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DECEMBER 18,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

THERE SHE ISN'T – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   There she goes, Miss America.  The iconic beauty pageant is seeking a new host city after New Jersey officials said the state will no longer bankroll the troubled event in its longtime home of Atlantic City, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.  “The Miss America Organization is interviewing cities to partner with Miss America 2.0 as it prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary,” reads a Request for Proposal for the 2020 and 2021 Miss America competition obtained by the newspaper.  “This event can bring exposure and economic activity to your city!”  The NJ Casino Reinvestment Development Authority has coughed up $12 million to stage the pageant for the past three years alone, but told the Inquirer it hadn’t responded to the RFP.  “What’s the return?” CRDA executive director Matt Doherty told the paper. “Therein lies the challenge.”   Not much of a return.  No one cares.  The "pageant" has gone politically correct.  I'm not really interested in Miss Nebraska's views on immigration reform.  The most important panel of judges is the audience, and it has made its decision.

QUOTE OF THE DAY – FROM VICTOR DAVIS HANSON VIDEO AT GATEWAY PUNDIT:  This Mueller investigation that we have is not in isolation. We had, remember, from the day Trump was elected, we were told the election machines were flawed, we were going to sue. And then there was a group, remember we were told about the Electoral College, and we were told we had to overturn the electors. And then we went to the 25th Amendment, that Trump was unbalanced. And that didn’t work. And then we went to the emoluments clause, he profited even though his businesses had lost a billion dollars. And then we’ve gone to Mueller. And so there’s a slow motion if you will, I don’t want to be too psychodramatic like MSNBC gets. But there is sort of a slow-motion coup to overturn the elections.  Hanson nails it, as usual.

HYPOCRISY, INC. – FROM BREITBART:   Many House and Senate Democrats voted to fund the same bollard-style fencing constructed by Presidents Bush and Obama that they now oppose under President Trump.  Ahead of a government shutdown, Trump is asking the Republican-controlled Congress for $5 billion in funding — just a fifth of the funding needed — to build what he continues to call a U.S.-Mexico “border wall,” though the barrier is almost identical to the bollard fencing erected by both Bush and Obama.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), along with their Democrat caucuses in the House and Senate, have objected to funding any barriers resembling a wall along the southern border.  Many of those same Democrats now opposing the funding of border barriers, once supported the use of fencing at the southern border less than a decade ago.  The Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorized the construction of 700 miles of the same style of bollard fence that Trump is building at the border, was supported by 26 Senate Democrats at the time. In the House, 64 Democrats joined 219 Republican lawmakers to fund the border fencing.  The Democratic Party is a political joke, kept afloat by the support it receives from the mainstream press and the universities  It is not a serious governing party.

December 18,  2018     Permalink

I've been monitoring the Michael Flynn sentencing hearing, which is why we're publishing so late today.  Bottom line, Flynn's sentencing has been delayed.  We'll have more when full details are available, and actually understood.  The talking heads are talking, and not saying much.

SHUTDOWN? – AT 1:45 P.M. ET:  Will the federal government shut down this week?  From CNBC:

The White House suggested Tuesday that President Donald Trump could back down from his demand for $5 billion to fund his proposed border wall in a year-end spending bill.

Trump's push for the money has threatened a partial government shutdown when funding for seven agencies lapses after midnight Friday. Last week, the president said he would be "proud" to close parts of the government over border security.

"We have other ways that we can get to that $5 billion that we'll work with Congress," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Fox News on Tuesday morning. She added that the Trump administration could support $1.6 billion in border security funding proposed by Senate Democrats, as long as it can "couple that with other funding resources" to get to $5 billion.

She added that "at the end of the day, we don't want to shut down the government. We want to shut down the border." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have cast the potential lapse in funding as the "Trump shutdown." When Pelosi goaded Trump into an Oval Office fracas last week, the characterization appeared to irritate the president.

Sanders's comments mark a de-escalation in the White House's rhetoric on the proposed barrier on the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump has repeatedly threatened to force a shutdown if he cannot secure money for the wall. As a candidate, he promised to force Mexico to fund the barrier.

COMMENT:  Nothing to say about this.  The talks continue.  However, if Trump does not come up with some money for the wall, it will be considered a major political defeat, and will give substantial encouragement to blocking actions by the new, Democrat-controlled House. 

December 18, 2018       Permalink

VICTORY FOR MARTHA – AT 1:08 P.M. ET:   Republican Martha McSally, recently defeated by a hair for the Arizona U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Flake, will go to the Senate after all.  She has been appointed to fill out part of the term of the late John McCain.  From Fox:   

Republican Rep. Martha McSally, just weeks after losing one of the midterms' tightest and most contentious Senate races, was appointed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday to fill the state’s other U.S. Senate seat.

McSally will serve for at least the next two years in the seat that was held by longtime Arizona Sen. John McCain until his death in August.

“With her experience and long record of service, Martha is uniquely qualified to step up and fight for Arizona’s interests in the U.S. Senate,” Ducey said in a statement.

Ducey had appointed former Sen. Jon Kyl to the seat in September, but Kyl, after serving for several months, announced plans to resign at the end of the year. According to Ducey’s office, Kyl’s resignation will be effective Dec. 31.

McSally was defeated by Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema in this year’s midterm election for the seat held by retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake. Her appointment means she will now serve alongside her opponent, something Ducey noted in his statement.

“I thank her for taking on this significant responsibility and look forward to working with her and Senator-Elect Sinema to get positive things done,” Ducey said.

McSally will serve until the 2020 election, when voters will elect someone to serve the final two years of McCain's term.

COMMENT:  The "Sinema" is Democratic Senator-elect Kyrsten Sinema, far to the left of McSally, who was elected in November. 

I have no doubt that McSally, an Air Force Academy graduate who was the first American woman to fly in combat, will do an outstanding job.  However, she must learn to be a better candidate.  She ran a poor campaign against Sinema, in a race she should have won.  She has two years to plan her 2020 campaign to stay in the Senate.

December 18,  2018     Permalink 

DECEMBER 17,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

GOOD! – FROM NEWSWEEK:  A Kentucky radio station blasted “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” on its airwaves repeatedly for two hours straight on Sunday, amid controversy over the Christmas song’s lyrics.  Elizabethtown WAKY radio station mixed it up during the two hours by playing five different versions of the 1940s classic. “BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! We like it and we're not afraid to play it on WAKY for the next couple of hours!” WAKY wrote on Facebook.  Joe Fredele, WAKY’s director of programming, told local CBS News outlet WLKY that he’s “not sure why it’s controversial.” “We’ve played this song for years, you know, this song is older than WAKY is. It’s almost 70 years old.”  The song’s lyrics have come into question in recent months after the #MeToo movement highlighted the issue of consent. The 1944 duet—written by Frank Loesser—is about a woman who sings about leaving a man’s house while he attempts to convince her to stay by pointing out the bad weather outside.  Common sense prevails.  It's a flirtation song.  In some versions the woman is the one who wants the man to stay.  It's a great number, which won the Academy Award for best song in 1949.  Let's play it.  Take that, thought police!

ANOTHER GENIUS HEARD FROM – FROM FOX:   Alec Baldwin's severe disdain for President Donald Trump hasn't waned one bit.  The actor, who frequently spoofs Trump on "Saturday Night Live," claimed in an incendiary tweet this weekend that the POTUS is "punishment" for a variety of American sins.  "Trump is a curse, brought down on us as punishment 4 our sins. The slaughter of Native Americans, slavery, Japanese internment, Vietnam. Every hateful, misogynistic, racist notion, intertwined with our better nature, Trump embodies those. He is us. Now we can face it + exorcise it," he wrote.  So the American people punished themselves by electing Trump?  Why did I never think of it that way?

A SENATE LOSS – FROM THE TENNESSEAN:  After roughly a quarter century in elected office, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander will retire.   The former Republican governor, who has served in the Senate since first being elected in 2002, said Monday that he will not seek a fourth term in the upper chamber.  “I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United State Senate in 2020,” Alexander said in a statement.  He thanked the people of Tennessee, calling them generous.   "I am deeply grateful, but now it is time for someone else to have that privilege," Alexander said.  His decision means for the second time in two years, Tennessee will have an open U.S. Senate race.  Like U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, who last year declined to run for a third term, Alexander’s announcement will send shockwaves throughout Tennessee’s political landscape.   The state just elected Republican Marsha Blackburn to the Senate, replacing Corker.  Alexander's retirement means another Republican seat to be defended in 2020.

December 17,  2018     Permalink 

THE COMING HEALTH-CARE DEBATE, MAYBE – AT 11:10 A.M. ET:   A district court decision has the potential to start a major domestic battle over health care.  Republicans welcome it, Dems not so much.  From Fox: 

The Affordable Care Act – and the multitude of regulations, taxes and benefits that come with it – once again could be on the road to the Supreme Court after a Texas judge ruled the law unconstitutional.

The surprise decision Friday already has both sides of the debate posturing, with Democrats claiming the ruling is but a hiccup and Republicans suggesting this could be their chance, at last, to abolish the law – which remains largely in place despite President Trump’s past claims to the contrary.

A Supreme Court ruling in their favor would be Republicans’ only shot at overturning the law in the foreseeable future, with Democrats taking control of the House in January.

Speaking Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” White House senior adviser Stephen Miller boldly predicted the law would be “struck down” this way.

“I believe that's the likeliest outcome, because ObamaCare has always been unconstitutional,” he asserted.

“A confirming Supreme Court Decision will lead to GREAT HealthCare results for Americans,” Trump tweeted Monday.

If the court were to overturn the law, it would leave the Trump administration and a divided Congress in a remarkably difficult situation – scrambling to come up with an alternative that has eluded the law’s critics in Washington ever since its passage in 2010.

“We have a chance, working with the Democrats, to deliver great HealthCare!” Trump claimed.

COMMENT:  It would be a mess, but the Dems would be in a worse position than the GOP.  The Dem base would forbid, under pain of sin, the Democrats in Congress from compromising with the hated Republicans.  That could make the Democratic Party look very bad, but the base doesn't care.  It believes it represents the one true health-care faith, and that's that.

December 16, 2018       Permalink

LET'S SEE IF THE POMPOUS ONES SHOW ANY INTEREST IN THIS – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  A human-rights activist has died in Iranian custody.  The world should be outraged.  Will it be, or will European commercial interests prevail?  From Reuters: 

Iranian authorities have confirmed the death of a social media activist jailed on security charges, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Sunday, after Western rights groups said he had died following a 60-day hunger strike in prison.

“The political prisoner Vahid Sayyadi Nasiri, on hunger strike since October 13, 2018 to protest the denial of his right to counsel and inhumane prison conditions…, has died at the Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Qom,” the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said on its website.

ISNA quoted an unidentified source as saying Nasiri had been jailed twice for belonging to a royalist group and planning acts of sabotage including an explosion. He had been taken from prison to a hospital where he died due to a liver disease on Dec. 12, the source said, without referring to a hunger strike.

Mehdi Kaheh, the prosecutor in the city of Qom, earlier said Nasiri had been serving a sentence for “insulting Islamic sanctities” on social media when he fell ill and was taken to hospital where he died, the state broadcaster IRIB reported on its website. Kaheh did not refer to a hunger strike.
Iran, whose officials often warn of efforts by foreign enemies to infiltrate state institutions, has detained scores of journalists and social media activists in recent years, and many others have gone into exile.

In November, Reporters Without Borders said Iran had launched a new crackdown on journalists in which several had been questioned and three arrested in connection with social network posts.
Iran rejects criticism of its human rights record by international human rights bodies as politically motivated and based on a lack of understanding of Islamic laws.

COMMENT:  Okay, President Trump, let's hear from you first.  Then let's keep a list of those who follow, and those who duck out.

December 17, 2018       Permalink