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

NOT KIDNAPPED BY ALIENS – Melania Trump made an appearance today at a White House ceremony honoring Gold Star families.  This ends weeks of speculation, stirred by the Zoloft press, that the first lady had disappeared, was being held captive at a Trump hotel, was the new Roseanne at ABC, or had decided to go back to her homeland and give away American national secrets.   She's fine, and entitled to some privacy.

BREATHS OF FRESH AIR – FROM DAILY CALLER:  Professors and a former administrator at The Evergreen State College bashed an “independent” report on the school’s spring 2017 riots.  Evergreen President George Bridges nominated the report‘s three authors, who were then confirmed by the Washington school’s board of trustees, reported Campus Reform.  “Somehow I must have missed the customary ‘April Fools!’ proclamation that normally follows these types of hoaxes, fake stories, and practical jokes,” Evergreen veterinary medicine professor Mike Paros said, describing the report in an op-ed obtained by Campus Reform. “Faculty and staff are also embarrassed but remain silent out of fear of losing their jobs.”
Most of his students “don’t want to be shielded from ideas and content they find discomforting and challenging,” Paros noted and that “many feel humiliated by the vulgar behavior of fellow students and the administration’s cowardly reaction.”  Evergreen State is one of the five most left-wing schools in the country.  If even members of its way-out progressive faculty are turned off by the political correctness and academic thuggery on campus, maybe we're making some progress.

GOOD MOVE, ABOUT TIME – FROM AP:  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Defense Department is poised to take over background investigations for the federal government, using increased automation and high-tech analysis to tighten controls and tackle an enormous backlog of workers waiting for security clearances, according to U.S. officials.  The change aims to fix a system whose weaknesses were exposed by the case of a Navy contractor who gunned down a dozen people at Washington's Navy Yard in 2013. He was able to maintain a security clearance despite concerns about his mental health and an arrest that investigators never reviewed.  Security clearance is one of the most vital functions of our federal government, and mistakes can cost lives and lose battles.  The system has been a disgrace for years.  Now we hope that will change.

June 4, 2018