From the diaries by Erick

• Can someone please explain to me what sensible fact or viewpoint Ceci Connolly ever lends to the discussion of any particular issue?  On Fox News Sunday, Ms. Connolly gratuitously opined that there isn’t much to be made of recent criticism of anthropogenic global warming, because after all it has been unequivocally established that 2009 was the “second warmest year on record.”  What?  I’ve heard of having your employer’s back, but this is taking it to new heights.  On a weekend in which the Washington Post simply ignored the most recent disclosure coming from the leading global warming protagonist at East Anglia, to wit that the Earth has not warmed since 1995, while persisting with its front page article, Ms. Connolly’s trumpeting global warming hooey is nothing short of astounding.
• Lest you think that the aforementioned disclosures will slow down Obamanation’s push for Cap and Trade legislation, think again.  In fact, it’s likely to do just the opposite.  As more and more evidence surfaces that global warming is actually not occurring, i.e. that the Earth is actually cooling, do not be surprised if there is a push to get ahead of the cooling curve, by quickly adopting a watered down Cap and Trade bill (which Pelosi and Reid can eeeek through Congress) in order to permit the Obama Administration an opportunity to claim credit for the cooling.  Nah, this wouldn’t happen, would it?
• Evan Bayh retires from the U.S. Senate at the end of this term, with $13 million in his campaign account.  Hmmm.  If I were President Obama, I’d be watching that campaign account awful closely.  How much does it cost to conduct private polling about a Democratic presidential primary?
• And, you can bet that the current resident-in-chief at Foggy Bottom is watching Evan Bayh closely, as well.  If rumblings begin in earnest about a Bayh presidential run, you can be assured that Hillary will be thinking long and hard about whether her “time” has truly passed.  The notion of one-in, all-in clearly applies to presidential politics.
• Does Obama really have reason to be concerned about a primary challenge, including one from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?  Yes, because despite President Obama’s best efforts to keep Hillary out of the country and off the front page, she is still capable of reading the same polls we read.  If the economy continues to go south, or at least remains stagnant, and if Obama doesn’t handle Guantanamo soon, the KSM trial and if efforts with Iran don’t seem to be making substantive progress at stabilizing the Middle East, then you bet, Hillary will be looking for the nearest exit and soon.
• How does John Brennan keep his job?  His most recent boneheaded revelation that a 20% recidivism rate is not all that bad for your everyday run-of-the-mill Guantanamo terrorist is so patently absurd that you really must wonder what someone has to do in order to get fired by President Obama.  But, then if he fired Brennan, this would be one more person in the unemployment line and one less job saved . . .