SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:50 P.M. ET: 

CURIOUS – FROM FOX:   Vice President Mike Pence was set to secretly meet with North Korean officials at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, earlier this month, but North Korea canceled at the last minute, the Trump administration said Tuesday.  “North Korea dangled a meeting in hopes of the Vice President softening his message, which would have ceded the world stage for their propaganda during the Olympics,” Nick Ayers, Pence’s Chief of Staff, said.  Pence “was ready to take this opportunity,” according to State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, and would have used the meeting to emphasize U.S. concerns about North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.  Better no meeting than exploitation of the vice president by the Norks. 

DAVID, WHAT'S HAPPENED TO YOU? – FROM THE HILL:  CNN political analyst David Gergen issued a stark warning about the Trump administration on Sunday, saying the threat of authoritarian rule under President Trump is growing.   "It is the beginnings, in many other countries it's been the beginnings of an authoritarian rule, and that's the larger threat hanging over us now," Gergen said on CNN's "Reliable Sources."  Gergen was referring to Trump's comments slamming the news media, which has often been critical of the president, as well as institutions like the FBI.  "We have an election that's just around the corner later this year. What if the Democrats take the House back? Is all of that going to be blamed on fake news? What if they fall short? Are Democrats going to think, you know, it was all that meddling, and they have won a few seats that they wouldn't have otherwise won," he said earlier.   Gergen used to be the adult in the room at CNN.  Now he's thrown in his lot with the nut cases.  I see nothing authoritarian in Trump's denunciations of the press or his criticism of government agencies.  Under sane definitions of authoritarianism, Obama was far more of a danger.

BEST OF THE BEST – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said in a statement read on Fox News on Tuesday that he is still recovering from surgery and that his progress is moving "steadily slower" than he would like.  Still, he expressed optimism about an eventual return to TV.   "Special Report" anchor Bret Baier shared the brief update on Krauthammer on his evening show, where Krauthammer has long been a panelist. Baier, who said he constantly keeps in contact with Krauthammer, said that of all the questions he gets from viewers on social media, Krauthammer's status tops the list.  And for good reason.  Krauthammer is the dean of political commentators, a brilliant conservative and thoroughly civilized.  In addition, he's a board-certified psychiatrist, so he understands Washington.

February 20, 2018