Katia’s Afternoon Update

Good day to everyone…

Here are some stories I’m watching today.

Over on the Iran front…

Hot Air has an article on the latest brutal thuggery by the Iranian military and police.  Definitely, the ability to peaceably assemble and protest is in very short supply.

What will be interesting to watch…

1. How Obama continues to try and reconcile his inconsistencies among the statements he has made during the last week. Instead of a full-throated condemnation of the Iranian government last week, he only offered tepid language.  The actual condemnation didn’t happen until yesterday’s press conference, where several members of the press did hold him to account for his lack of being in the lead among the countries speaking out on the election and brutal tactics of the government.

2. Whether his condemnation yesterday will actually change events on the ground or not.  So far, no major change that I can see. But, time will tell whether the mullahs change their tactics.

3. It also will be interesting to see whether there is an about-face on whether the Iranian diplomats can attend Fourth of July celebrations at US Embassies.  So far, no change, but that could become a different story given public outrage.

Mullahs also appear to be joining the protests, according to Hot Air.  Not sure whether these are legit mullahs, but the symbolism is definitely interesting, because if they are mullahs, it indicates that not all the religious/clerical class in Iran is with the government.

Mark Sanford, once a presumed front-runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2012, has found his career in pieces which can’t be picked up easily.  He was out of the country, in Argentina, seeing a mistress.  Hot Air has the article here.

I have also been watching the stories around the firing of the Inspector General for Americorps, Gerald Walpin.  You can see those links in older articles, further down the blog.

Katia’s bottom line ideas for today…

1. Events in Iran are still fluid and moving fast.  No one knows what the end result will be, but betting against the protesters in the street would be unwise.  They might not succeed in topping the regime, but they have shined a bright light on what the government in Tehran is capable of doing.  At the very least, the numbers and vociferousness of the protests should tell the world that there is a viable base to begin working from within Iran to effect change.  That, in the long run, might be what we need to head off Iran becoming a serious nuclear weapons state.

Obama did get it right in his press conference yesterday, but it should cause all Americans great concern when we have to wait for our President to take 10 days from the beginning of events to come out with what resembles anything like a full-throated condemnation of the police tactics and murderous things that the Iranian military have done.  So, I ask, why did it take the President so long?  And please, let’s dispense with the idea that Obama’s Cairo speech had anything at all to do with the events in Iran.  The two are not connected, and for him to suggest they are is beyond the realm of logic, and borders on insanity.

2. The Democratic attack machine has to be behind the effort to take down Mark Sanford.  We all know from the past how these guys operate.  They went after Sarah Palin, because she was the only bright light in an otherwise dismal McCain campaign last fall.  Now, as Sanford becomes a darling of the conservatives for 2012, he is now taken out.  Anyone who is planning to run in 2012 for the Republican nomination that looks like a threat better really gird themselves and make sure no skeletons are in the closet.  Otherwise, 2008 is going to look like a picnic compared to the level of animosity and ugliniess that will come out in the 2010 and 2012 election seasons.  The liberals are out to destroy conservatives completely and irreparably.  That is their goal.

3. The government is engaging in tactics that border on the criminal.  Inspectors General are put in place to ensure that taxpayer dollars are appropriated and spent by the receiving entity/agency in the manner which Congress wanted.  These IGs need to have autonomy and independence to objectively investigate the matters brought before them.  The law specifies that if an IG is to be let go, he/she is entitled to have the President send a letter to Congress stating the cause for termination, along with providing 30 days notice before the termination takes effect.  In the case of Inspector General Gerald Walpin who was investigating Americorps expenditure irregularities in Sacramento California, this law was not followed.  The Obama White House terminated his service as Inspector General without adhering to the law, which was written and sponsored by Senator Obama in 2008.

The sad thing is, Americorps will not be investigated now, and through a bill passed by Edward Kennedy, it got its operating budget doubled for this next fiscal year. We will never know where this money goes now.  Obama’s cronies who work at Americorps are free to do whatever they want with the money and there is zero accountability to anyone about how those dollars are spent.  Having Congress in Democratic hands also means no oversight will be forthcoming from Congress members.

I want to welcome readers today who might have found the blog through Jimmy Z’s recommendation.  Many thanks to him for recommending me.  If you have a blog (doesn’t matter what political stripe), send it to me and I’ll add it to my blog roll if it is interesting and noteworthy. I encourage you to add mine.

Thanks for dropping by.