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

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – FROM FOX:  CHICAGO – A Chicago Public Schools principal suddenly retired after she outraged parents by inviting an anti-police extremist to talk to students on “Career Day.”  Mary Beth Cunat personally invited the anti-police activist, Ethan Ethos, to speak to sixth through eighth-grade students at Wildwood Elementary School. Ethos is a self-described “radical” who routinely posts violent anti-police rhetoric online...In an apology letter to parents, Cunat wrote that she brought in Ethos to talk to students about his poetry and civic work, but things went off the rails.  “He told them all the police are bad and all the police wanted to kill people,” said Linda Ricciardi, who had three children listen to Ethos on career day. “I was very disappointed that someone would come into this school and preach hate about the police. Or, even if he was talking about someone else, I would still be upset.”  One wonders how something like this can happen.  It is perfectly evident that the extreme left has penetrated into our school systems.  This is just one example.  And when the disgrace is detected and publicized, the educators claim they didn't know.  I recall that line from history.

LATEST POLL RESULTS – FROM DAILY BEAST:  Self-identified Republicans now have a marginally more favorable view of Kim Jong Un than they do for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), according to a new Ipsos poll done exclusively for The Daily Beast.  The poll of roughly 1,000 adults aged 18 and over was conducted June 14-15, shortly after President Trump’s historic summit with the North Korea dictator. According to the results, 19 percent of Republicans indicated they had a favorable view of Kim with 68 percent saying they had an unfavorable view (12 percent of voters overall had a favorable view of Kim, compared to 75 percent who viewed him unfavorably). That compared slightly better than the perception of Pelosi, who had a 17 percent favorable, 72 percent unfavorable rating among self-identified Republicans.  I think Republicans are being too harsh.  Kim is a killer; Nancy is only a bore.  I say, one cheer for Nancy.

DAKOTA SHOWDOWN – FROM THE HILL:   The Senate race in North Dakota between Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) and Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) is all but a toss-up, a poll released Monday found.  The Mason-Dixon poll showed Cramer with a 4-point lead over Heitkamp, which falls within the survey’s margin of error.  Forty-eight percent of voters said they would support Cramer if the election were held today, while 44 percent said they’d back Heitkamp. Another 8 percent said they are undecided.   The poll surveyed 625 adults in North Dakota between June 13 and June 15. Its margin of error is 4 percentage points.  Heitkamp is among the most vulnerable senators up for re-election in November. President Trump won North Dakota in the 2016 presidential election by roughly 36 percentage points over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.  The president is scheduled to make a trip to Fargo, N.D., on June 27, ostensibly to rally support for Cramer.  I'm a bit uneasy about this.  North Dakota is a red state, and the GOP challenger should be further ahead by now.  Heitkamp, as the incumbent, has higher name recognition, and that may explain the closeness of the race.  I'm hoping for a GOP pickup.

June 18, 2018