Part 2--April, 2009

* 4/5/09--WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration intends to allow Americans to visit relatives in Cuba and send money back to their families on the communist island nation. President Obama plans to announce the policy change this month, officials said.--AP

* 4/5/09--The chief watchdog (Elizabeth Warren) of the government's $700 billion bank-bailout plan says top executives of struggling financial institutions must be fired if the economy is to have any chance of recovery.-NY Post

* 4/6/09--Having failed to move the operation of the 2010 census into the White House, President Obama late last week nominated as director of the U.S. Census Bureau the Michigan sociology professor Robert Groves, a fervent advocate of statistical sampling. That technique, which uses samples instead of actual counting, is easily manipulated and often results in the over-counting of traditional Democratic constituencies, especially minorities. The data from the Decennial Census taking place in April of 2010 will be used to apportion seats in the House of Representatives and to disburse billions in federal dollars. Republicans are very concerned that the White House efforts to politicize the census will result in a corrupted count aimed to benefit Democrats. With Groves' appointment, their apprehension should grow. Groves served at the Census Bureau from 1990 to 1992 as an associate director of statistical design, where he strongly advocated adjusting population numbers in urban areas to augment the number of people in these typically Democrat strongholds. The United States Supreme Court ruled this process unconstitutional in 1999. --Newsmax.com

* 4/6/09--PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Declaring the future of mankind at stake, President Obama yesterday said all nations must strive to rid the world of nuclear arms -- a day after North Korea defiantly launched a long-range rocket he fears could be used someday to carry warheads to the United States.... He added, we "must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist: 'Yes, we can.' "Few experts think it's possible to completely eradicate nuclear weapons, and many say it wouldn't be a good idea even if it could be done. Even backward nations such as North Korea have shown they can develop atomic bombs, given enough time. But Obama said his own country, with its huge arsenal and its history of using two atomic bombs against Japan, had to lead the world. He said the United States has a "moral responsibility" to start taking steps now. "To reduce our warheads and stockpiles, we will negotiate a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with the Russians this year," he said.

* 4/6/09--In his first two months in office, President Barack Obama has succeeded in widening the political gulf among Americans more than any other president in modern history, according to a new poll. The "partisan gap" between Republicans and Democrats is 10 points larger than it was under George W. Bush. The gulf – between Democrats and Republicans who say President Obama is succeeding – is also showing signs of further widening, according to a new Pew Research poll....The Pew Research Center poll – a survey of polls six weeks into the Obama era – concluded that despite the frequent calls for bipartisanship, U.S. politics is more polarized than at any equivalent point in the past four decades....The irony is that Obama has made it a central pillar of his presidency to try and heal what was often described at the bitter partisanship of the last three decades.--Newsmax.com

* 4/7/09--North Korea's much-anticipated long- range missile launch on Sunday was a technical dud: The satellite it was trying to put into orbit apparently landed in the Pacific Ocean. But the nuclear upstarts learned something important about President Obama, so they're probably pleased. Speaking in Prague just hours after the launch, Obama responded to the provocation by pledging to negotiate reductions in America's nuclear stockpile. The launch underscored the need for "a world without nuclear weapons," he argued, pledging to do his best to reduce America's warhead inventory. Talk about pie-in-the-sky....The idea that nonproliferation treaties would halt Iran's quest for a bomb or North Korea's drive for an effective delivery system borders on lunacy. Worse, Tehran and Pyongyang might see Obama's enthusiasm for such treaties as weakness -- perhaps correctly. Last fall, now-Vice President Joe Biden warned that America's enemies would move quickly to test Obama if he were elected president. That test is under way -- not as a single crisis, but as a series of provocations. Obama's response thus far has been singularly unimpressive.--NY Post Editorial

* 4/7/09--On the Obama apology tour:

--In France--(criticising former President Bush): "Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."

--In Turkey--"I know there have been difficulties [in US-Turkish relations] these last few years," he told Turkey's parliament in Ankara. "I know that the trust that binds the United States and Turkey has been strained, and I know that strain is shared in many places where the Muslim faith is practiced," Obama said to cheers. "So let me say this as clearly as I can: The United States is not, and will never be, at war with Islam." (Before it was re-named by the Obama Administration, wasn't the War on Terror against Islamic fanaticism?)

* 4/8/09--Somali pirates hijack Maersk Alabama in 1st buccaneer attack on U.S. ship in 200 years. (A sign of perceived American weakness?) Captain is taken hostage.

* 4/8/09--Vice President Joe Biden issued a high-level admonishment to Israel's new government Tuesday that it would be "ill advised" to launch a military strike against Iran.--LA Times

* 4/8/09--THE real climax of President Obama's Spring Apologies Tour wasn't his photo op with our troops in Baghdad or even his "American Guilt" concerts in Western Europe. While fans in the press cheered wildly at every venue, the real performance came in Turkey. And it was a turkey. Obama means well. Just as Jimmy Carter, his policy godfather, meant well. But the road to embassy takeovers and strategic humiliation is paved with good intentions -- coupled with distressing naivete. On every stage, Obama draped Lady Liberty in sackcloth and ashes, drawing plentiful applause but no serious economic or security cooperation in return. Then, in Turkey, he surrendered our national pride, undercut our interests and interfered in matters that aren't his business. --Ralph Peters, NY Post

* 4/9/09--WASHINGTON -- Fresh on the heels of a glowing global tour, President Obama's administration announced plans yesterday to dispatch diplomats to talk directly with Iran about its efforts to build nuclear weapons. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the United States would be at the table "from now on" when senior diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany meet with Iranian officials to discuss the nuclear issue. The announcement is a dramatic departure from the policy of the Bush administration, which warned that direct talks with the Iranian government would provide President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad undeserved legitimacy. --NY Post

* 4/9/09--In what's been called a "shocking display of fealty to a foreign potentate," President Barack Obama bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia at the Group of 20 summit meeting in London.
"The bow was an extraordinary protocol violation," The Washington Times observed in an editorial on Tuesday. "Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer. There is no precedent for U.S. presidents bowing to Saudi or any other royals," the editorial said. Obama offered King Abdullah a deep and prolonged bow from the waist when he met him at the summit, which brought together the leaders of the world’s largest economies on April 2. The story about Obama’s unusual gesture has gotten scant media coverage in the United States, but a Spanish TV broadcast was picked up on blogs and has created an Internet stir. "No Americans of any station are required to bow to royalty," the Times stated. "It is one of the pillars of American exceptionalism that our country rejected traditional caste divisions." The Times editorial also opined that Obama’s bow "to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques does not help his image with those who believe he is secretly a Muslim, and why he chose to bow only to the Saudi king and not to any other royal remains unexplained." For instance, Obama did not bow to Queen Elizabeth when he first met her last week in London. Subjects of the crown may bow to the monarch but are not required to do so. -Newsmax

* 4/10/09--Yet another Obama pick fessed up and paid back taxes this week -- and it's not an April Fool's joke. Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius, who replaced tax cheat Tom Daschle, amended three years' worth of returns and paid nearly $8,000 to the IRS for "unintentional errors." Asked for his thoughts, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said, "I think she should be confirmed."-Patriot Post

* 4/10/09--Buffeted by bank bailouts and months of dire economic news, a growing number of Americans are quickly losing their faith in capitalism, a new poll found. A Rasmussen Reports poll out yesterday found only 53 percent of Americans believe capitalism is better than socialism. That's in sharp contrast with a Rasmussen poll three months ago, which showed 70 percent of voters were telling the incoming Obama administration that a free market was better than one managed by the government. The latest poll found 20 percent prefer socialism -- the government ownership of industry. The remaining 27 percent aren't sure. Young Americans and Democrats, the poll found, are more likely than the rest of the country to believe Karl Marx had a point.--NY Post (You think the incessant drumbeat of doom and gloom by the Obama Administration and the MSM had anything to do with it? And wasn't that their plan--never to waste a crisis?)

* 4/10/09--A Tale of Three Headlines: "Clinton offers olive branch to Taliban"-Reuters

"Taliban Chief Vows 'Amazing' Attack on D.C. 'Soon"-KFMB talk radio, San Diego

"U.S peace offer in Afghanistan is a 'lunatic idea' says Taliban"--UK Daily Mail (Hat tip to Rush Limbaugh)

* 4/11/09--MUCH of the US media presented President Obama's first diplomatic tour of Europe, prolonged with a visit to Turkey and a stopover in Iraq, as a triumph....As far as yielding practical results, however, Obama's tour was a near-total failure on at least six issues.
1) No global stimulus: Obama had gone to the G-20 summit with the express purpose of persuading the group to announce a new package of economic stimulus. That didn't happen.
2) Few troops for Afghanistan: Obama wanted the NATO allies to contribute more troops to the war. All, including the usually loyal Brits, politely refused. Instead, they'll provide 3,000 men on a temporary basis to help police the Afghan presidential election in August. Another 2,000 will go to train the Afghan police. And allies with troops in Afghanistan refused to remove the so-called "caveats" that prevent them from doing any actual fighting.
3) Turkey & the EU: Obama couldn't persuade the European Union to speed up the process of admitting Turkey. He went as far as raising the issue in public on two occasions. Sarkozy gave the answer, reminding the US leader that he has no say in the matter.
4) No support for disarmament: Obama failed to mobilize meaningful support for a new and supposedly radical policy of nuclear disarmament.
5) Silence from Turkey: Turkish leaders refused to reciprocate Obama's mea culpa posture toward Muslims -- that is, they declined to condemn acts of terror committed against the United States in the name of Islam. Nor was there any acknowledgement that for more than five decades the United States protected Turkey against the Soviet threat, or that America spent blood and treasure saving Muslims in the Balkans from extermination. Turkish editorials inspired by the governing Justice and Development Party insisted Obama hadn't gone far enough in "addressing Muslim grievances," especially by promising substantial changes in US foreign policy.
6) No leadership: Obama's sixth and potentially the most important failure was his unwillingness or inability to provide leadership on any key issue. He wanted to be the listening president: commenting on issues, analyzing problems, editorializing about conflicts and either/or-ing options -- but never offering anything resembling a strategy. As the French daily Le Monde commented, Obama seems to wish to make America "European."--Amir Taheri , NY Post

* 4/11/09--The Treasury Department said yesterday that the budget deficit increased by $192.3 billion in March, and is near $1 trillion just halfway through the budget year, as costs of the financial bailout and recession mount. Last month's deficit, a record for March, was significantly higher than the $150 billion that economists expected. The deficit already totals $956.8 billion for the first six months of the budget year, also a record for that period. The Obama administration projects the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.75 trillion. A deficit at that level would nearly quadruple the previous annual record of $454.8 billion set last year. The March deficit was nearly four times the size of the imbalance in the same month last year. --NY Post

* 4/12/09--"CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites."--CIA Director Leon Panetta in a letter to staff. --NY Post

* 4/14/09--SEOUL (AFP) — UN nuclear inspectors left North Korea Thursday after the hardline communist state ordered them out and announced plans to restart production of weapons-grade plutonium.

* 4/14/09--The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in "rightwing extremist activity," saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias. A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority. "It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration," the warning says. --Washington Times

* 4/15/09--Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!" An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt....Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that. --AP

* 4/16/09--WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of protesters -- some dressed in colonial wigs with tea bags hanging from their eyeglasses -- staged boisterous protests modeled after the Boston Tea Party all around the country yesterday, rallying against financial bailouts and the Obama administration's tax and spending plans. --NY Post (Story was either largely ignored by the MSM or reported on mockingly and derisively, with participants referred to as "Teabaggers"-(a reference to a sexual term).

* 4/16/09--President Obama decides to release Bush-era memos about CIA interrogation techniques. "A former top official in the administration of President George W. Bush called the publication of the memos “unbelievable.” “It's damaging because these are techniques that work, and by Obama's action today, we are telling the terrorists what they are,” the official said. “We have laid it all out for our enemies. This is totally unnecessary. … Publicizing the techniques does grave damage to our national security by ensuring they can never be used again — even in a ticking-time- bomb scenario where thousands or even millions of American lives are at stake." Gen. Michael Hayden, former CIA director, and Michael Mukasy, former attorney general, also eviscerated Obama's decision "The release of these opinions was unnecessary as a legal matter, and is unsound as a matter of policy. Its effect will be to invite the kind of institutional timidity and fear of recrimination that weakened intelligence gathering in the past, and that we came sorely to regret on Sept. 11, 2001.“ I don't believe Obama would intentionally endanger the nation, so it must be that he thinks either 1. the previous administration, including the CIA professionals who have defended this program, is lying about its importance and effectiveness, or 2. he believes we are no longer really at war and no longer face the kind of grave threat to our national security this program has protected against.”--Politico.com

* 4/18/09--WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court has canceled a program to expand oil and gas drilling off the Alaska coast because of environmental concerns. A three-judge panel in the District of Columbia said the Bush administration's Interior Department failed to consider the environmental impact before approving the program. -AP

* 4/18/09--The White House is standing behind the Wall Street veteran (Steven Rattner) tapped to turn around the troubled auto industry -- a day after it was revealed the former hedge-fund honcho was linked to New York's massive pay-to-play pension scandal. --NY Post

* 4/18/09--WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency concluded yesterday that greenhouse gases linked to climate change "endanger public health and welfare," setting the stage for regulating them under federal clean-air laws. The EPA action marks the first step toward imposing limits on pollution linked to climate change, which would mean tighter rules for cars and power plants.... Limits on carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases would have widespread economic and social impact, from requiring better fuel efficiency for automobiles to limiting emissions from power plants and industrial sources, changing the way the nation produces energy. In announcing the proposed finding, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said it "confirms that greenhouse-gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations." ...The EPA concluded that the science pointing to man-made pollution as a cause of global warming is "compelling and overwhelming." It also said tailpipe emissions from cars contribute to climate change. -AP (What about the thousands of scientists who now believe that we are actually entering a period of global cooling?)

* 4/18/09--WASHINGTON -- President Obama took relations with Cuba to a new level last night by saying he "seeks a new beginning," including direct talks with the communist nation that has been one of America's most enduring foes....Obama also had a brief encounter with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce critic of the United States, with the two clasping hands warmly.--NY Post

* 4/19/09--15.6%--The "real" unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which includes the 8.5% unemployment rate, plus those who have given up looking for work or who are "underemployed" in part-time jobs.--NY Post

* 4/21/09--WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is preparing to unveil its cybersecurity strategy soon, and the online community is on alert that new policies could give the government an unprecedented role in regulating the Internet. Already, critics howled when two key senators wrote a bill that would dramatically increase the president's power to control the Internet. The broad bill would give the president the power to declare a "cybersecurity emergency" and shut down or limit Internet traffic that could affect the nation's "critical infrastructure."--NY Post (Or limit free speech against Democrats?)

* 4/21/09--President Obama yesterday told his Cabinet secretaries to trim their spending by $100 million -- the equivalent of a family earning $50,000 a year slashing costs by all of $1.35. Speaking at his first full Cabinet meeting, Obama -- whose drop-in-the-bucket savings goal represents 0.0027 percent of his budget -- said he wants his administration "to make sure that this government is as efficient as possible and that every taxpayer dollar that is spent is being spent wisely." --NY Post

* 4/21/09--At a Caribbean resort, Obama grinned through a semi-erotic encounter with Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, then failed to answer a "strategic rape" charge lodged against America by ex-Sandinista Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua (who knows plenty about rape). Ignoring America's allies in favor of photo ops with anti-American leftists, such as Ecuador's Rafael Correa and Chavez, Obama blamed the United States for Latin America's problems....Obama needs to get up off his knees. Foreign leaders have already pegged him as the wimpiest metrosexual this side of the men's grooming-products counter at Barney's....Grinning from ear to ear, our president embraced a man who persecutes, jails and, yes, terrorizes Venezuela's last democratically elected officials as he runs a once-vibrant economy into the ground. (Will we soon send aid to Caracas to compensate for the drop in the price of oil?) Obama should be supporting those who respect the rule of law and the outcome of contested elections, the leaders of such diverse political systems as those of Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Colombia. Instead, he lent his prestige to our declared enemies -- thugs who are doing great harm to their own people. What we saw on display wasn't just the horrifying naivete the Obama administration shows throughout its foreign policy, but something even more worrisome: our president's greatest weakness. He needs adulation. He's hooked on it. The crowds and clapping and cameras are O's cocaine (these days). But to what end? Is it worth humiliating our country for a pat on the back and a fist bump from Hugo Chavez? When the ovations end, as they ultimately will, what will be left for the country our self-adoring president was elected to lead? Whose president is he?--Ralph Peters

* 4/21/09--In releasing highly classified documents on the CIA interrogation program last week, President Obama declared that the techniques used to question captured terrorists "did not make us safer." This is patently false. The proof is in the memos Obama made public -- in sections that have gone virtually unreported in the media. Consider the Justice Department memo of May 30, 2005. It notes that "the CIA believes 'the intelligence acquired from these interrogations has been a key reason why al Qaeda has failed to launch a spectacular attack in the West since 11 September 2001.' . . . In particular, the CIA believes that it would have been unable to obtain critical information from numerous detainees, including [Khalid Sheik Mohammed] and Abu Zubaydah, without these enhanced techniques." The memo continues: "Before the CIA used enhanced techniques . . . KSM resisted giving any answers to questions about future attacks, simply noting, 'Soon you will find out.' " Once the techniques were applied, "interrogations have led to specific, actionable intelligence, as well as a general increase in the amount of intelligence regarding al Qaeda and its affiliates." Specifically, interrogation with enhanced techniques "led to the discovery of a KSM plot, the 'Second Wave,' 'to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airliner into' a building in Los Angeles." KSM later acknowledged before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay that the target was the Library Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. The memo explains that "information obtained from KSM also led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, better known as Hambali, and the discovery of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemmah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the 'Second Wave.' " In other words, without enhanced interrogations, there could be a hole in the ground in Los Angeles to match the one in New York.... But just as the memo begins to describe previously undisclosed details of what enhanced interrogations achieved, the page is almost entirely blacked out. The Obama administration released pages of unredacted classified information on the techniques used to question captured terrorist leaders but pulled out its black marker when it came to the details of what those interrogations achieved....Yet there is more information confirming the program's effectiveness. The Office of Legal Counsel memo states "we discuss only a small fraction of the important intelligence CIA interrogators have obtained from KSM" and notes that "intelligence derived from CIA detainees has resulted in more than 6,000 intelligence reports and, in 2004, accounted for approximately half of the [Counterterrorism Center's] reporting on al Qaeda." The memos refer to other classified documents -- including an "Effectiveness Memo" and an "IG Report," which explain how "the use of enhanced techniques in the interrogations of KSM, Zubaydah and others . . . has yielded critical information." Why didn't Obama officials release this information as well? Because they know that if the public could see the details of the techniques side by side with evidence that the program saved American lives, the vast majority would support continuing it. Critics claim that enhanced techniques do not produce good intelligence because people will say anything to get the techniques to stop. But the memos note that, "as Abu Zubaydah himself explained with respect to enhanced techniques, 'brothers who are captured and interrogated are permitted by Allah to provide information when they believe they have reached the limit of their ability to withhold it in the face of psychological and physical hardship." In other words, the terrorists are called by their faith to resist as far as they can -- and once they have done so, they are free to tell everything they know. This is because of their belief that "Islam will ultimately dominate the world and that this victory is inevitable." The job of the interrogator is to safely help the terrorist do his duty to Allah, so he then feels liberated to speak freely. This is the secret to the program's success. And the Obama administration's decision to share this secret with the terrorists threatens our national security. Al-Qaeda will use this information and other details in the memos to train its operatives to resist questioning and withhold information on planned attacks. CIA Director Leon Panetta said during his confirmation hearings that even the Obama administration might use some of the enhanced techniques in a "ticking time bomb" scenario. What will the administration do now that it has shared the limits of our interrogation techniques with the enemy? President Obama's decision to release these documents is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible acts ever by an American president during a time of war -- and Americans may die as a result.--Marc Thiessen, Washington Post

* 4/22/09--Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stunned many listeners during an appearance on CNN when she asserted that illegal immigration is really not a crime....“And yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.” The fact is, crossing the border without authorization is a crime. The statute reads: “Any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers . . . shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.” -Newsmax.com

* 4/23/09--REUTERS--WASHINGTON -- President Obama came under strong criticism yesterday for leaving the door open to the prosecution of Bush administration officials who authorized severe CIA interrogations. Obama's decision last Thursday to release classified memos detailing aggressive techniques on terrorism suspects, including waterboarding, has triggered a political firestorm. Karl Rove, who was a top aide to former President George W. Bush, accused Obama of seeking to conduct "show trials" a day after the president left open the possibility of prosecuting officials who provided legal analysis of interrogation procedures. "If the Obama administration insists on criminalizing policy disagreements, how can they place any limits on who they prosecute?" Rove said. "Everyone in the interrogation process would have to be treated the same," he said, including CIA agents, physicians who monitored interrogations, and lawyers who wrote memos.

* 4/23/09--"We were not -- I repeat -- were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used." --House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who attended briefings about waterboarding in 2002. Earlier, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized Pelosi and other Democratic leaders for backing probes into the use of waterboarding — after reportedly failing to raise objections during a briefing on its potential use in 2002. "Well, yesterday I saw a partial list of the number of members of the House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, who were briefed on these interrogation methods and not a word was raised at the time, not one word," Boehner told reporters at his weekly news availability. "And I think you're going to hear more and more about the bigger picture here, that what — the war on terror after 9/11 was done in a bipartisan basis on lots of fronts. And that bigger story will be coming out," he added.--Politico.com

* 4/24/09--REUTERS--Researchers have developed a new way to make embryonic-like stem cells by soaking them in genetically engineered proteins, a step toward using ordinary cells to treat various diseases.

* 4/28/09--"Air Farce One" played out over lower Manhattan yesterday -- in a terrifyingly bizarre military photo op that sent office workers fleeing from their buildings fearing a new 9/11-type attack. But it turned out that the backup Air Force One jet and the fighter that appeared to be pursuing it only 1,000 feet above Ground Zero were staging the spectacle to get publicity shots of the presidential plane with a New York backdrop.--NY Post

* 4/29/09--The 100-day benchmark has had no real significance since FDR sat in the White House, but taking note of it is traditional, so here is the call on President Obama: The past three months have produced enough disquieting trends to give cause for concern. Domestically, Obama is as orthodox a liberal Democrat as has ever sat in the Oval Office: He believes spending solves all problems, and his proposed borrowing to pay for it all, taken as a percentage of GDP, rivals that of World War II. Meanwhile, the administration essentially has seized control of the US banking and auto industries. Abroad, Obama seems resolved to court despots like Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Fidel Castro, even while brushing off traditional allies like Great Britain....Is America better off as a world leader, or simply as everybody's best friend forever? Shades of the Carter era, when it was deemed immoral to view America as a superpower or moral leader. But that policy made the world more dangerous as thugs and terrorists rose to the fore.-NY Post Editorial
* 4/30/09--BAGHDAD -- Two car bombs tore through a crowded commercial district in Baghdad's main Shiite neighborhood yesterday, killing at least 41 people, Iraqi police said. The blasts went off in quick succession less than a week after bombings claimed more than 150 lives over two days. The attacks, in Sadr City, have raised fears that Sunni terrorists are regrouping and trying to reignite sectarian strife as the US military begins to withdraw.--AP

* 4/30/09--WASHINGTON -- President Obama said last night he's confident Pakistan's nuclear arsenal will not fall into the hands of enemies or terrorists because that country's army understands how dangerous that would be....Taliban forces -- aided by elements of Afghan forces, as well as al Qaeda -- have come within about 50 miles of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in recent days, threatening a critical US ally that possesses as many as 100 nuclear weapons.--NY Post