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

SLOW DEATH OF A NEWSPAPER – FROM THE HUFF POST:  The New York Daily News, a storied big-city tabloid known for its ruthless and splashy front pages, laid off half its newsroom staff on Monday, marking the latest round of cuts at the beleaguered Tronc company’s media holdings.  “We are fundamentally restructuring the Daily News,” an email from Tronc to the staff reads. “We are reducing today the size of the editorial team by approximately 50 percent and re-focusing much of our talent on breaking news — especially in areas of crime, civil justice and public responsibility.” The paper had about 85 newsroom employees prior to the cuts, according to the New York Post.  The Daily News used to be considered one of the best written newspapers in the country, although the self-anointed intellectuals considered it the newspaper of the deplorables.  Its photography was superb.  It felt the heartbeat of a city that no longer has a heartbeat.  Recently it's been a Trump-hating, ranting mess.  At this point it would be better if the paper simply died a gentle death.

ARE WE SERIOUS HERE? – FROM PJ MEDIA:   Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has launched a campaign to replace more moderate Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) as leader of the House Democratic Caucus.  Crowley was defeated in his primary by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Lee, an antiwar member of the House Progressive Caucus whose Bay Area district includes Berkeley,was the only member of Congress to vote against retaliatory action after al-Qaeda struck the United States on 9/11. “As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore," she said at the time.  Lee was rated the most liberal member of the House in GovTrack's 2017 ideology rankings. Crowley fell in the middle of the House Dems' ranking.  In a letter to colleagues today, Lee stressed that "the strength of our caucus lies in our diversity of experiences and ideas."  She is poison, a hard Marxist who wanted to be our first ambassador to Castro's Cuba.  Just how left do the Dems think they can go before they turn off most of their own party?  The press will, of course, cover for Lee, but that will simply expose further the corruption of the press.

THE CULPRITS EXPOSED! – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   Two Chinese flight attendants-turned-turtle smugglers were ordered booted from the US on Monday, according to a report.  The Chinese Eastern Airlines workers had been secretly stashing dozens of legally protected spotted and box turtles in pillow cases and carry-on luggage to smuggle them from Los Angeles to China, where they would cash in on them on the black market, authorities said.  The turtles’ colorful shells are believed to bring good luck in China, and their meat supposedly increases sexual prowess when eaten.  Rogue flight attendants, Huaqian Qu, 41, and Renfeng Gao, 31, were suspected of having carried out their scheme for a while, prosecutors said.    Be gone with them!  Turtle smuggling was destroying who we are.  Now, our great national nightmare is over. 

July 23, 2018