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

GOOD FOR GINA – FROM FOX:  President Trump’s pick for CIA director Gina Haspel was confirmed Thursday by the Senate, with help from several Democrats who backed the nomination despite concerns over her role in post-9/11-era interrogation and detention practices.  The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm Haspel, with a handful of Democrats voting in support. The vote came a day after Haspel was recommended in a 10-5 vote by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Haspel will be the first woman to lead the agency.  Haspel, who will replace now-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, served as the base chief at a black-site prison in Thailand in 2002, where techniques such as waterboarding were used on terror suspects. But Republican supporters accused Democrats of politicizing her nomination, and initially trying to derail an otherwise highly qualified nominee.  The Dems who voted for Haspel are at political risk because they come from generally moderate or conservative states.  Voting against such a qualified nominee might have meant certain death in the November midterms.

NUT – FROM AMERICAN ACTION NEWS:  Even though the tactic doesn't seem to be working for Democrats, Senator Debbie Wasserman Schultz today doubled down on earlier rhetoric calling the National Rifle Association "just shy" of a terrorist organization.  According to her recent interview with the Huffington Post, Wasserman Schultz is no fan of the gun rights organization, and she's not afraid to show it.  “The NRA is kind of just shy of a terrorist organization,” Schultz told the magazine. “They have done everything they can to perpetuate the culture of violence that we have in our country with the spread of assault weapons across the nation."  Please tell Debbie that there's honorable work available in various rehabilitation centers for people like her, and that the staffs are kind. 

GOOD IDEA – FROM DEADLINE.COM:  EXCLUSIVE: Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio are in early discussions to re-team on an epic biopic of Ulysses S. Grant that DiCaprio and Appian Way partner Jeniffer Davisson are producing at Lionsgate. I’m told that Spielberg wants to direct DiCaprio in that role in their first collaboration since the 2002 drama Catch Me If You Can.  Lionstate and Appian Way last November acquired movie rights to Grant, the bestselling Ron Chernow biography that is being adapted by David James Kelly. The writer just worked for Appian Way and Lionsgate on Robin Hood, the Otto Bathurst-directed that stars Taron Egerton in the starring role.  An excellent idea, if well executed and free of political correctness.  Grant was one of the most fascinating figures in American history – a failure in civilian life who achieved victory in war, and the author of a distinguished autobiography.  Even his presidency, one viewed as mediocre, is now getting a second look from historians.  I look forward to this. 

May 17, 2018