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

AFTERMATH – Another sad day for America. But one thing I did notice might give us a bit of hope.  At times like these some of our news organizations resort to vulgar, tasteless Trump bashing, trying to pin some blame for every tragedy on the president.  I didn't see much of that today.  Maybe the magnitude of the occasion led to more subdued coverage.  Or, we hope, maybe some journalists are starting to understand that they, too, bear responsibility for the national tone.  Most of the coverage was pretty decent.  Some of the weekend staffs performed better than their weekday counterparts.  Overall, I think the tragedy was professionally handled.

OVERLOOKED – Overlooked in this week's tumult was a remarkable meeting at the White House between President Trump and young black leaders.  From Fox:   Chants of ‘We love Trump, U-S-A!’ echoed across the East Room of the White House before, during, and after President Donald Trump’s address to hundreds of young black conservatives.  The President’s address was part of the Young Black Leaders Summit (YBLS), a four-day conference focused on millennial-aged, conservative black Americans. The student-activist group, Turning Point USA, is hosting the event.  Brandon Tatum is Director of Urban Engagement at Turning Point USA, and he told Fox News that the YBLS is symbolic for black voters. “YBLS is important because it gives an example to this country that black voters are not monoliths and think for ourselves,” said Tatum.  They certainly do, and President Trump is the first Republican president to reach out seriously to them.  The president has made important progress in attracting Hispanic support.  The black community is next.

THE CARAVAN MOVES ON – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   Thousands of Central American migrants vowed Saturday to continue pressing north to the US border after many of them rejected an offer of refugee status from Mexico.  Mexican officials had promised shelter, medical attention, schooling and jobs to members of the Central American caravan who would ditch their plans to reach the States. The offer came as the Trump administration moved to send 800 extra troops to the border to help keep the migrants from entering the US.  Authorities said some 1,700 migrants accepted Mexico’s offer, but thousands more took a pass.  “Our goal is not to remain in Mexico,” 58-year-old Oscar Sosa, a migrant from Honduras, told the Associated Press. “Our goal is to make it to the [United States]. We want passage, that’s all.”  Okay, we're sympathetic, but you must follow American laws and enter the country legally.  This is building to a serious confrontation.

October 27,  2018