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

HUMBLE JOE – From Fox:  "Vice President Biden on Sunday issued his second apology of the weekend for remarks that offended allies that the U.S. needs in the fight to destroy the Islamic State.  Biden apologized by phone Sunday to Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, saying he never meant to imply that his country was supporting Al Qaeda fighters in Syria. Al Nahyan is also the deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates’ armed forces.  Biden made the remarks at a speech Thursday, suggesting U.S. allies including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had funded and armed extremist groups linked to Al Qaeda. The UAE was exasperated and requested a formal clarification... On Saturday, Biden apologized to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for also saying during the speech that the Turkish leader admitted his country made mistakes by allowing foreign fighters to cross into Syria."  The outrage here is that an American vice president has to apologize to a bigoted Islamist like Tayyip Erdogan.  But Obama once said that Erdogan was his closest friend in the Mideast, which tells you who Obama really is.

CRAZY IN SEATTLE – Seattle is now competing with San Francisco for the title of craziest major city in America.  From the Daily Caller:  "The school board in Seattle unanimously resolved on Wednesday to direct public schools across the city to celebrate 'Indigenous Peoples’ Day' instead of Columbus Day on the second Monday of each October.  That Monday — Oct. 13 this year — has been the federal holiday of Columbus Day since 1970. Columbus Day has been a federal holiday in some form in the United States since 1937.  The resolution declares that the Seattle school board 'recognizes the fact that Seattle is built upon the homelands and villages of the Indigenous Peoples of this region, without whom the building of the City would not have been possible,' as local Fox affiliate KCPQ notes.  Further, according to board members, Seattle’s taxpayer-funded schools have 'a responsibility to oppose the systematic racism towards Indigenous people in the United States, which perpetuates high rates of poverty and income inequality, exacerbating disproportionate health, education and social crises.'"  One can honor both of course – indigenous peoples, previously called Native Americans, and the legacy of Christopher Columbus, a legacy of special importance to Italian Americans.  But only certain groups count in the People's Republic of Seattle.

GREAT STORY – from the New York Post:  "Legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s daughter Emily Hornor Ma was recently married in the Berkshires, but asked her father not to play at her wedding because she wanted him to 'just be a dad that night.'  She married RBC investment banker John Mistovich at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox, Mass., in front of 300 guests.  Instead of Yo-Yo, the Alex Donner Orchestra performed at the reception at a private home, and they played the 'Blue Danube Waltz' for the newlyweds’ first dance, then the father and bride danced to 'My Girl.'"  That's a daughter who has class and common sense. 

October 5, 2014