SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:25 P.M. ET: 

WARM HILLARY – FROM HEATSTREET:   Hillary Clinton “blatantly” disregarded security and diplomatic protocols as Secretary of State and frequently insulted U.S. ambassadors by refusing to ride with them to diplomatic events abroad, a former U.S. diplomatic security officer told FBI agents investigating Clinton’s private email server.  According to FBI interview notes released Monday, the former security officer described the “stark difference” between Hillary Clinton’s conduct as secretary of state and the conduct of her predecessor Condoleezza Rice, who closely adhered to the appropriate protocols. Hillary’s “abundant” protocol breaches, on the other hand, were widely known in the diplomatic security community.  There have also been numerous reports of Clinton's awful behavior toward those officers sworn to protect her, from state troopers when she was first lady of Arkansas, through Secret Service agents when she was first lady of the United States, through members of the Diplomatic Security Service when she was secretary of state.  No class act, she.

OUR NEUTRAL MEDIA – FROM DAILY CALLER:  “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd and his wife, a Democratic consultant, hosted a dinner party at their Washington D.C.-area home last year for Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary Clinton’s communications director.  An invitation for the shindig was sent on July 11, 2015 to John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman. Podesta’s hacked emails have been released online by Wikileaks.  The party, which also involved a cocktail hour, was thrown for Palmieri and her husband, Jim Lyons.   Todd’s wife, Kristian Kenny Todd, was at that time a consultant for former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, one of Hillary Clinton’s challengers.  The invite is just the latest glaring example of the cozy relationship between mainstream journalists and the Clinton campaign found in the Podesta emails.  Reporters from The New York Times, MSNBC, Politico and other outlets have been shown coordinating with Podesta or other Clinton campaign officials in the emails.  I'm shocked that anyone would think ill of our fine journalists.  Why, I'm sure Todd was just trying to get a good, neutral story.  I also had lunch yesterday with the tooth fairy.  She says hello.

HONEST GOVERNMENT – FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:  ALBANY — A lobbyist with ties to Gov. Cuomo has a novel argument why he shouldn’t be forced to repay a company $85,000 — it was meant to be a bribe, not a loan.  Cor Development is suing its former lobbyist Todd Howe for the money.  But in legal papers filed Monday, Howe’s lawyers argued that the “purported loan was illegal, as it was part of an illegal conspiracy to deprive the public of its intangible right to honest services of an employee of the state of New York by soliciting and giving bribes and gratuities.”  Cor officials told Syracuse newspapers, which first reported the legal maneuver, that Howe is lying and the debt is real.   That's what I like – real imagination in our state capital. 

October 17, 2016