking on the pause button.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILES. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in New York today.
At 9:15 AM Pacific, Schwarzenegger addresses the United Nations Global Compact’s gathering on energy access for all, championing renewable energy and energy efficiency in the climate change struggle.
Or you can watch it on the embedded UN feed above.
Schwarzenegger delivered a similar message in June at the UN’s energy forum in Vienna, where he helped kick off the UN’s new drive for universal energy access and sustainable energy for all.
Today in New York he will be addressing a crowd of heads of government and CEOs, governmental ministers and NGO officials.
** T2 AND ALIENS ANNIVERSARIES POINT UP THE PROBLEMS WITH TODAY’S ACTION MOVIES.After a summer of action films, many of them rather indifferent, it’s useful to consider two classic movies having their 20th and 25th anniversaries.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991; Aliens in 1986. Both directed by a guy best known in some circles for a movie about an old boat that sank and some other picture about a planet filled with nine-foot tall blue people, T2 and Aliens stand in very sharp contrast to latter-day action flicks.
T2 has a polish and, yes, a beauty that makes it appear timeless. Aliens, now 25 years old, looks rougher than that. But the movie is a flavorful mix of the creepshow suspense of the original Alien and the martial virtues of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, with an anti-corporatist twist and tremendous narrative drive.
** OBAMA AND THE REPUBLICANS: TWO CONTRASTING NIGHTS.“You should pass it. I intend to take that message to every corner of the country.”
In his big economic speech to Congress, President Barack Obama made plain his intention to take a page from Harry Truman’s playbook and run against what he clearly sees as a reactionary, do-nothing Congress. Too bad for Obama he’s been so late in identifying that particular problem.
The night before, Obama got a bit more of a boost as Texas Governor Rick Perry held up pretty well in his first debate.
Fortunately for Obama’s cause, the Republicans have largely played their assigned parts, ignoring the evident post-partisanship of Obama’s proposals, reacting with the hyper-partisan rejectionism that has generally marked their behavior since his inauguration. … From my September 9th column.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
You’ve heard of the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis. NASA has provided this spectacular footage from the International Space Station of “the Southern Lights,” the Aurora Australis over Australia from early September.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in three wars in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $87 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $53 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
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