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DECEMBER 19,  2018

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

A REAL CABLE RACE – FROM MEDIAITE:   The top three cable news networks enjoyed some big ratings boosts in 2018, but MSNBC is so far pacing to win December––as of now placing #1 in primetime in total viewers and the 25-54 demographic.  And in a remarkably news-packed December, from Michael Cohen‘s sentencing to Michael Flynn‘s sentencing hearing, Rachel Maddow currently holds the top spot overall as the most-watched cable news program.  In primetime, MSNBC has averaged 2.51 million total viewers, followed by Fox News with 2.47 million and CNN with 1.3 million.  In the 25-54 demo, MSNBC is winning again with 573,000 viewers to Fox’s 424,000 and CNN’s 375,000.  Lawrence O’Donnell at 10 p.m. and Brian Williams at 11 p.m. are also winning in their respective time-slots in the final month of 2018.  Fox News, however, remains the top cable news network of 2018 overall in the ratings, with Sean Hannity at the top at 9 p.m.  Sheer hatred of the president drives much of the MSNBC rating rise.  The real story is the fading of CNN, which bills itself as "the first name in news," but has become the anti-Trump network with little news and much opinion.

THE GOODBYE STATE – FROM CBS LOCAL:  ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) - New York State leads the country in an undesirable category.  New data from the U.S. Census Bureau says New York tops the nation in population loss.  The report says nine states saw a drop in population between July 1, 2017, and July 1, 2018. New York led the way at a loss of 48,510 people.  Illinois (45,116), West Virginia (11,216), Louisiana (10,840), Hawaii (3,712), Mississippi (3,133), Alaska (2,348), Connecticut (1,215) and Wyoming (1,197) also lost people.   New York's population of 19,542,209 is still fourth-highest in the country.  Nevada and Idaho are the nation’s fastest-growing states. Both states saw their populations increase by about 2.1 percent in the last year.  Our state of New York has become pathetic – ridiculously high living costs and absurdly high taxes, combined with mediocre services and facilities.  The magic of New York has all but faded.  Broadway is a tourist attraction.  The great publishing firms are foreign-owned.  The most creative people are driven out.  Andrew Cuomo is governor.  Who could ask for anything less?

EVEN DEMOCRATS LEARN ABOUT FAKE NEWS – FROM FOX:  Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on  Tuesday afternoon took aim at a mainstream news article, dismissing it as “gossip.”  She tweeted: “One disappointment about DC is the gossip that masquerades as ‘reporting.’ This story has: - Not a SINGLE named or verifiable source - Only ONE on-the-record comment, which is a denial. My dad had a name for junk articles like this: ‘Birdcage lining.’”  The tweet was attached to a Politico story titled,: “Ocasio-Cortez weighs a new primary target: Hakeem Jeffries. Jeffries, the newly elected No. 5 Democrat in the House, has drawn criticism from the left since the party's leadership elections.”  The news outlet’s vice president of marketing and communications, Brad Dayspring, stood by Politico’s journalism: “It’s hard to know what the criticism of the piece is, since the congresswoman-elect doesn’t specify (nor has she or anyone from her staff asked for a correction). We stand by our reporting.”  The article claimed the Democratic socialist from the Bronx “has recruited an African-American woman to challenge Jeffries, who was just elected ... as caucus chairman — the No. 5 House Democratic leadership position.”   Ah, they live and learn.  Welcome to Washington, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.  To paraphrase Irving Berlin, "You've had your way with the press before, but you won't have it there anymore."

December 19, 2018       Permalink

THE FLOW OF HYPOCRISY – AT 2:08 P.M. ET:  No game in Washington is more expertly played than the hypocrisy game.  A board version would make a mint.   The great Michael Goodwin reviews the latest round, as the Democrats prepare to take control of the House.  From Fox: 

Keeping score of the daily ups and downs of the Trump revolution is tricky business. Some days, it looks as if the president is making good on his promise to liberate America from the stranglehold of the political elite and corrupt government insiders.

Then there are days like Tuesday, when the deep state asserts its power and proves it’s not dead yet.
True, it was only one day, but it was an important one. And the results were lopsided.

The brazen quote of the dismal day comes from New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood after she got the president’s family foundation to agree to dissolve itself under court supervision.

“This is an important victory for the rule of law, making clear that there is one set of rules for everyone,” Underwood crowed.

If there really were “one set of rules for everyone,” Underwood would have been arrested on the spot and charged with perjury.

Her claim of equality before the law is about as bald-faced as a lie can get.

Recall that she presides over an office that turned a blind eye to years of suspect conduct by the Clinton Foundation, in apparent solidarity with the Clintons’ politics, then singled out the Trump Foundation for fine-tooth scrutiny as Democrats built their resistance to his presidency.

That’s not to say the Trump Foundation always acted honorably. Charges of “self-dealing” are serious and there were abuses of its privileges. But with just $1.7 million left to spend, after it distributed a reported $19 million over a decade, the foundation was relatively insignificant in Trump World.

On the other hand, the Clinton Foundation was a financial juggernaut, raising and spending tens of millions of dollars each year. In 2016, as Hillary sought the presidency, it took in nearly $63 million, but the year after her defeat, the haul fell to $26 million.

COMMENT:  Read the whole piece.  Goodwin is always worth it.  The Clinton Foundation was a blatant influence-buying game.  The reason donations dropped so sharply after Hillary's defeat is because of the perception that the Clintons had far reduced power in Washington, which is true.  Foreign interests didn't contribute the Clinton Foundation to help the world's poor.  They contributed to help themselves.  Yet, few questions are asked by the Washington establishment and its journalistic allies.

December 19, 2018       Permalink

MAJOR DECISION, COMPLETE WITH BACKLASH – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  President Trump has apparently decided that U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Syria.  Details are vague.  From Fox: 

The Trump administration is considering pulling all U.S. forces out of Syria, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News.

There are roughly 2,000 American troops on the ground in Syria currently, concentrated in northern Syria.

Pentagon officials have been caught off guard by the White House proposal, multiple officials told Fox News.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report the administration’s Syria plans. President Trump appeared to allude to the decision to pull troops out in a Wednesday morning tweet.

"We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency," Trump wrote.

The news comes less than a week after President Trump spoke to Turkey’s president last week.

Turkey has long considered the U.S.-backed ground force fighting ISIS in Syria to be a terrorist group due to their links to a separatist group in Turkey which have killed thousands in the past decades.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders underscored Trump's comments in a statement later Wednesday morning.

“Five years ago, ISIS was a very powerful and dangerous force in the Middle East, and now the United States has defeated the territorial caliphate," Sanders said. "These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign. We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign. The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists' territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders.”

The Pentagon issued a vague statement in response to the news reports, not committing to any path ahead.

COMMENT:  Not necessarily wise.  Like the Obama administration, Trump is telegraphing his moves.  We criticized that practice then, we criticize it now. 

The news caught many by surprise, but some in his own party are already criticizing the decision.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned President Trump on Wednesday that a U.S. withdrawal from the war in Syria would be an “Obama-like mistake.”

The president claimed that the Islamic State had been defeated in Syria amid reports that the administration is planning a rapid withdrawal from the country after four years of war with the terrorist group.

But Graham said pulling out the 2,000 troops in Syria would still be a win for the group and alluded to former President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw all forces from Iraq in 2011, a move that allowed ISIS to sweep into the region and drew widespread Republican criticism.

Graham has the better argument.  Sometimes leaving a stabilization force is wise, even if expensive.  We have a force in South Korea some 65 years after the end of the Korean War, but it has been a successful investment.  I hope the president considers this move more carefully than did his predecessor.

December 19,  2018     Permalink

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