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

THE FOOL – FROM DAILY MAIL:   The feud between President Donald Trump and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has been kept under wraps in recent months, but it exploded in a very big way on Tuesday.   That is when The Washington Post published an editorial by Scarborough with the headline 'Trump is harming the dream of America more than any foreign adversary ever could.'  Scarborough wrote in his piece about that 'the tragic lessons of that time are still lost on our leaders,' referring to both George W. Bush and Barack Obama as well as Trump.   He did single out Trump however in the headline and to close the piece, while suggesting that the president's supporters were complicit in his actions.  The first son was none to happy with this, and tweeted: 'Joe you owe an apology to the 3000+ families who lost loved ones on this tragic day. Injecting politics today is disgraceful and only shows how irrelevant and deranged you’ve become.'  The first son is right.  Scarborough's comments were way out of line.  He is a sideshow, with his sidekick Mika. 

YES TO THE ECONOMY – FROM CNBC:   U.S. small business optimism surged to a record in August as the tax cuts and deregulation efforts of President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress led to more sales, hiring and investment, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.  The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index jumped to 108.8 last month, the highest level ever recorded in the survey's 45-year history and a above the previous record of 108 in 1983, set during the second year of Ronald Reagan's presidency. The August figure was up from a 107.9 reading in July.   This will drive Democrats crazy, as they have utter contempt for small business.  Who are those people who work hard, serve the public on Main Street, and refuse to take the American flags out of their windows?

COLLINS TARGETED – FROM THE HILL:  Staffers for GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), viewed as a key swing vote in the Supreme Court fight, say they are receiving "vulgar" phone calls over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination.   Aides for the moderate senator, on social media and in multiple reports published on Tuesday evening, detailed calls and voicemails Collins's offices have been receiving as the battle over Kavanaugh kicks into high gear ahead of an end-of-the-month Senate vote.  "We've had some very abusive callers. ...We've had some very vulgar calls and sort of harassing the staff," Steve Abbot, Collins's chief of staff, told a Maine TV station.  Real class.  And they complain about Donald Trump.

September 11,  2018