SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

BIAS?  YOU MUST BE KIDDING – FROM DAILY CALLER:   None of the 16 publicly-confirmed lawyers on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team are registered Republicans, The Daily Caller News Foundation has found.  Voter registration records indicate that 13 of the attorneys are Democrats and three have no party affiliation. This is the first time the political affiliation of all 16 lawyers has been reported.
One of the lawyers, Zainab Ahmad, appears to have registered as a Republican at the age of 18, but has since changed her registration status to unaffiliated.   There is a 17th lawyer on the Russia probe, but this person’s identity and political affiliation remain unknown.  The special counsel’s office has previously disclosed that nine of the 16 lawyers have made a total of $62,000 in donations to Democrats, with one of those nine lawyers having also donated $2,750 to Republican candidates.  Appearances do count, and the appearances here are pretty awful.

OH DEAR, THE CALCULATOR MUST NEED NEW BATTERIES – FROM DAILY MAIL:   Despite a never-ending drumbeat of criticism and suspicion related to a trio of Russia investigations, President Donald Trump's approval rating is in better shape than Barack Obama's was at the same point in his presidency.  Trump's job approval number stood at 48 per cent on Wednesday in a Rasmussen Reports tracking poll. Fifty-one per cent disapprove.  On February 21, 2010, Obama's was 45 per cent, with 54 per cent opposed to his work in the Oval Office.  Trump's current level of support is also above his performance level in the 2016 election, when 46.1 per cent of voters chose him over Hillary Clinton and a handful of minor candidates.  What does this say about the actual influence of the news media?  They're throwing everything they've got at Obama, and much of it is bouncing off.

AIN'T SOCIALISM GRAND? – FROM REUTERS:   CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelans reported losing on average 11 kilograms (24 lbs) in body weight last year and almost 90 percent now live in poverty, according to a new university study on the impact of a devastating economic crisis and food shortages.  The annual survey, published on Wednesday by three universities, is one of the most closely-followed assessments of Venezuelans’ well being amid a government information vacuum and shows a steady rise in poverty and hunger in recent years.  Over 60 percent of Venezuelans surveyed said that during the previous three months they had woken up hungry because they did not have enough money to buy food. About a quarter of the population was eating two or less meals a day, the study showed. Last year, the three universities found that Venezuelans said they had lost an average of 8 kilograms during 2016. The Hollywood "stars" who rushed to Hugo Chavez's side to show solidarity are now strangely silent.

February 21,  2018