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

INCREDIBLE – It isn't just Republicans who are out of sorts about Obama making a Supreme Court pick.  Leftist House Dems are grumbling that Merrick Garland, by all accounts a brilliant and respected judge, doesn't meet the race and gender test.  From The Hill:   Liberal House Democrats are holding their fire on President Obama's choice of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court.  Many liberals on and off Capitol Hill had pushed the president to pick a minority nominee –– specifically a black woman, which would be an historic first –– and some liberal advocacy groups quickly condemned Obama's choice of an older white man with a centrist track record.  But a number of House liberals, while privately grumbling about the decision, have been exceedingly careful not to criticize the president publicly. Instead, they're praising Garland's legal bona fides and training their attacks on the Senate Republicans blocking the nomination.   It's a sign that Democrats appreciate the tactical acumen behind the Garland pick, even if they are not especially enamored of the judge himself.   The highlight of the civil rights movement came when Martin Luther King Jr. told us that people should be judged, not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.  The Democratic Party has come a long way down.  Now you're just a member of a group.

FOX VERSUS TRUMP –  From Fox:   Donald Trump’s latest attacks against Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly are “beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate,” the network said in a statement Friday.  The Republican candidate, who first attacked Kelly in August for her hard-hitting questioning at a GOP debate, called for a boycott of the top-rated primetime cable news show “The Kelly File.” As with past social media insults directed at Kelly, Trump got personal, calling Kelly “sick” and “overrated.”  “Donald Trump’s vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land,” Fox News said in a statement.  Fox is correct.  Donald needs to grow up. 

DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT – From Fox:   As the opposition makes arrangements to call a referendum on President Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan government has launched a preemptive strike that looks to reinforce the ailing Chavismo by rewarding loyalty.  Focused on securing power, the socialist ruling party will start issuing so-called “Bolivarian cards” – with not yet disclosed privileges – to its followers, as well as “socialist cards” loaded with a monthly allowance of approximately $70; that's 10 times the minimum wage in Venezuela.  The third tier of the survival strategy is a full-blown campaign with the motto that can be translated to “Nobody surrenders here” (“Aquí no se rinde nadie,” in Spanish).  The Bolivarian cards will be handed out to self-proclaimed Chavistas during a national house-to-house survey to take place in early April, Maduro announced last weekend.  Frequent flyer points?  Hotel credits?  What kind of a card is this?

March 19, 2016