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

GOP PROSPECTS SEEM SOLID – From ABC:  "A ‘CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE’: Barack Obama and his political party are heading into the midterm elections in trouble. The president’s 40 percent job approval rating in a new ABC News-Washington Post poll is the lowest of his career – and the Democratic Party’s popularity is its weakest in polling back 30 years, with more than half of Americans seeing the party unfavorably for the first time, according to ABC News Pollster GARY LANGER. The Republican Party is even more unpopular. But benefiting from their supporters’ greater likelihood of voting, GOP candidates nonetheless hold a 50-43 percent lead among likely voters for U.S. House seats in the Nov. 4 election. These and other results are informed by an array of public concerns on issues from the economy to international terrorism to the Ebola virus, crashing into a long-running crisis of confidence in the nation’s political leadership. Almost two-thirds say the country is headed seriously off on the wrong track."  I'm becoming guardedly optimistic, but prefer to make my predictions the day after the election.

AND IN THE NUT FACTORY – From AP:  "UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Turkey is in a 'very tight race' with Spain and New Zealand for one of two available seats on the UN Security Council.  The UN General Assembly’s 193 member states will vote Thursday to elect five new members to the UN’s most powerful body and Venezuela’s socialist government is virtually certain to win because it is unopposed for the single seat allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean.  Angola is the only candidate for an African seat and Malaysia has no opposition for a single seat for Asia, so their victories are also virtually assured.  That means all eyes will be on New Zealand, Spain and Turkey, who are competing for two seats representing the Western group of nations."  Western?  Did they say Western?  Since when is Turkey a Western nation?  It's an Islamic nation, and one that routinely throws journalists in jail.  So we may well have Venezuela, Malaysia and Turkey on the UN Security Council.  Isn't that exciting?  The UN is already a joke, and determined to be even funnier in the future.  Maybe it's time for a League of Democracies. 

COLOSSAL NEWS BULLETIN – We're putting everything else aside to contemplate the significance of this.  From The Wall Street Journal:  "Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration is exploring new ways to regulate the size of large sugary drinks in New York City, holding high-level meetings behind closed doors with health advocates and beverage industry executives.  'Mayor de Blasio has made clear he supports a ban on large sugary drinks,' his spokesman, Phil Walzak, said on Thursday. 'The administration is currently considering plans on the best way to reach that goal.'  The administration’s talks with lobbyists could revive an issue championed by Mr. de Blasio’s predecessor, Michael Bloomberg , who oversaw a sugary drink ban in 2012 that was eventually overturned by the courts."  Did you know that large sugary drinks are made even more harmful by global warming?  Yes, it's true.  Only flat Earthers believe otherwise.  Let's get rid of them.

OBITUARY – From Deadline.com:  "The first time it went out with a bang — this time it went out with a whimper; CNN’s Crossfire is no more. Again. The show had been missing in action for weeks and already some of its co-hosts — Stephanie Cutter, Newt Gingrich, S.E. Cupp and Van Jones — have been popping up as contributors around the network’s landscape. Some staff have been moved to other programs, and the remainder have been encouraged to apply for open positions within the bureau, source say — surprising, given that CNN is in the process of slashing about 300 positions."  I actually thought it was pretty good.  Newt is always fascinating, a true man of ideas.  He'd be good on his own.

October 15, 2014