My Fellow Americans, the State of Denial Is Strong!
Here's the good news this morning: The 10 American sailors captured by Iran have been freed. They were captured Tuesday after their two naval boats entered Iranian waters near Farsi Island, in the Persian Gulf. What sounded like the sailors' imminent release Wednesday morning dragged on for hours, with Iranian officials interrogating the sailors about their motives and demanding a U.S. apology. But Iranian officials said they deemed the incident accidental. "The evidence suggests that they unintentionally entered the Iranian waters because of the failure of their navigational system," IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said on Press TV. On Wednesday afternoon, the sailors came on their two boats to a rendezvous point in the Persian Gulf. They were escorted by Iranian boats that turned back when they reached the rendezvous point in international water, the U.S. Navy said. A more serious president and administration would ask if this sort of provocation calls for a different approach to Iran, and whether the nuclear deal has made Iran more confrontational and hostile instead of less. But because incidents like this don't fit the narrative, the president chose to simply not acknowledge it in his State of the Union address. Last night Obama did talk about Iran . . . That's why we built a global coalition, with sanctions and principled diplomacy, to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. And as we speak, Iran has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and the world has avoided another war. . . . and he insisted we're stronger and more respected in the world… I told you earlier all the talk of America's economic decline is political hot air. Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker. Let me tell you something. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth, period. Period. (APPLAUSE) It's not even close. It's not even close. It's not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. That's nice, but it may not mean as much as in an era of asymmetrical warfare. Our country's worst wound in a generation was inflicted by a bunch of guys with box-cutters. "We're the safest because we spend the most" is not necessarily true. A moment later, Obama added, "No nation attacks us directly or our allies because they know that's the path to ruin. Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office . . ." Meanwhile, in Iran: 
That Notion of Refugees Becoming Suicide Bombers Isn't So Farfetched After All Obama, speaking in Turkey, November 16: "Our nations can welcome refugees who are desperately seeking safety and ensure our own security. We can and must do both." We must do it, but we are not doing it . . . which raises the question of whether we really can do it. The news this morning: The Islamic State suicide bomber who killed 10 foreign tourists in the heart of Istanbul entered the country last week by registering as a Syrian refugee without setting off any security alerts, Turkish officials said Wednesday. Turkish officials identified the bomber as Nabil Fadli, a Syrian national born in Saudi Arabia in 1988, who was fingerprinted in Turkey last week as a Syrian refugee. Investigators matched Mr. Fadli's fingerprints to those found at the blast site on Tuesday. At least nine of the dead were German tourists who had gathered at Istanbul's landmark Blue Mosque. In a joint news conference with his German counterpart, Interior Minister Efkan Ala indicated that the bomber had entered Turkey after registering as a Syrian refugee and been fingerprinted last week. The Rams Return to Los Angeles. Watch Them Closely, Taxpayers. I hate it when sports franchises move. The St. Louis Rams are about to become the Los Angeles Rams again . . . and the Oakland Raiders or San Diego Chargers could become a Los Angeles team as well. St. Louis hadn't had a ton of success lately on the football field, but that doesn't mean the team's fans aren't taking it hard. They took St. Louis' Rams. They're gone. The feckless thugs in business suits decided St. Louis isn't suited for the NFL, and just like that, they're in Los Angeles, as if St. Louis was an annoying, yipping dog they shooed away. Roger Goodell, whose heart is as black as a hockey puck, saw the St. Louisans trying to save the Rams and essentially laughed. Silly old St. Louis. You think you're an NFL city? The commissioner of the danged NFL didn't even have the courtesy to even publicly applaud the efforts of the St. Louisans trying to get a new stadium here; on the contrary, he publicly bashed their plan, again and again. And then, had the audacity to give NFL monies to Oakland, a city that did nothing to save its own team, in efforts to save its team. The good news is, the new stadium to be built in Los Angeles isn't the usual extortion of the taxpayers. It's a much better deal than usual . . . but that doesn't mean the city isn't going to pick up a portion of the expenses related to operating the stadium: When developers and city officials unveiled plans last week for an NFL stadium in Inglewood, they painted a picture of a rare thing: A big-ticket project completed with no tax money whatsoever. Turns out it's not that simple. Plans filed by the Hollywood Park Land Co. -- a development group that includes St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke -- call for a stadium that would be built with probably more than $1 billion in private money, but which would eventually recoup tens of millions from Inglewood taxpayers once it opens. It's a relatively modest public tab in a world where upfront subsidies approaching $500 million are not unusual. But it's not what Chris Meany, Hollywood Park's senior vice president said last week, either. "There will be no public dollars, no taxpayer dollars used for this project," he said. "The entire project has been privately capitalized and is being privately funded." The nuance between that statement -- similar claims were made by Inglewood Mayor James Butts -- and tax breaks that could reach $100 million lies in the fine print of a 185-page initiative plan filed by the developers earlier this month. It includes two paragraphs of how Inglewood would eventually reimburse the project for the costs of roadwork, utility work and public parks on the nearly 300-acre site. Meany estimated those costs at $60 million. The city would also reimburse costs of security, medical services and shuttles to off-site parking during stadium events, which Butts estimated at about $8 million a year. We love our sports teams . . .which makes it hard for local officials to say no when the team threatens to move elsewhere. St. Louis has proposed a billion dollar waterfront stadium financed with $400 million in tax money to keep the Rams in Missouri. And the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have unveiled a plan to turn a former landfill in Carson, California, into a $1.7 billion stadium to keep the Rams from encroaching on their turf. While full details of the plan have yet to be released, it's been reported that the financing would be similar to the San Francisco 49er's deal in Santa Clara, which saw the team receive $621 million in construction loans paid for with public money. Even the fiscally conservative Scott Walker is not immune to the stadium spending craze. The Wisconsin governor wants to allocate $220 million in public bonds to keep the Milwaukee Bucks basketball franchise in the area. Walker has dubbed the financing scheme as the "Pay Their Way" plan, but professional sports teams rarely pay their fair share when it comes to stadiums and instead use public money to generate private revenue. If you're looking to revitalize a local economy, an NFL stadium is just about the worst possible choice. A team will only play eight regular season home games, two preseason games, and if they're really lucky, one or two playoff games. At least a Major League Baseball stadium hosts 81 games, and a basketball/hockey arena will be used by the home team for 41 games. Yes, stadiums can host concerts and other events. ADDENDA: So . . . why is Joe Biden taking out Hillary Clinton at the knees? | 
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