SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

HOW CAN WE STAND THESE LOSSES? – FROM POLITICO.COM:  Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is calling close allies and informing them he is not running for president in 2020, sources close to the governor tell POLITICO.  Patrick informed staff and advisers of his decision today, the sources say, with an announcement to come as soon as this week.  A close ally of former President Barack Obama, the Democrat rejoined the private sector at Bain Capital after serving two terms as Massachusetts' governor. But he ramped up his political activity this fall in advance of a possible presidential bid, traveling to a handful of races across the country.  Close advisers to Patrick launched a new political action committee in August, the Reason to Believe PAC, aimed at "promoting Governor Patrick’s positive vision for Democrats to rally around in 2018."  Patrick, who was encouraged by members of Obama’s inner circle to run in 2020, met with the former president earlier this year as part of Obama's string of meetings with prospective candidates.  Another delusional Dem who thought he'd detected a deluge of support.  Maybe from his family.

ANOTHER STEP ON THE MARCH TOWARD EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   Around the Honors College at Appalachian State, you may hear a different way of labeling first-year college students. While they’re commonly referred to as freshmen at most universities, students at the North Carolina-based university often use a different term: “freshmores.”  The term was brought to Appalachian State University by Dr. Jefford Vahlbusch, hired in July of last year as dean of the Honors College. Vahlbusch previously held the same post at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, where he first started using the term.  In an article in The Appalachian, Vahlbusch said he started using “freshmore” as a “non-sexist way to talk about freshmen.” He said he “got tired of listening to female students say freshman” and that it “just didn’t seem to be right that we didn’t have a non-gender specific way of talking about college students.”  Vahlbusch told the campus newspaper the term has since caught on at the honors college.  When discussing why he feels using the term is important, Vahlbusch said it “shows awareness in regards to college students.”  I'd prefer that this conformist devote his attention to academic excellence, rather than to children's name games.

OH, NOW I UNDERSTAND – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Sen. Mazie Hirono suggested Tuesday that Democrats have a hard time connecting with voters because their breadth of knowledge tends to turn people off.  The Hawaii Democrat made the comment during a discussion at the “Bend Towards Justice” conference in Washington when she was asked by Slate editor Dahlia Lithwick how to make the judicial system a top campaign issue for voters.  “One of the things that we Democrats have a really hard time is connecting to people’s hearts instead of here,” Ms. Hirono responded, pointing at her head, according to a clip flagged by the Republic National Committee. “We’re really good at shoving out all the information that touch people here [points to the brain] but not here [points to the heart].”  “I’ve been saying it at all our Senate Democratic retreats we need to speak to the heart, not in a manipulative way, not in a way that brings forth everybody’s fears and resentments, but truly to speak to the heart so that people know that we’re actually on their side,” she continued.  “We have to kind of tell everyone how smart we are, and so we have a tendency to be very left-brain,” the senator added.  Just what the public wants – a pompous fool.

December 5,  2018