Wednesday Wrap

Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate.

We had a family outing over the weekend. We went to enjoy a theatrical production offered by a local playhouse. The play was "Miracle on 34th Street" and it was well done. Still not catching the Christmas spirit yet, though.

I'll do a little wrap up of the recent events I've either read about or listened to on the news.

First, of course, the fallout over the NIE report on Iran's nuclear weapons program. Something we should all remember is that the E stands for ESTIMATE. None of the findings are set in stone and much of it is being questioned by various quarters.

From the WSJ.com Editorial Page today: "In his press conference yesterday, President Bush went out of his way to praise the "good work" of the intelligence community, whose latest National Intelligence Estimate claims the mullahs of Iran abandoned their nuclear weapons program in 2003. "This is heartening news," Mr. Bush said. "To me, it's a way for us to rally our partners."

"We wish we could be as sanguine, both about the quality of the U.S. intelligence and its implications for U.S. diplomacy. For years, senior Administration officials, including Condoleezza Rice, have stressed to us how little the government knows about what goes on inside Iran. In 2005, the bipartisan Robb-Silberman report underscored that "Across the board, the Intelligence Community knows disturbingly little about nuclear programs of many of the world's most dangerous actors." And as our liberal friends used to remind us, you can never trust the CIA. (Only later did they figure out the agency was usually on their side.)

It is pointed out that the NIE's main authors include "Three former State Department officials with previous reputations as "hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials," according to an intelligence source. They are Tom Fingar, formerly of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research; Vann Van Diepen, the National Intelligence Officer for WMD: and Kenneth Brill, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Interenational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

The IAEA itself is expressing doubt as to the complete accuracy of the Estimate. So, there's that.

Moving on:
NBC "Nightly News" anchor, Brian Williams, would like you to think the economy is in the tank. He used the R.V. industry as a guide. "When R.V. sales go down, the U.S. economy often follows." Problem is, that is backwards logic. My brother in law owns a RV dealership in a state in flyover country and R.V. sales go down after the economy softens. And as he points out to me when I ask, those buying the top of the line models he sells rarely are affected one way or the other. They have the purchase financed or paid outright and these RV'ers are a breed of their own. Maybe Williams was talking about the little pop-up style campers on the back of pick ups trucks but that's not the model he was featuring.

The Dems pray for bad news, especially on the economy. All about doom and gloom for them. Unfortunately, the U.S. Productivity report is out today and shows the highest levels since '03 for monthly gains. Also, employment gains tripled from what was forecast. Sorry, losers.

I think hell is freezing over. Whoopi Goldberg, with whom I have very little in common, came out against the death tax on The View. Despite her socialist comrades in arms on the panel, Joy Behar and Sherri Shepherd's protestations, Goldberg said, "I just don't think it's right. If I give something to my kid I already paid the tax why do I have to pay it again because I died? It's like being chastised. I hate it." Behar, using the typical stupid liberal argument "Only people with a lot of money say that", was countered by Goldberg with "Anyone who wants to leave something to their kid, whatever you paid for it, they have to pay." Exactly.

And, staying with the brilliant, insightful minds on The View: whom did they blame when the British teacher was under fire in Sudan? Yeah, those progressive feminists blamed her. Not the Islamofascist dictators or the hate provoking mullah, no, they blamed her.

There's a reason the feminist movement is dead.

Ron Paul was a guest on The View, according to the blog at ABC News. They loved him since he's anti war until they found out he's an OB-GYN who is pro-life and against abortion. Hillary Clinton was on the show in October. Michelle Obama was to be a co-host but backed out due to the writer's strike. Edwards and his wife cancelled, too.

And, according to Hillary's chief PR hack, Mark Penn, that attack about Obama wanting to grow up to run for President dating back to kindergarten? Hey, it was only a joke. Yeah, ok. Who's she getting her comedic coaching from? John Kerry?

From CNN.com: Secretary of Labor Reich, from the Bill Clinton administration says Hillary lacks "conviction about anything". Ouch. He supports Obama. He says Iowa voters have a choice "between someone who talks the talk, and somebody who's walked the walk." Reich is not just a former Clinton cabinet member. He and Bill were classmates and Rhodes Scholars at Oxford back in the late 1960's. He even tore apart Hillary's health care plan. Referring to the recent slurs against Obama by the Clinton machine:"If she's worried her polls are dropping, this is not the way to build them back up."

And, finally. A story surfaced in the American Thinker online from the Seattle Times by Thomas Lifson. It was under 'local news' and it was about a staffer of Senator Maria Cantwell, D-WA and the charge of soliciting sex from a 13 year old for which he was charged. The FBI caught him online. Before joining Cantwell's office he worked for the 2004 Kerry presidential campaign and before that was an aide to Dick Gephardt, D-OH.

What, you didn't read about it? Well, of course you didn't. The guy is not a Republican. It was only a U.S. Senator's office being used for unseemly acts. It wasn't like it was a public restroom in an airport, you know.