Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action

I've forgotten now, but I'm sure I got a few NEA e-mails on this. Here's the website.

These people are angry and stupid, and dangerous combination. Video c/o Glenn Reynolds:

Barbara Efraim with House Speaker John Boehner

Barbara Efraim, formerly of Long Beach City College, is doing an internship with the National Women's Committee of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington. She keeps me updated by Facebook. Here she's meeting with Speaker Boehner, who's in the news more than ever. A little blurry with the mobile phone, but cool:

Outside Groups Spend Big on 2012 Ads

I've been seeing the Karl Rove Crossroads GPS ads on television, and they're covered at today's Los Angeles Times, "Independent groups getting a head start on 2012 campaign":

Reporting from Washington

An early television war fueled by independent groups is poised to shape the focus and landscape of the 2012 presidential race much as "tea-party"-backed organizations helped set the stage for Republican victories in 2010.

This summer — a full 16 months before the general election — television viewers across the country are already confronting hard-hitting commercials jousting over President Obama's record on the economy. Such political ads are usually confined to places such as Iowa and New Hampshire at this point in the race.

The ads aren't the work of the president's reelection campaign or the Republicans jockeying to run against him — they are the product of a new breed of well-funded outside groups seeking to define the contours of the 2012 campaign.

One of the biggest, Crossroads GPS, has pledged to spend $20 million in television advertising in July and August alone.

"I supported President Obama because he spoke so beautifully, but since then, things have gone from bad to much worse," says the character of a worried mom in the group's latest spot, running nationally on cable as well as on broadcast stations in six states.

Keep reading.

I'll look around for some of the other groups highlighted at the piece. The trend is not new, although the scale of outside spending for 2012 may break records.

Unions Made Wisconsin Judicial Election a Referendum on Walker's Budget Reform Bill, and They Still Couldn't Put It Away

And since the election's too close to call, progressives will likely steal a victory in the end. See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Supreme Court race still too close to call, Kloppenburg has narrow lead":

As of 9:45 this morning, the Associated Press had results for all but 5 of the state's 3,630 precincts and Kloppenburg had taken a 311 vote lead after Prosser had been ahead most of the night by less than 1,000 votes.

That close margin had political insiders from both sides talking about the possibility of a recount, which Wisconsin has avoided in statewide races in recent decades. Any recount could be followed by lawsuits - litigation that potentially would be decided by the high court.

The razor-thin result was the latest twist in Wisconsin's ongoing political turmoil. The state has drawn the attention of the nation in recent weeks because of the fight over a controversial law sharply restricting public employee unions, which caused massive weeks-long protests in the Capitol, a boycott of the Senate by Democrats and attempts to recall senators from both parties.

Interest groups on both sides had portrayed the election as a referendum on Gov. Scott Walker's agenda and particularly on the collective bargaining law. Conservatives backed Prosser, and liberals supported Kloppenburg, even though the candidates themselves insisted they were politically neutral.

As this race goes to recount, conservatives should keep two words in mind: Al Franken.

Ed Morrissey has more, with special attention to the left's epic underperformance:

The recount process may take weeks or even months, depending on who wins the official tally and how hard the other fights. In Minnesota, we have some experience with recounts, of course, and the one that finally settled the 2008 Senate campaign between Al Franken and Norm Coleman took until the following summer to conclude. It’s an easy bet that the unions have already begun to flood the zone with lawyers to assist in the recount and cash for operations supporting Kloppenburg. If anyone in Prosser’s camp wants to heed the lessons of the Minnesota recall, calls should be going out today for a similar effort — and probably should have started a week ago or more.

But the unions have a bigger problem. Many gave Prosser little chance of holding his seat in this off-year, otherwise sleepy election, as unions organized fiercely to unseat him before the state Supreme Court could hear the challenge to Scott Walker’s law. Given the usual lack of turnout for April elections in off years, the organizing power of the unions should have been overwhelming, and Prosser should have been toast even in less-progressive areas of the state. Instead, Wisconsin voters thundered to the polls to support Prosser, and Kloppenburg turned out to do poorly outside of Dane and Milwaukee counties — and even in Milwaukee, Kloppenburg led by just a 57/43 margin.

What should have been a slam-dunk if Walker’s proposal was really as extreme and disaffecting as unions claim turned out to be an even split. Given their power and the investment of time and money by the unions, this is an eye-opening stumble.

Photo Credit: Ann Althouse.

RELATED: "Recount may not be able to start for weeks" (via Memeorandum).

Sarah Palin's Comments on CPAC and GOProud

The clip's at Breitbart's, "Sarah Palin Throws Support Behind GOProud Participation at CPAC." And a teaser:

Well, I’ve never attended a CPAC conference ever so Sarah Palin Throws Support Behind GOProud Participation at CPAC." And quoted there: I was a little taken aback this go around when I couldn’t make it to this one either and then there was a speculation well I either agree or disagree with some of the groups or issues that CPAC is discussing ... perhaps what it is that you’re suggesting in the question is should the GOP, should conservatives not reach out to others, not participate in events or forums that perhaps are rising within those forums are issues that maybe we don’t personally agree with?

This has generated a little controversy. Shane D'Aprile reports, "Conservative group wants answers from Palin on gay rights":

The conservative American Principles Project, which is already boycotting this week's Conservative Political Action Conference over the inclusion of a gay GOP group, is now demanding "clarity" from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

The organization wants to know exactly where Palin stands on the inclusion of GOProud as one of CPACs sponsors and wants clarity on her stance on gay marriage after Palin suggested over the weekend that she supports the group.

Asked about the controversy over GOProud's presence at CPAC, which has led to a boycott of the event by several leading conservative groups and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Palin told the Christian Broadcasting Network that she desires a "healthy debate."

"Should conservatives not reach out to others, not participate in events or forums that perhaps arising within those forums are issues that maybe we don't personally agree with?" Palin asked. "And I say 'no.'"

Palin's comments to CBN were highlighted by Andrew Breitbart, who is a member of GOProud's board and will take part in one of the group's events during CPAC later this week.

But the interview raised the ire of APP's President Frank Cannon, who demanded answers from Palin on Monday.

"The concern of conservatives is over the participation of a group whose stated goals run at odds with that of core conservative principles, not over debate over those issues," Cannon said in a statement. "Governor Palin should clarify her comments by letting us know whether in her definition, traditional marriage is a core component of conservatism."

Palin's views on gay rights aren't entirely clear. She drew attention earlier this year after she re-tweeted a message from conservative talk host Tammy Bruce that was seen by many as expressing support for the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Palin later said she didn't support the repeal.

More at the link.

Also, a discussion by Kathryn Jean Lopez, "CPAC’s Culture Club: Sex and the Boycott."

Frankly, as a matter of pure policy, I doubt GOProud can be a genuinely conservative group, so when the American Principles Project reports that GOProud is actively lobbying in opposition to the defense of traditional marriage, that's a substantial problem. As quoted at the Lopez entry: "“It is no more acceptable as a participant at CPAC than a group that said it embraced the ‘traditional conservative agenda’ but actively worked for higher taxes and greater governmental control of the economy."

APP's full boycott letter is here: "CPAC Coalition Letter." And reading that reveals an even greater problem: GOProud is an "identity politics" organization adopting a "long-term strategy to impose" same-sex marriage. Sounds more like radical progressivism than conservatism.

In any case, we'll see how it goes. Perhaps I'll have a chance to swing by some of the GOProud events, and if so I'll publish reports and updates.

Where News is Power

"Aides Fight to Be Well Armed," at NYT (FWIW):

WASHINGTON — Bobby Maldonado has the morning routine of a well-trained marathoner.

With the help of three alarm clocks, he gets up at 4 a.m., is showered and out the door in less than an hour, and scans his BlackBerry almost constantly as he makes his pretimed 12- to 13-minute trek to the Red Line Metro stop where he catches the first train downtown.

He knows exactly where to stand so he can get into the car that deposits him just steps from the escalator at the Farragut North station. “It’s an efficiency thing,” he explained, “so I don’t get stuck behind people, so I hit the crosswalk at the right minute.” Cutting diagonally across Farragut Square, he arrives at his office at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on H Street just after 5:30 a.m. There, in a darkened cubicle, he scans the Internet for the day’s news and condenses it into a two-page memo that he shoots off to Thomas J. Donohue, the Chamber’s president, and other top executives before 8 a.m. He is never late.

Mr. Maldonado, 26, is one of the dozens of young aides throughout the city who rise before dawn to pore over the news to synthesize it, summarize it and spin it, so their bosses start the day well-prepared. Washington is a city that traffics in information, and as these 20-something staff members are learning, who knows what — and when they know it — can be the difference between professional advancement and barely scraping by.

“Information is the capital market of Washington, so you know something that other people don’t know and you know something earlier than other people know it, is a formulation for increasing your status and power,” said David Perlmutter, the director of the University of Iowa’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “So any edge you can use to get stuff faster, earlier, better or exclusively is very important.”

This is interesting.

There's more at the link, but I like this passage especially:

Getting up early is nothing new, but the lightning speed of news on the Internet and the proliferation of outlets like Politico, which place a premium on “winning” the day, has made the job more demanding and pushed the mornings ever earlier.

I can spend all day blogging and searching for a scoop, so this hits close to home. An interesting study might be to examine how much greater a premium political actors put on up-to-the minute information today than in earlier years. It's not like this kind of thing is new. Back in the '60s, President Johnson had three televisions set up so he could flip back and forth between the major networks. And since at least Bill Clinton's administration, political campaigns have deployed rapid response teams working, ready and able to have "fact-check" ads on the air within 24-hours. But that quote with Politico recognizes a new qualitative dimension, illustrating the changes in the news cycle wrought by Internet technology. That is different.

RELATED: From Jake Tapper, "J ‘Accuse! President Obama Says Chamber of Commerce Using Foreign Funds to Influence US Elections, " and Doug Ross, "Ruh Roh: In 2010 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Gave 43% of its Contributions to Democrats."

The London Review of Bigotry

I had students in my World Politics course this semester read Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby." Grading the assignments, one of things that struck me was how substantially the essay's unablanced and decontextualized discussion influenced the student commentaries. The obvious problem is that students lacked sufficient background knowledge to offer full rebuttals. And a number of students had been marinated in anti-Israel propaganda, so they were down with "The Israel Lobby's" demonizations. It was an interesting experience as an instructor. I've met John Mearsheimer. Stephen Walt's balance of threat theory was fundamental to the theory I developed in my dissertation back in the day. And so while I've always avoided the anti-Semitic attacks on Mearsheimer and Walt, it's interesting to learn that The London Review of Books, where Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby" first appeared commercially, boasts the notorious reputation as "one of the most poisonously Judeophobic periodicals in western society." The quote's from Melanie Phillips, who points us to the new comprehensive analysis, "The London Review of Book: Ten Years of Anti-Israel Prejudice." And here's the discussion:

One of the main criticisms of the essay was that its central thesis relied upon anti-Semitic notions of disproportionate Jewish power in media and politics. Christopher Hitchens, by no means a reflexive supporter of Israel, responded to the essay in ‘Overstating Jewish Power,’ an article for Slate (27 March 2006). He criticised the way that Mearsheimer and Walt ‘present the situation as one where the Jewish tail wags the American dog, and where the United States has gone to war in Iraq to gratify Ariel Sharon,’ describing this as ‘partly misleading and partly creepy’.

On how convincing the pair’s case was, veteran Israel critic Noam Chomsky concluded: ‘not very’. He also criticised Mearsheimer and Walt’s ‘highly selective use of evidence’, offering alternative examples of US-Israel friction in which ‘Israel was compelled to back down’.

In marked contrast, the political far right was much more welcoming of Mearsheimer and Walt’s thesis. Former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke gave ‘The Israel Lobby’ his full approval, saying:

‘It is quite satisfying to see a body in the premier American University essentially come out and validate every major point I have been making since even before the war even started… the task before us is to wrest control of America’s foreign policy and critical junctures of media from the Jewish extremist Neocons that seek to lead us into what they expectantly call World War IV.’

The LRB published more of the same from John Mearsheimer in 2009 in ‘The Lobby Falters’ in which he complained that President Obama is unwilling to assert his authority over the pro-Israel lobby – ‘this is one opponent he is not willing to challenge’.

The full article is at the link.

I borrowed the title above from Melanie, who has additional commentary: "The London Review of Bigotry."

Leftist Group Demagogues START Debate With New 'Daisy Girl' Ad

It's from the American Values Network, a hard-left progressive faith group:

Burns Strider, the group's founder, was a former aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and was a faith advisor to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. In other words, this is a Democratic ad blitz using the most outlandish fearmongering imaginable. The original "Daisy Girl" ran at the height of the Cold War. It came in response to Barry Goldwater's bellicose comments on the use of nuclear weapons against the Soviets. There's little of that kind of rhetoric in today's GOP --- and we're not on brink of a nuclear holocaust --- and the ad's claims on inspections under the new START are entirely dependent on Moscow's compliance and transparency. When Obama signed the treaty in April, our Czech allies dissed it as "appeasing Russia." See my previous entry: "Trust Russia on START?"

RELATED: "George Voinovich Hammers Obama's 'Political Expediency' on New START Treaty."

California Ballot Propositions Threaten Major Tax Hikes

A range of far left-wing lobbying groups is pushing for a major shift in California's tax structure. The effort got a boost this week by the findings of a pro-tax commission, reported at LAT, "California's Business Tax Burden No Heavier Than Average." Of course, out-of-control spending explains the state's fiscal problems, and the commission's report is a scam. See, "LA Times Thinks (Incorrectly!) That Business is Undertaxed":

The fundamental problem with the Times article, and much of the left-of-center criticism of California business taxation - is that they posit a world where public policy is a passive pawn in the hands of manipulative corporations ...

That's right, although that's WAY left-of-center criticism, for example, with the California Teachers Association's attacks on "corporate greed" seen in this "Yes on 24" video clip:

See also WSJ, "The Tax Me More State: Two Initiatives Would Further Punish California":

The Tax Foundation announced this week that California has the second worst business tax climate of the 50 states, with only New York more hostile to employers. Congratulations, but it gets worse. If a pair of ballot measures pass next week, the Golden State could soon take the tax lead and make even Albany look like Hong Kong.

Proposition 24 would raise $1.3 billion of new taxes on businesses, while Proposition 25 would allow the state legislature to pass budgets and tax increases with a simple majority vote, instead of the current mandated two-thirds supermajority.

The most pernicious is Proposition 25, which is being sold as a good government measure to end the state's annual fiscal follies and pass a budget on time. But what matters more than how a budget passes is what's in it. And the two-thirds rule that has prevailed since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978 has been the lone restraint on the government unions and their political valets who have spent California to the brink of insolvency.

Only last year, voters were spared another huge tax increase when Democrats who control the legislature agreed with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on a budget deal. Using their leverage from the two-thirds rule, a GOP minority demanded a referendum, and the voters rejected the deal. The annual budget squabbles may be messy, but they draw much-needed public attention to what the spending interests would prefer to keep secret in Sacramento.

Proposition 25 is deceptive because its "intent" language that purports to explain its meaning to voters claims that the law "retains a two-thirds vote requirement for taxes." But "intent" sections aren't included in the state Constitution. Instead, the proposition clears the way for a straight majority vote for budgets and the more amorphous category of bills "related to the budget." That's an exception wide enough to drive a tax increase through, and nearly every state taxpayer group and their legal experts are convinced that this is an attempt to end-run Proposition 13.

Proposition 24 is also deceptive, starting with its title, "The Tax Fairness Act." It is opposed by just about every iconic employer left in the state ...

We'd prefer no such tax carve outs and a flatter tax code ... but in California they're the only break from the state's preposterously high tax rates. California imposes the fourth highest personal income tax rate on small business income (10.55%), the third highest state-local sales tax (9%), and the 13th highest corporate tax rate (8.84%).

The main sponsor and funder of these tax initiatives is — you'll never guess — the California teachers union. Need we say more? The unions are desperate for more taxpayer cash lest they have to adjust their health-care benefits and pensions as workers in the private economy have had to do. They seem to believe they have no stake in the state's economic growth so they can pile on taxes even with a 12.4% state jobless rate. A horrific 21.9% of the state's residents are either unemployed, can't find a full time job, or have become so discouraged they are only marginally attached to the labor force. But public employees, protected by the political class, live in an alternative universe ...

Departure of Rhee Could Signal Shift in Direction of U.S. Public Schools

At WSJ:

Michelle Rhee announced her resignation Wednesday as the capital's schools chancellor, in what could prove to be a seminal moment in the increasingly divisive fight over the direction of U.S. public schools.

Ms. Rhee said during a news conference that her decision to leave was "heartbreaking" but necessary to give the presumptive next mayor, Vincent Gray, leeway to choose his own team and unify the city.

Mr. Gray trounced current D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in last month's Democratic primary election, which many voters saw as a referendum on Ms. Rhee's aggressive schools overhaul. Washington's overwhelmingly Democratic electorate makes it a near certainty Mr. Gray will win the general election next month.

Ms. Rhee, 40 years old, will step down at the end of the month. Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson will serve as interim chief through the end of the school year.

When Ms. Rhee took over the D.C. schools in 2007, she became the most vocal proponent of a national movement for drastic changes to K-12 schools.

Along with New York City schools chief Joel Klein and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, she favors linking teacher evaluations to student test scores, purging low-performing educators and shutting failing schools. As head of schools in the nation's capital, she enjoyed a highly visible perch from which to try to prove these policies could work. She fired hundreds teachers and closed dozens of schools.

But her efforts ran into resistance, especially from teachers unions that rejected many of her ideas, especially mass firings. The Washington teachers union campaigned heavily against Mr. Fenty.

George Parker, president of the D.C. teacher's union, wouldn't comment on whether labor leaders were happy to see Ms. Rhee depart. But he said that, to reform a school district, "you have to be inclusive rather than exclusive, and Chancellor Rhee never learned that."

Mike Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for tougher education standards, called Ms. Rhee's departure a "sobering moment" in the education wars.

"The American public expresses support for the idea of education reform, but when it comes down to the tough decisions, like firing bad teachers or closing schools, they become more skittish," he said. "This sends a loud message to other would-be reformers that they have to keep up the fight."

PREVIOUSLY: "Michelle Rhee Resigns as Chancellor of D.C. Schools."

'Waiting for "Superman"'

I always enjoy movies on education reform, but I'm especially excited about "Waiting for Superman." It turns that the leftist teaching/union bureaucracy protested the film's premier tonight in New York. And leftist Patrick Goldstein at LAT is perplexed that right-wing critics are digging the film. One of those is at NY Post, "Film's anguished lesson on why schools are failing."

Obama's 'Like a Dog' Speech at the Milwaukee Laborfest

I spent yesterday afternoon writing a book review of Markos Moultisas' American Taliban, and also watching "The Watchmen" on cable. I therefore didn't pay much attention to President Obama's Labor Day politicking. But lots of folks are talking about his speech at the Milwaukee Laborfest. The key passage is at the video, but be sure to check William Jacobson's longer analysis of the speech itself:

California's Union Showdown

At Wall Street Journal:

Next month in California, nearly 45,000 Kaiser Permanente health-care workers will choose their union. America hasn't seen a private-sector labor election this big since the United Auto Workers organized Ford in 1941. By the time ballots are cast, tens of millions will have been spent on a six-week campaign as brutal as any political race this year. At stake? No less than the future of America's most powerful labor group, the Services Employees International Union.

What's also unusual about this election is that it doesn't pit union against employer, but union against union. Kaiser's workers were organized years ago by the SEIU. The drama started last year when Sal Rosselli, who ran the SEIU's huge California health-care local from Oakland, left to found a rival outfit called the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). His union has but 6,000 members; the SEIU claims 2 million. Mr. Rosselli has spent the last 18 months trying to steal away as many of the 150,000 members from his old SEIU local as possible through a series of union elections. "It's a real David and Goliath story," he says.

Kaiser—the SEIU's crown jewel in health care—is a possible game changer. Employees who hold some of the best-paying unionized jobs around will have the choice to switch from the SEIU to Mr. Rosselli's group. Californians make up a third of the union's members, so losing Kaiser would be a grave blow.

Of course, no union can afford to lose dues-paying members in a shrinking market for organized labor. Only 12% of the American workforce (7% in the private sector) belongs to a union today, down from 34% in the 1950s. Some see salvation in health care. America is aging, and ObamaCare will eventually push 30 million Americans into the health-insurance system, creating scores of new jobs along the way. "Outreach to nonunion workers is our top priority," says Mary Kay Henry, who took the helm of the SEIU in April.

First Ms. Henry must douse the fires started by Andy Stern, her controversial predecessor. In 14 years atop the SEIU, Mr. Stern pioneered a new labor strategy: Size brings power, so grow at all costs. He bullied and charmed companies to get them to unionize—often, claimed his critics, in exchange for weak contracts for the workers. He raided smaller unions. And he centralized power around the group's Washington headquarters. In a decade, the SEIU doubled its membership and became the single biggest contributor to the Democratic Party.

But Mr. Stern made powerful enemies in the House of Labor, which was one of the reasons cited for his surprise decision to step down this spring. California is the most fiercely fought campaign left over from his tenure.

More at the link.

Union Jobs vs. Children's Lives: Which Side Are You On?

At Reason.TV:

Be Ready to Fight for Civilization

Via Glenn Reynolds, at Powerline, "A Citizen Takes Matters Into His Own Hands":

Plus, at Founding Bloggers, "Non-Violent Rioting In Toronto: A Brief Round-Up":

Below is a brief roundup of some of the Progressive-Marxist non-violent rioting that took place over the weekend in Toronto.

Progressive-Marxists hate the G20, and have declared it illegitimate ...

RELATED: "Protesters Blast Israel at G8/G20 Summit in Toronto."

Greenpeace Fights for Last Blue Fin Tuna

I never trust the estimates of impending fish population collapse, considering how little respect for truth environmentalists so eminently demonstrate. Still, this article's pretty interesting. At NYT, "Tuna's End":

THERE ARE TWO reasons that a mere fish should have inspired such a high-strung confrontation reminiscent of Greenpeace’s early days as a defender of whales. The first stems from fish enthusiasts who have for many years recognized the particular qualities of bluefin tuna — qualities that were they land-based creatures would establish them indisputably as “wildlife” and not just another “seafood” we eat without remorse. Not only is the bluefin’s dense, distinctly beefy musculature supremely appropriate for traversing the ocean’s breadth, but the animal also has attributes that make its evolutionary appearance seem almost deus ex machina, or rather machina ex deo — a machine from God. How else could a fish develop a sextantlike “pineal window” in the top of its head that scientists say enables it to navigate over thousands of miles? How else could a fish develop a propulsion system whereby a whip-thin crescent tail vibrates at fantastic speeds, shooting the bluefin forward at speeds that can reach 40 miles an hour? And how else would a fish appear within a mostly coldblooded phylum that can use its metabolic heat to raise its body temperature far above that of the surrounding water, allowing it to traverse the frigid seas of the subarctic?

And, well, while we're on the subject of fishing ... See, "Expired Fishing License Disqualifies $1 Million Big Rock Tournament Winners."

Israel is Endangered Today Like Never Before

From Caroline Glick at JPost and RCP:

Israel is endangered today as it has never been before. The Turkish-Hamas flotilla two weeks ago precipitated a number of dangerous developments. Rather than attend to all of them, Israel's leadership is devoting itself almost exclusively to contending with the least dangerous among them while ignoring the emerging threats with the potential to lead us to great calamities.

Since the Navy's lethal takeover of the Mavi Marmara, Israel has been stood before an international diplomatic firing squad led by the UN and Europe and supported by the Obama administration. Firmly backed by European and largely unopposed by Washington, the UN is moving swiftly towards setting up a new Goldstone- style anti-Israel kangaroo court. That canned tribunal will rule that Israel has no right to defend itself and attempt to force Israel to end its lawful naval blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Fearing this outcome, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu bowed to US President Barack Obama's demand that Israel set up an Israeli inquest of the Mavi Marmara takeover and permit foreigners to oversee its proceedings.

Netanyahu also agreed to scale back Israel's blockade significantly, and allow international bodies to have a role in its far more lax enforcement. Netanyahu has made these concessions with the full knowledge that they will strengthen Hamas in the hopes that they would weaken the international onslaught against Israel.

Unfortunately, it took no time at all to see that his hopes were misplaced. Even before Netanyahu announced these concessions, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon already announced that they make no difference to him or to his friends in Washington and Brussels.

They will move ahead with their plans to appoint a new kangaroo court charged with asserting that Israel has no right to defend itself.

AS BAD as all of this is, in truth, it is unimportant relative to the other consequences of the flotilla incident. The impact of the diplomatic campaign now being waged against Israel will be felt in the medium and long term. In the immediate term, Israel is facing two threats that dwarf what it faces from the UN.

More at the link.

Governor Chris Christie: Day of Reckoning

Via Pundit & Pundette:

Pressure Builds on Helen Thomas Following Anti-Semitic Remarks

I'm a little late getting to this, but incredulous in any case, and that's saying something. I used to call for Helen Thomas' retirement, but seriously, why would any news service still want her? Diane Nines, of the Nine Speakers press agency, gave Thomas the boot.

And see Ari Fleischer, at Fox News, "Fleischer Leads Charge for White House Reporter Helen Thomas to Be Fired." And Patrick Gavin, at Politico, "THOMAS UNDER FIRE FOR ISRAEL REMARKS" (via Memeorandum):

Longtime White House correspondent Helen Thomas is coming under fire after a video circulated widely on Friday of her saying that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go back to Poland and Germany.

The Hearst newspaper columnist made the comment during an interview with RabbiLive.com's Rabbi David Nesenoff at last week's Jewish Heritage Celebration at the White House.

“Remember these people are occupied and it’s their land,” Thomas says in the video. “It’s not German and it’s not Polish.”

Asked what Jews in Israel should do, Thomas says “go home.” Asked where that home is, she replies: “Poland. Germany. And America and everywhere else.”

On a statement issued on her website Sunday, Thomas said she regretted her comments, made in late May but widely seen Friday after the Drudge Report picked them up.

The Drudge Report as of this writing shows a picture of Thomas with President Obama’s arm around her in the White House press room, and the banner headline: "WH PRESS QUEEN: JEWS GET OUT OF ISRAEL, GO BACK TO POLAND!"

Sheesh. I wish I woulda got a screencap!

And also at Politico, "More Thomas fallout."

Plus, at Blazing Cat Fur, "Kick Helen Thomas out of The White House Press Corp," and previously, "JDL 'Gaza Fauxtilla' Counter Protest Video Toronto June 5."

BONUS: At Astute Bloggers, "THE NYTIMES - LIKE OBAMA - IS BLAMING ISRAEL AND SIDING WITH THE TURKS AND JIHADISTS."

A Fight About Who is Going to Run Public Education in New Jersey

Lori Ziganto's got the analysis, "Bada Bing, Gov Christie: ‘You Punch Them, I’ll Punch You’":