SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:37 P.M. ET:

BREAKTHROUGH? – From Fox:  "Nigeria's defense chief is claiming that the country’s military has located nearly 300 schoolgirls abducted by Islamic extremists but cannot go in with force to free them.  Air Marshal Alex Badeh told demonstrators supporting the country's much criticized military on Monday that Nigerian troops can save the girls, according to The Associated Press. But he added, 'we can't go and kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back.'  He spoke to thousands of demonstrators who marched to Defense Ministry headquarters in Abuja, the capital. Many were brought in on buses, indicating it was an organized event.  Asked by reporters where they had found the girls, Badeh refused to elaborate."  We can't confirm this.  We hope the story is true.  Considering the source, I'd want further details.

BASIC JOURNALISM – From Fox:  "Their remains sat, unmarked, in shallow graves at the Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Va., for decades. Now, two centuries after the Civil War, the bodies of 40 Confederate soldiers discovered over the past two months will receive a proper memorial.  'It's been very meaningful to us to find these spots, identify these soldiers and bring closure to families,' said Ted Delaney, the cemetery's assistant director, who, along with a team of archaeologists, uncovered the exact resting place of some 40 Confederate soldiers as well as the plots where Union soldiers were once buried and later exhumed."  A fine Memorial Day story, but I wasn't aware that the Civil War occurred two centuries ago.  It began in 1861, which, I reckon, was 153 years past.  More like a century and a half.  Journalism 101.

STUNNER – We'll be discussing this further this week.  From Reuters:  "PARIS - Marine Le Pen's far-right National Front stunned France's political elite on Sunday by taking first place in European Parliament elections, with President Francois Hollande's Socialists beaten into a poor third, provisional results showed.  It was the first time the anti-immigrant, anti-EU party had won a nationwide election in its four-decade history. If the results are confirmed, it could secure as many as 25 seats in the new European Parliament, more than eight times the three it won in 2009."   This is not good news, as these are not conservatives.  They're fringe rightists, typical of groups that won substantial victories throughout Europe over the weekend.  They have a racist character, and they are anti-American.  Their victories are an indictment of Europe's smug political class, which has sat by as legitimate grievances built up within the working populations of European countries.  When the establishment doesn't act, people start turning to demagogues. 

May 26, 2014