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

BILL'S OPENING NIGHT  Why do we often have to depend on British journalists for the hard truth about American politics?  From London's Daily Mail:   Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made his first solo campaign appearance in support of his wife's White House bid on Monday in Nashua, New Hampshire, but the female voters standing behind him on stage – and one eighth-grader – were stone-faced and unimpressed.  They stood on risers through his 28-minute speech at Nashua Community College, alternating between frowns, grimaces and eye-rolls, even looking uninterested as they applauded a few of Clinton's lines.  I saw the same thing on the TV screen.  Bill comes off as an interloper, trying to steal the show and turning his wife into his assistant.  I'm not even sure he wants her to win. 

I HOPE THIS DOESN'T TURN INTO A MOVEMENT – From Fox:   NEW YORK – New York City police say the stepdaughter of U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was taken into custody after an argument with an Uber taxi driver over an unpaid fare.  Kia Absalom was riding in the car Dec. 28. Police say she believed her fare was automatically paid via the Uber app. But the driver tells the Daily News she hadn't paid.  Police say the two argued and the driver took her to a Brooklyn police station. They say after it was determined she owed the driver about $20 she was detained in a cell while her boyfriend went to pay the fare.  Well, we'll just wait for the facts...and the full FBI investigation of the Uber driver and the oppressive presence of the NYPD. 

GUN SALES SOAR – From the Washington Free Beacon:  The FBI processed a record number of firearms-related background checks last year, indicating that more guns were sold in 2015 than in any previous year in American history.  More than 23 million checks were processed through the National Instant Background Check System in 2015, an all-time record.   The all-time record for yearly sales comes after May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December 2015 each set sales records for their respective months. In December the FBI conducted 3,314,594 checks, an increase of more than half a million checks over the previous single-month record set in December 2012.  This is due, I feel, to an increased sense of security on the part of the American public.  Many people no longer believe they're well protected by government agencies.  They want their own protection.

January 4, 2016