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

BEN SOARS IN IOWA – From Breitbart:   A Monmouth University poll released Monday shows Dr. Ben Carson surging to a mammoth 14 point lead over Donald Trump. Currently, the good doctor leads the billionaire businessman 32% to 18%. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are tied for third at 10%. Jeb Bush is at 8%. Carly Fiorina, who has pretty much disappeared from the news cycle over the past two weeks, is at just 4%.  It is safe to say that Carson is now the leader in Iowa. Of the last five polls taken over the last 10 days, Carson’s leading by an average of 9%. The closest Trump has come to Carson is a tie in one of these polls, and as of now that poll looks like an outlier.  Past election campaigns show that victory in Iowa is not a guarantee of victory anywhere else.  The real news is that Carson has done so well against Trump.  Carson has to repeat that performance in other states, though, and that doesn't seem to be happening...as of now.  We still have plenty of time before the first primary voting begins early next year.

MAJOR COCKTAIL PARTY NEWS – From the Daily Caller:   While discussing the efficacy of a hypothetical Speaker Paul Ryan, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry cautioned guest Alfonso Aguilar against using the phrase “hard worker,” implying that it is somehow offensive to African Americans.  “I just want to pause on one thing because I don’t disagree with you that I actually think Mr. Ryan is a great choice for this role, but I want us to be super careful when we use the language ‘hard worker,'” she told Aguilar.  “I actually keep an image of folks working in cotton fields on my office wall because it is a reminder about what hard work looks like.”  “In the context of relative privilege,” Perry added, “when you talk about work-life balance and being a hard worker, the moms who don’t have health care… we don’t call them hard workers. We call them failures. We call them sucking off the system.”  “Really, y’all do,” Harris said in reference to Republicans and conservatives.  Ms. Harris-Perry has lived on another planet for many years, so we should be understanding.

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN EDUCATION – From Fox:   The Border Patrol is looking for a few good men and women -- but not angry confrontation, and that concern is what prompted the agency to back out of a college job fair.  Accusing the federal agency charged with protecting U.S. borders of “unjust killings, …. racial profiling, use of force, and unjust violence,” protesters at University of California-Irvine succeeded in stopping the Border Patrol from taking part in a weekend career fair - and blocked students from learning more about a possible job opportunity.  "We regret to inform the community that out of concern for the safety of CBP Recruitment Officers, U.S. Customs & Border Protection will no longer be participating in the UCI Fall Career Fair,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Ralph DeSio told FoxNews.com, instead referring students to the agency’s recruitment website.  Not shocking.  The hard left on college campuses has tried to block military recruiters for years.  One of these days Congress will develop the spine to threaten a cutoff of federal funds to colleges and universities that fail to safeguard civil liberties.

October 26, 2015