NEWS AND OPINION:
“I fear the worst. Right now Americans are angrier and more divided than I’ve seen them since the 1960s. What fires this rage is that we’ve become a post-Constitutional society,” says Michael Savage, who is more alarmed than usual about the state of the nation. The talk radio host has much to say in “Stop the Coming Civil War: My Savage Truth,” his 25th book, published on Tuesday. Passivity is not the key here. The author is now asking the public to confront what he calls “the leftist administration’s successful and devious attempts to divide our country.” The battle lines: those who treasure the nation’s founding principles vs. those who undermine such principles in the name of change.
“Right now the prognosis is not good. We have an incompetent zealot taking the nation down the road of weakness and centralized governmental control of every aspect of our daily lives,” Mr. Savage declares. “Just as individuals snap when the pressure becomes too great, so, too, does a nation.”
He’s also got multiple questions about the corrosive forces at work here.
“Why have so many of our top military commanders been summarily pushed aside, after years of brave service? How is President Obama’s irresponsible foreign policy not just weakening us in Russia, China, and the Middle East, but actually endangering our security at home as well?” he asks. “What does it mean for our freedom and our way of life that negligent immigration law enforcement allows illegal aliens to cross the southern border into our country with little fear of penalty?”
His takeaway: “True patriots” can still save the nation. The book is being published by Center Street/Hachette.
THE POLITICAL EVOLUTION OF EBOLA
The nation needs an “Ebola czar,” says Rep. Jack Kingston. “You need a command-and-control general, a strategic guy,” the Georgia Republican tells the Washington Examiner. This sounds promising. But it could make smaller-government fans nervous. The Obama administration currently has 35 assorted “czars” who oversee various matters in the bureaucracy, but no matter. The lawmaker has a point. Two obvious candidates for the post: Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief at the National Institutes of Health — both of whom made the rounds of morning talk shows on Sunday. Co-czars might be appropriate.
Meanwhile, some Democrats are seeking to steer the political narrative.
“Government is always your enemy until you need a friend. This Ebola thing is the best argument you can make for the kind of government that we believe in,” strategist Van Jones told ABC News.
“It appears as though former Obama official Van Jones has taken Rahm Emmanuel’s belief that you never ’want a good crisis go to waste’ to heart,” observes Jeffrey Meyer, news analyst for the Media Research Center.
JUST A QUICK UP AND BACK
President Obama may not be so active on the grassroots campaign trail this midterm cycle. But the elite money trail? Fire up Air Force One — it’s relentless White House fundraising time once again, no matter what. Mr. Obama journeys up to New York City, with a quick hop over to Connecticut on Tuesday. Three events are involved here for the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, including one at a much ballyhooed new restaurant named White Street in the excruciatingly trendy Tribeca portion of Lower Manhattan. The eatery was co-founded by ABC “Nightline” co-anchor Dan Abrams — who is also the owner of Mediaite, among other aggressive news blogs. Tickets for the event are priced as high as $25,000.
Meanwhile, another private fund raiser is planned at the country estate of a Democratic power couple in Connecticut. And that’s all on Tuesday.
DIAGNOSIS: A ’TERRIBLE WEEK’ FOR THE PRESIDENT
News events and politics have gotten in the way of the White House, notes pollster John Zogby in his weekly assessment of President Obama’s job performance.
“The ’It can’t happen here’ scenario has happened. There is an Ebola virus patient in the United States. Not quite a panic but scary, nonetheless,” Mr. Zogby said.
“Russia and China are moving closer to each other as a result of U.S.-led sanctions. And, speaking of getting closer, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are moving closer to a key town that borders Turkey — meaning that U.S.-led airstrikes are not containing this menace.”
Well, not yet, anyway.
“Senate Republican candidates are now leading in most key battleground states and a few are even building their leads. Talk of a GOP wave is way too premature but the president has again lost his voice and the Democratic narrative is not connecting,” the pollster adds. “Plenty of campaign, war and disease to go — but for now a terrible week for President Obama. Grade — D-minus.”
BUMPER PATROL
“WE THE PEOPLE are coming in November.”
— Bumper sticker spotted in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
VOTERS MORE VEXED WITH OBAMA THAN BUSH
One historic record the White House will not relish: More cranky voters say their midterm election votes are a “message to oppose” President Obama than those during the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton years. Gallup poll analyst Jeffrey Jones points out that 32 percent of voters overall will step into the poll booth on Nov. 4 with opposition on their minds; the numbers were 15 percent and 31 percent for Mr. Bush in 2002 and 2006, respectively, and 19 percent for Mr. Clinton in 1998.
“Obama is more of a liability than an asset to Democratic candidates this year,” Mr. Jones says, adding, “Contrary to Bush’s active campaigning on behalf of Republicans in fall 2002, Obama himself may choose to be less active in campaigning for Democrats to avoid hurting Democratic candidates’ chances.”
POLL DU JOUR
• 63 percent of Americans are not confident the U.S. government can “effectively minimize” the threat to Americans from mass shootings.
• 63 percent of Americans are not confident the government can minimize the threat to Americans from climate change.
• 58 percent are not confident the U.S. government can minimize the threat to the public from “racial tensions.”
• 55 percent are not confident the government can minimize the threat posed by economic uncertainty on Wall Street.
• 51 percent are not confident the government can minimize the threat posed by an unstable job market.
• 37 percent are not confident the government can minimize the threat to Americans from terrorist attacks.
Source: An AP/GFK poll of 1,845 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 25-29.
• Big deals and small talk to jharper@washingtontimes.com.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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