SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

HOW SAD – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  The Boy Scouts of America is mulling declaring bankruptcy amid flagging membership and an avalanche of costly sex-abuse allegations, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Leaders have hired Chicago law firm Sidley Austin for help in a potential chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, sources told the outlet.  The organization has been fending off lawsuits over alleged abuse, including one filed by four former scouts who called the club a “pedophile magnet” and alleged that they were molested by scoutmaster Waldron Ackerman between 1974 and 1976.  The organization has reportedly lost two-thirds of its members — some 4 million boys — since the 1970s.  The Mormon Church, where scout membership was long considered a rite of passage, has yanked 610,000 scouts over the last two years.  I'm sure the politically correct crowd is celebrating.  If there are problems, fix them.  But don't destroy a once-great organization.  Identity politics is destroying the Boy Scouts.

PATHETIC – FROM BREITBART:  American University students and administrators are pushing for “spaces” on campus designated for “students of color,” claiming that it will promote diversity and inclusion at the university.  Students and staff at American University (AU) are calling for “the creation of more spaces for students of color,” so that minority students can have an area on campus where they can go to be separated from the rest of the campus body, in the name of “diversity and inclusion,” according to the university’s student newspaper.  AU students are criticizing the university’s Hub for Organizing Multiculturalism and Equity (HOME) for being “marketed to students of all backgrounds rather than to students of color.”  “HOME doesn’t provide people with a sense of security, with a sense of belonging, when everyone from all types of affinity groups can be there,” said Othniel Malcolm Andrew Harris to AU’s student newspaper.  How much more absurd can this get before the nation starts pulling federal aid from these glorified sandboxes?

GOP SENATE BREAKS WITH TRUMP ON SAUDI – FROM THE HILL:  The GOP-controlled Senate on Wednesday dealt a significant blow to President Trump by voting to advance a resolution ending U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen in the aftermath of Washington Post contributor Jamal Khashoggi’s slaying.   Senators agreed to begin debate on the measure despite only 11 of the chamber’s 51 Republicans joining with all Democrats to support it. The legislation would require Trump to withdraw any troops in or “affecting” Yemen within 30 days; the president has threatened to veto the bill if it reaches his desk. 
Senators were still haggling over amendments on Wednesday evening, but a final vote is expected this week. Both supporters and opponents say the resolution has the support needed to pass.   The vote will mark the likely climax for the measure until 2019 since the House voted to block supporters from being able to force a vote this year by slipping the provision into a rule governing debate of the unrelated farm bill.  But the Senate’s actions underscore the depth of frustration with Saudi Arabia on Capitol Hill, as well as the escalating gap between the White House and Congress on the U.S.-Saudi relationship.  Saudi Arabia is no great ornament to civilization.  It has been the training ground for many Islamic terrorists and the intellectual center of the most extreme forms of Islam.  The murder of Jamal Khashoggi has been attributed by our CIA, to the crown prince of the country.  On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is a major American ally, and will be critical to the region's future.  We must come up with a way to punish the Saudis and keep them on our side at the same time.  No one said this was easy.

December 12, 2018