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

THEY CAN HAVE HIM – FROM DAILY CALLER:  Former White House aide Ben Rhodes, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and advised former President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues, will start his new job on Sunday as a politics contributor for MSNBC and NBC News.  MSNBC’s public relations department made the announcement on Twitter on Saturday, noting that Rhodes will make his official debut on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” and Monday’s “All In With Chris Hayes.”  A man with no qualifications for the job was made deputy national security adviser for Obama, and boasted that he engaged in deception to sell the Iran nuclear deal.  He'll do well in the fake- news business.

CAUGHT – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:  The New York Times issued a correction Wednesday about the crowd size at President Trump’s rally after the president challenged the paper’s mistake, acknowledging the audience in Nashville, Tennessee, was more than five times larger than The Times initially reported.  In its article online, The Times said an earlier version of the story “cited an incorrect figure for the number of people attending President Trump’s rally.”  “While no exact figure is available, the fire marshal’s office estimated that approximately 5,500 people attended the rally, not about 1,000 people,” the correction stated.  Mr. Trump had accused the Times Wednesday morning of lying about the crowd size at the arena where he was campaigning Tuesday night for GOP Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn.  A discrepancy that large cannot simply be called a mistake.  If it was a typo, the reporter writing the story, or the editor editing it, would have discovered the gaffe immediately.  This looks very mean-spirited, and an internal investigation by The Times is called for.

TERRIFIC! – FROM PAGE SIX:   “Sherlock” star Benedict Cumberbatch fought off a gang of four muggers as they beat up a defenseless Deliveroo cyclist.  The actor, 41, leapt from an Uber car and waded in after spotting the attack near detective Sherlock Holmes’s fictional home in London’s Baker Street.  The gang fled. Uber driver Manuel Dias said: “The cyclist was lucky, Benedict’s a superhero.”  The star leapt to the rescue as the yobs punched the defenseless cyclist and smashed him over the head with a bottle.  Witnesses told how Benedict jumped from an Uber car in which he was riding with wife Sophie Hunter and sprinted into the fray, yelling: “Leave him alone.”  He dragged the four muggers off their bloodied victim. They then tried to punch Benedict, but he fended them off before they fled.  Give him a special Oscar for sheer guts.  Let's see if he gets any respect in the media for risking his life. 

June 2,  2018