THE BIGGEST GLOBAL STORY SINCE 9/11: THE DEFEAT OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM
As 2007 drew to a close, embarrassed journalists sought to play down American military successes and avoided questioning Democrat presidential contenders about their predictions of inevitable failure in Iraq. Magically, Iraq disappeared from the headlines - except on those rare occasions when a problem could be reported. At the close of a year of stunning progress, media stories on New Year's Eve leapt to report that 2007 had been the deadliest year for US troops. You had to read deep into the columns to learn that those casualties occurred in the first half of 2007, as we battled and defeated the terrorists and militias - or that, in recent months, American and Iraqi casualties have plummeted as a relative peace broke out. The greatest media story of 2007 was the one you never read (unless you read To The Point): 2007 was a strategic catastrophe for Islamist terrorists - and possibly a historic turning point in the struggle against al Qaeda and its affiliates.
OVERCOMING VISTA BLUES
If you got a new Windows computer for Christmas, odds are very high it uses the new Vista operating program. Odds are also very high you'll find moving stuff from your old XP computer into Vista annoying, if not downright infuriating. It's called the Vista Blues, and I'll do my best to help you overcome them. One example: Moving mail from an XP "Outlook Express" to a Vista "Mail" program may become a small nightmare since "Outlook Express" is not one of the options that can be utilized (!). There are options for this lack of a conduit. A solution is Thunderbird, the free mail application from www.mozilla.com will allow you to import from Outlook Express with ease. The latest version is 2.0.0.9.
A BAD NEWS QUIZ
How much did the federal budget deficit rise in 2007? Answer: It did not rise, it got much smaller. The deficit has been declining rapidly for the last three years and is now only about 1 percent of gross domestic product, which is far lower than the average deficit for the last half-century. Left-wing ideologues, such as Paul Krugman of the New York Times, have been predicting for years that the Bush tax cuts would lead to ever-growing deficits. Wrong again. When did the recession of 2007 begin? Answer: It never started. CNN and other news media are quoting polls showing many Americans think the economy has been in a recession. But the economy has grown in every quarter of 2007, and employment is at a record high, despite the subprime mortgage problem and the rise in oil prices. Economic growth in 2007 will be more than 2 percent - not great, but not a disaster or a recession. The reason so many think the U.S. is in a recession is the unbalanced reporting about the economy from many in the left-leaning media who overly report the comments of Bush-hating politicians and the bad, but not the good, numbers.
THE BAD AND WORSE IN PAKISTAN
Pakistan reminds us that in foreign policy, often the only choices we have are between bad and worse. The place has become the central front in the war on terror. Perhaps it always was, since al Qaeda's leadership took up residence there after being chased out of Afghanistan, and the war in Afghanistan cannot be won so long as the Taliban has a safe haven in Pakistan's northwest territories. The assassination Dec. 27 of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto may turn what for us has been an unsatisfactory situation into a catastrophe. Pervez Musharraf has been so weakened that he is more than ever a slender reed on which to lean. But he's a stout oak compared to the alternatives to lead Pakistan - one of whom has taken a $1 million bribe from Osama bin Laden.
OBAMA IN KENYA
Barrack Hussein Obama Junior will not win or lose the Democrat Party's presidential nomination in Iowa or New Hampshire or elsewhere in the US. He'll win or lose it in Kenya. That he'll lose it there is the fear of his campaign advisors who wear green eye-shades. That he'll win there is the hope of his campaign advisors who have both brains and cojones. Last week in The 2008 Carpe Diem Filter, we noted that an ideal presidential candidate would be someone who knows how to carpe diem - who looks at problems as opportunities, who would best be able to recognize and maximize the opportunity in a crisis. Fate has just given Obama such a make-or-break opportunity. Will he confidently use it, or will he wimp out, showing the world he's not the hero of his believers' mythology, but the Obambi phony his detractors claim?
THE GOP RACE ONE WEEK BEFORE IOWA
[We welcome legendary political strategist Arnie Steinberg to TTP, whom we hope to have as a regular columnist advising us throughout the 2008 campaign. I have known Arnie since 1966 when he helped me lead Youth for Reagan during Ronald Reagan's triumphant campaign for governor. Arnie has created or advised hundreds of political campaigns at all levels, written two graduate texts on politics and media, and is an expert in every phase of campaigns, especially free/earned and paid/advertising media. He has produced, written and directed television and radio commercials for many candidates, ballot measures and issues. He has conducted more than 1700 surveys and focus groups. I asked him to set the Republican parameters as we go into Iowa and New Hampshire. We are privileged to have him be a part of To The Point. ---JW] Once the Republican nominee is chosen, we will be told what the turning point was in his campaign. And history then will be rewritten about how inspired it was. The reality is there are few brilliant campaigns; typically, the winning campaign is the least bumbling. So let's handicap the GOP aspirants a week before Iowa - Paul, Huckabee, Romney, Thompson, Giuliani, and McCain - from a campaign standpoint. I can tell you there'll be some surprises.
IS SPAIN BREAKING APART?
Madrid, Spain. Spain has been one of the great democratic and economic success stories of the last three decades. But there is now some reason to fear for its future. The Spaniards have moved in two generations from conservative church-going Catholics to some of the most socially liberal people on the planet (the Californians of Europe). Recent surveys have shown the Spaniards to be among the happiest people on Earth. In sum, Spain seems to have everything going for it. There are problems, however, big problems in paradise.
DOES AMERICA DESERVE ITS MILITARY?
In all of American history, only a handful of generals -- Grant and Sherman in the Civil War, and Douglas MacArthur with the Inchon landing in the Korean War -- have turned a war around in so short a time as has Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq. And no one has done it with so few casualties, or so little civilian "collateral damage." What has happened in Iraq since the troop surge began about this time last year is a tribute to the kindness and the humanity as well as to the courage and skill of U.S. soldiers and Marines. And to the genius and leadership of David Petraeus. Grant, Sherman, and MacArthur were national heroes. Their names were on everyone's lips. Parades were thrown in their honor. Grant became president. Sherman could have been, had he wanted to be. MacArthur was touted for the Republican nomination in 1952, which went instead to another successful general. David Petraeus, on the other hand, is the Rodney Dangerfield of successful American commanders. He didn't even make the top ten in Gallup's poll of the most admired men for 2007.
BUSH AS A WORLD SUCCESS
The first thing his wife would do if she became president, Bill Clinton said in South Carolina last week, would be to dispatch him and the first President Bush on an around the world diplomatic mission to repair the damage done to America's reputation and influence by the policies of the current President Bush. George H.W. Bush became friendly with the man who beat him in 1992 when they worked together to raise funds for tsunami relief. But the elder Mr. Bush made it clear that neither Bill nor Hillary had ever discussed such a diplomatic mission with him, and he wouldn't have been interested if they had, because he strongly supports his son's foreign policy. The episode reminds us that Bill Clinton's relationship with the truth remains problematic. The theme -- that President Bush's policies, particularly with regard to the war in Iraq, have cost us the respect and support of our traditional allies -- is an article of faith among Democrats. But it is untrue. On the whole, our president is a world success.
CHARLIE WILSON AND RONALD REAGAN’S WAR
This picture was taken during my wedding on May 25, 1986. The ceremony took place at the villa of a friend of mine in St. Tropez, France. My bride was a gorgeous California redhead named Rebel Holiday (yes, her born name). The dapper gentleman you see between us was serving as my best man. The reason he doesn't look like Tom Hanks is because he's the real Charlie Wilson. So it was a strange experience for me to see the movie Charley Wilson's War, a movie portraying events I participated in, to see how it was both true and not true at the same time. Hanks portrays Charlie as the hero he really was. A larger-than-life America-loving Communist-hating true blue patriot who used his power and influence to the max to stick it to the Soviets big time. That Hollywood would make a major motion picture about a genuine Anti-Communist hero, about a noble Anti-Communist triumph over the Evil Communist Empire of the Soviet Union is morally thrilling. The movie is magnificent. Not taking anything away from the magnificence, it is also ludicrous. http://www.rebelholiday.com/