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

A TROUBLED CITY DECLINES FURTHER – FROM FOX BALTIMORE:   BALTIMORE (WBFF) -- A Project Baltimore investigation has found five Baltimore City high schools and one middle school do not have a single student proficient in the state tested subjects of math and English.  We sat down with a teen who attends one of those schools and has overcome incredible challenges to find success.  Navon Warren grew up in West Baltimore. He was three months old when his father was shot to death. Before his 18th birthday, he would lose two uncles and a classmate, all gunned down on the streets of Baltimore. “I’ve lost a lot of people, so I’m used to it. It hurts,” Warren said. “I just chose not to show it. I just keep it in. You just have to live on and keep going on every day. You have to do it somehow.”  Despite his tremendous loss, Warren is set to graduate this year from Frederick Douglass High School. It’s a school where only half the students graduate and just a few dozen will go to college. Last year, not one student scored proficient in any state testing.  Is anyone accountable?  Black kids murdered.  Black kids failing.  Do these black lives matter?

NOT EXACTLY ASTAIRE – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  Upon arriving at an elaborate ceremony at Murabba Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Trump and crew got into the dancing mood.
Video of the ceremony on Saturday showed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, locking arms with some of the performers and holding sabers.  Trump arrived soon after and swayed along to the drumming, chanting and traditional sword dance for a few moments. He was joined by Saudi King Salman for the impending banquet in Riyadh.   Yeah, dancing with sabers.  You know, we're gettin' involved with some strange people.  You gotta see the video.

A SO-CALLED DEMOCRATIC LEADER – FROM THE HILL:   Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez on Friday called President Trump the "most dangerous president" in U.S. history and said that the commander in chief "has to go."  “Here’s one big thing we agree on. Donald Trump is an anathema to our values. Donald Trump is the most dangerous president in American history,” Perez, the former Labor secretary in the Obama administration, said during the California Democratic Party convention, as reported by The Los Angeles Times.  This is the same "leader" who makes speeches, with children present, and uses obscene language.  Such class.  I'm filled with confidence.

May 20,  2017