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

YOU NEVER KNOW – FROM FOX:  It could come down to a recount.  Democrat Conor Lamb has already declared victory over Republican Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania’s special House election, but Republicans say they aren’t giving up until every vote is counted.  The contest has still not been called, but Lamb leads Saccone by a few hundred votes. There’s no mandatory recount for a federal race in Pennsylvania, but Republicans have the option of petitioning for one.  "This race is too close to call and we’re ready to ensure that every legal vote is counted,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Matt Gorman said late Tuesday. “Once they are, we’re confident Rick Saccone will be the newest Republican member of Congress."  As of Wednesday morning, Lamb's lead stood at just 641 votes -- out of more than 224,000 votes cast, according to unofficial results. Election officials said there are about 200 absentee votes and an unknown number of provisional ballots still to be counted.  There may also be military ballots.  It's unlikely that Lamb's lead can be flipped, but in an election this close, extreme care is worth it.

THE NERVE – FROM BREITBART:  Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, the illegal alien acquitted last year of murdering 32-year-old Kate Steinle in July 2015, has sued the federal government, demanding that it produce documents “pertaining to vindictive prosecution and collusion” with the state government in its prosecution against him.  In November, a San Francisco jury found Garcia-Zarate not guilty of murdering Steinle, agreeing that although he had the gun from which the fatal shot was fired, the discharge could have been accidental.  The jury did convict Garcia-Zarate of felony possession of a weapon. He had seven previous felony convictions and had been deported five times before finding “sanctuary” on the streets of San Francisco, a noted “sanctuary city.”  Watch, a "progressive" group will ask him to run for Congress, as a representative of the oppressed.

A CORECTION?  REALLY? – FROM FOX:    The online news site ProPublica said Thursday night that it had retracted part of an article alleging Gina Haspel, President Trump's new choice to head the CIA, oversaw the waterboarding of an Al Qaeda suspect at a so-called agency "black site" in Thailand.  "We at ProPublica hold government officials responsible for their missteps, and we must be equally accountable," editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg said in a statement. "This error was particularly unfortunate because it muddied an important national debate about Haspel and the CIA’s recent history.  "To her, and to our readers, we can only apologize, correct the record and make certain that we do better in the future," Engelberg added.  Trump announced Tuesday that he had chosen Haspel to succeed Mike Pompeo, who is the president's pick to replace ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Several senators, including some Republicans, have said that Haspel must give a full account of her involvement in the CIA's interrogation program in the early days of the War on Terror.  We give credit where it's due, and, in an age of sloppy, irresponsible journalism, it's refreshing to see a liberal outlet admit to a serious editorial error.  We need more of this, we also need greater effort to make sure these mistakes are not made in the first place.

March 15, 2018