SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

BACK TO BUSINESS – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Senators returned to Washington Tuesday and immediately picked up where they left off — processing President Trump’s judicial nominees, over the objections of Democrats.  The Judiciary Committee held a hearing for Paul B. Matey, nominated to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and for four district court picks.  Mr. Matey’s nomination is particularly controversial because it marks another round in the fight over Senate traditions and courtesies and their abuse in the era of Mr. Trump.  Mr. Matey is slated to fill a seat on the appeals court that’s traditionally ascribed to New Jersey. But that state’s senators, both Democrats, object to the president’s pick, and have withheld their “blue slips” to signify their opposition.  “To say that my objections to this judge is just because he's conservative is just not fair,” Sen. Cory Booker said, arguing he wasn’t properly consulted on Mr. Matey’s nomination. “Nobody has asked me what my objections might be.”  And, given that he's Cory Booker, who really cares?  The only question he ever seems to ask is, "What's good for Cory Booker?"

IT'S SO RUDE TO ASK A LIBERAL TOUGH QUESTIONS – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Seema Nanda, CEO of the Democratic National Committee, couldn’t give an answer Tuesday about how Democrats planned to pay for a single-payer health care system many of them campaigned on known as “Medicare for All.”  “I don’t think we’re there yet,” Ms. Nanda told Yahoo Finance at its “All Markets Summit: America’s Financial Future” in Washington.  During the discussion, Ms. Nanda was asked how Democrats planned to pay for the multitrillion-dollar plan that many of them supported ahead of the midterm elections. Dodging a question on whether Democrats planned to raise taxes in order to pay for it, Ms. Nanda pivoted the discussion to “skyrocketing deficits” caused by President Trump.  The Dems had better come up with an answer to that question.  Otherwise, they'll be even more of a laughingstock than they are now.  Wait, that's impossible.

THE ROAD TO MEDIOCRITY – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  Looking for the best and the brightest is no way to hire. It harms minority groups.  This message is promoted by the Office of Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas-Austin, which was launched last month to tackle “the income inequality gap for overlooked communities.”  It’s intended to facilitate entrepreneurship among “underrepresented founders” so that “new for-profit sustainable ventures can be launched that will uplift communities.”  In order to do this, companies must move away from a “meritocratic way of hiring,” which is a “problem."  Yeah, getting the best is a real problem.  This stuff is taught to students.

November 13,  2018