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

BEST EXCUSE OF 2016 – From The Hill:   The State Department on Friday sought to delay its final release of emails from Hillary Clinton’s personal server, blaming a massive snowstorm hitting Washington as well as an internal “oversight.”  In a court filing, the department asked a federal court to delay by a month the Jan. 29 deadline for it to release the last batch of roughly 55,000 pages of Clinton’s emails believed to be work-related.   A month?  Really?  It takes that much time to clear the snow from the State Department's driveway?  Or is State stalling, hoping Hillary seals the nomination before the emails are delivered? 

SERVICE AT THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWNS – From The Hill:   "These guys will be out in the snow, no matter what," said Major Russell Fox, a spokesman for the Army's Old Guard, according to ABC News.   Tomb Sentinels from the Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment's Old Guard have guarded the memorial — regardless of the weather — for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year since April 6, 1948, ABC reported.  "A lot of the guys are looking forward to this [storm] and kind of excited about it," Fox added.  Fox said the soldiers will be shoveling snow from the plaza so it will not impede their duty.  And we have college kids on full scholarship who go to pieces of someone says something they disagree with. 

FADING? – Is Hillary Clinton starting to crack?  From the Guardian:   Hillary Clinton left her audience cold in Iowa City on Thursday night, after she spoke for less than five minutes to a crowd of more than a thousand people, some of whom had lined up for more than an hour to see her.  After a day marred by a new poll showing Bernie Sanders leading her by eight points in Iowa, Clinton might have been expected to go for broke during a rally at the University of Iowa, which featured a performance by popstar Demi Lovato.  But Clinton did not refer to the Vermont senator, or much else, in her speech. The lack of length and substance of her address appeared to upset some in the crowd.  One gets the feeling of crisis in the Clinton campaign.  She's fading in the polls, and the FBI report is to come.  And please notice that the White House isn't lifting a finger to help her.

ANOTHER HOSTAGE – From Fox:   North Korea said Friday that it had arrested an American college student for allegedly committing "anti-state" acts.  The report by Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) identified the person as Otto Frederick Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia. It claimed that he entered the North as a tourist with a plot to undermine unity among the North Koreans. It said Warmbier has links to the U.S. government.    The old trumped-up spy charge routine.  I wonder what they want in exchange for this boy.  They're dealing with Kerry, so they'll probably get it.

January 22, 2016