SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:48 P.M. ET:

OUR NEW ALLIES – From London's Telegraph:  Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is planning to build a statue of the US sailors who were captured in Iranian waters earlier this year, a senior officer said.  The provocative proposal is likely to cause outrage in the US and be seized on by Republicans opposed to President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran.  Commander Ali Fadavi, the head of the Guard’s naval forces, said the monument of the surrendering Americans would be a “tourist attraction”.  “There are very many photographs of the major incident of arresting US Marines in the Persian Gulf in the media and we intend to build a symbol out of them inside one of our naval monuments,” he told Iran’s Defense Press news agency.  Iran goes out of its way to humiliate the United States at every turn, knowing Field Marshal Obama will do nothing in response.  And, oh, by the way, didn't Iran recently elect a more "moderate" parliament?  Notice the difference?

HOW WILL SHE RESPOND?  You can't make this up.  From Fox:   Hillary Clinton is working hard to consolidate support during a tougher-than-expected Democratic primary, but there’s one backer she may wish to back away from: a Ku Klux Klan grand dragon.  “We want Hillary Clinton to win,” Will Quigg, the grand dragon of the KKK’s California chapter, said during an interview with The Telegraph.  Republican frontrunner Donald Trump was recently criticized for a perceived reticence to disavow the endorsement of former KKK leader David Duke. Trump has since clearly disavowed Duke’s vote of confidence. Clinton has yet to be asked about Quigg’s endorsement.  Quigg bases his support on his belief that Clinton is pushing false promises on the campaign trail. Once she gets elected, he contends, her agenda will completely shift.  Incredible that no one in the press has asked Hillary about this.  I guess they only ask Republicans. 

HILLARY ROMPING IN NEW YORK STATE – From PJ Media:  A new Emerson College poll for New York has Donald Trump getting trounced by both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in his home state this November if he is the GOP nominee. The poll is significant because Trump has maintained that he "expands the map" for the GOP with his candidacy. But Clinton beats him quite handily in New York, 55% to 36% and Sanders bests him 53% to 36%. Trump's closest rival, Ted Cruz, loses to Clinton by 31 points (61% to 30%). The good news for Trump is that he easily beats Cruz for the state's 95 delegates by more than 50 points: 64 - 12. John Kasich only gets 1%, despite his big win in Ohio.  There had been some hope, from earlier soundings, that Trump might pose a serious challenge to Hillary in New York, but this latest poll hardly offers encouragement.  New York is a very blue state, due primarily to the overwhelming population of New York City, the Democrats' leading urban stronghold.

IMPORTANT NUTRITIONAL NEWS – From the College Fix:   Red Bull gives you wings, but Middlebury College clips them.  The small liberal arts school in Vermont has officially banned the sale of popular energy drinks on campus in the name of student health.  Some students have praised Middlebury’s paternalism with language that echoes the late Nancy Reagan’s 1980s anti-drug campaign “Just Say No.”  Middlebury’s health czars allowed one exception, though: an ethnic-sounding beverage whose main ingredient has been linked to cancers that are common in South America.  The sales ban on drinks including Red Bull and 5-Hour Energy went from proposal to approval in barely two weeks, in a process led by students, and took effect last week.  At a Community Council meeting Jan. 19, Dining Services intern Myles Kamisher-Koch argued the sale of energy drinks violates Dining Services’ stated mission to “nourish and nurture today and tomorrow by sustaining mind, body and earth.”  Another victory in the battle against food oppression.  If the evil Red Bull can be defeated, what about Edy's Rocky Road?  Our stomachs belong to the people!

March 18, 2016