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

GREATEST SCANDAL IN HISTORY – FROM DAILY MAIL:  An actress alleged that President George H.W. Bush 'sexually assaulted' her and touched her from behind while in his wheelchair, and now Bush has apologized saying it was an 'attempt at humor.'   Heather Lind, 34, who starred in AMC's series 'Turn: Washington's Spies' made the allegations against the 93-year-old former president on Instagram in a lengthy post with accompanying photos.  'When I got the chance to meet George H. W. Bush four years ago to promote a historical television show I was working on, he sexually assaulted me while I was posing for a similar photo. He didn't shake my hand. He touched me from behind from his wheelchair with his wife Barbara Bush by his side. He told me a dirty joke,' Lind alleges.  I guess we'll have to put Bush in jail, or maybe even send him to the gallows.  Look, I don't defend improper behavior, but the sudden gang-up of recent weeks makes a mockery of a serious issue.

COMPLETELY NUTS – FROM BREITBART:   Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed” brought civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson on to discuss the National Anthem protests in the NFL.  Jackson bashed Trump for referring to the anthem kneelers as “sons of b******,” and then took aim at the NFL.  “To go from picking cotton balls to picking footballs and basketballs without freedom is not very much progress,” Jackson said Monday.  That is absolutely disgraceful, and an insult to all those who've worked for civil rights.  Jesse Jackson's turn to get off the stage was sometime in the last century.

EVERYBODY'S GOT TO BE SOMETHIN' – FROM NBC WASHINGTON:   To celebrate Samhain, a Wiccan festival that falls on the evening of Oct. 31, Washington, D.C. resident Elizabeth Stephens usually prepares a pot of jambalaya to honor her late grandmother and a plate of roast beef in memory of her parents. She marks the festival with witches and fellow Wiccans, who offer their own dishes as a part of the day’s feast. The table they set becomes patterned with platters that were the favorites of family members and friends.  As a part of the celebration, a black cloth is held above the heads of the attendees and cut with a knife through the center, representing an opening between the spirit and material worlds. After some time has passed, participants encourage the spirits to return to their realm and the cut in the cloth is sewn.   Sounds more efficient than Congress.

October 24, 2017