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

A SECRET REVEALED – FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:   "Barbra Streisand says Donald Trump is making her gain weight. The singer tweeted on Saturday that news involving the president affects her morning routine.  "Donald Trump is making me gain weight. I start the day with liquids, but after the morning news, I eat pancakes smothered in maple syrup!" the singer tweeted on Saturday.   Her comments come after Trump recently claimed the Obama administration wiretapped into his Trump Tower phones during the 2016 presidential election. The White House asked Congress to investigate the matter on Sunday.  "Trump just accused Obama of tapping his phones. Seriously crazy times," added Streisand. "Time for more pancakes."  I think the president should change his policies just for Barbra, don't you? 

A COMMIE CRISIS – FROM BBC:   Russian officials are coming under pressure to check if Disney's new film Beauty and the Beast breaches the country's law against "gay propaganda".  Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said action would be taken after the checks while an MP described the film as "shameless propaganda of sin".  The live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast features Disney's first ever gay character and love scene.  A Russian law prohibits the spreading of "gay propaganda" among minors.  The 2013 legislation, which has angered human rights activists and the international gay community, describes homosexuality as "non-traditional sexual relations".  Oh, can you imagine the anguish amongst the reds on Western college campuses?  How to explain this?  What to do?  The motherland has abandoned them!

PENCE TO CARRY THE FLAG – FROM CAMPUS REFORM:   Mike Pence will be the first U.S. vice president to deliver the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, which traditionally invites the president during his first year in office.  “It is fitting that in the 175th year of our founding on Indiana soil that Notre Dame recognize a native son who served our state and now the nation with quiet earnestness, moral conviction and a dedication to the common good characteristic of true statesmen,” Notre Dame President Rev. John I. Jenkins told Notre Dame News...The selection process was nonetheless contentious, with preemptive petitions and protests demanding that the university withhold its traditional invitation from Donald Trump.  Trump would have been disrupted by the adolescent left.  Pence was wise to accept the invitation, giving the new administration a banner to carry at an iconic institution.  I hope he mentions President Trump favorably in his speech, despite the probable boos.

March 5,  2017