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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas last night.  It's here.

DECEMBER 24,  2018

WE DON'T PUBLISH ON CHRISTMAS EVE, OUT OF RESPECT.  HAVE THE BEST CHRISTMAS, AND STAY AWAY FROM POLITICS FOR A DAY.

INSANE DEMOCRATS – AT 12:53 P.M. ET:   We noted in the post below that the best things President Trump has going for him are the incompetence and unpopularity of the Democratic Party.  Exhibit A:  the party's creative work in alienating traditionally Democratic voters. 

Historically, American Catholics have been strongly Democratic.  But, starting with Roe v. Wade, the Democrats have worked hard, even overtime, to drive away those with traditional Catholic beliefs about life.  And now get this one.  From Fox: 

Two Democratic senators are scrutinizing a federal judicial nominee over his membership in the Knights of Columbus, drawing a stern rebuke from the Catholic organization.

Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, raised concerns about Omaha-based lawyer Brian Buescher's membership as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee's review of his nomination by President Trump to sit on the U.S. District Court in Nebraska, as first reported by the Catholic News Agency.

In a series of questions sent to Buescher, Hirono asked whether his membership in the Knights of Columbus would prevent him from hearing cases “fairly and impartially” and, if confirmed, whether he would end his membership in the Roman Catholic charitable organization.

“The Knights of Columbus has taken a number of extreme positions,” Hirono said in the questionnaire. “For example, it was reportedly one of the top contributors to California’s Proposition 8 campaign to ban same-sex marriage.”

In his response, Buescher argued that the Knights of Columbus’s official positions on issues do not represent every one of the group’s members and said he would recuse himself from hearing cases where he saw a conflict of interest.

“The Knights of Columbus does not have the authority to take personal political positions on behalf of all of its approximately two million members,” Buescher wrote. “If confirmed, I will apply all provisions of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges regarding recusal and disqualification.”

Harris, in her questions to the nominee, called the Knights of Columbus “an all-male society” and asked the Nebraska lawyer if he was aware that the group was anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage when he joined. The California senator also referenced Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson’s statement that abortion amounted to “the killing of the innocent on a massive scale” and asked Buescher if he agreed with the statement. 

COMMENT:  Can you imagine if similar questions were asked of a Muslim?  Can you just imagine?  I hope the GOP has the zeal and imagination to point out to voters the anti-religious bigotry of a party that used to care about people of faith.

Kamala Harris for president anyone?

December 24, 2018       Permalink

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:   And no one's happy.  The economy is ending 2018 on a wobbly note, and the political implications for 2019, absent a quick recovery, are ominous.  From Bloomberg: 

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell to the lowest since May 2017 as the turmoil in Washington kept investors on edge after the worst week for American equities in almost a decade. Crude sank below $45 a barrel and the dollar tumbled.

The S&P 500 slid for a fourth day, edging ever closer to a bear market after breaking below 2,400, while the Dow dropped more than 300 points. The broader index is down 14 percent this month, headed for its worst December since the Great Depression. Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 40 percent above the 30-day average on a day that’s normally subdued ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Investors looking to Washington for signs of stability that might bolster confidence instead got further rattled. President Donald Trump blasted the Federal Reserve, blaming the central bank for the three-month equity rout days after Bloomberg reported he inquired about firing the chairman.

The comments came after Steven Mnuchin called a crisis meeting with financial regulators, who reportedly told the Treasury secretary that nothing was out of ordinary in the markets. Traders also assessed the threat to the economy from a government shutdown that looks set to persist into the new year.

“I don’t know that you can read too much into the markets reaction today but it’s signaling they’re not impressed,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at the Independent Advisor Alliance. “If we were up, I’d potentially say the message he was sending was well received but it seems like now they’re largely ignoring that message.”

COMMENT:  I think that's a reasonable assessment.  The president had a terrible week, with the real damage done not by the government shutdown, but by his Syria decision and the way he made it.  In parliamentary systems, when a government is brought down it's usually by a "no confidence" vote in the parliament.  And I do believe that last week marked the worst loss of confidence in President Trump that we've seen in his administration.

Always watch for breaks in support from a leader's own party.  On Syria, we saw immediate opposition from key Republicans.

The greatest things the president might have going for him are the incompetence and unpopularity of the Democratic Party.  But that's like saying that the greatest thing the Titanic had going for it was that there weren't that many icebergs.

December 24, 2018       Permalink

DECEMBER 23,  2018

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

THEY MUST BE SHATTERED – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   As the federal government is in the midst of a partial shutdown, Georgetown University wants any affected staff and students to know they can take advantage of campus counseling services.  As of Saturday, approximately one-quarter of the federal government closed down as negotiations between Republicans and Democrats did not produce a funding agreement. The main issue is construction of a wall on border between the US and Mexico.  The shutdown could persist into the new year.  In an email obtained by The College Fix, GU Associate Vice President for Federal Government Relations Katy Button reminded the campus community that the university’s Faculty & Staff Assistance Program includes “free [and] confidential counseling,” and is available to those impacted by the federal closures.  I'm sure the little angels will be told that the shutdown is the result of white supremacy.

WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAS NO CHANCE OF BEING THERE OVERNIGHT – FROM THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS:   Employees at a FedEx Ground facility in Hutchins were arrested this week after two package handlers were accused of stealing nearly $50,000 in cellphones and paying a manager and security guard to ignore the crimes.  Officers were called to the company Wednesday night after a manager said he wanted to monitor two employees he suspected of stealing items shipped through FedEx, according to warrants.  The employees, 47-year-old Larry Poole and 58-year-old Wade Hal, were expected to arrive at the facility at 11 p.m. When they arrived, the manager and a team of security guards watched through a security camera as the duo unloaded trailers at the business, the warrants state.
Poole and Hal removed phones from packages that were shipped to the facility and placed them in two backpacks, according to the warrants.  The duo was suspected of paying a manager, 31-year-old Anthony Edison, and a security guard, 33-year-old Ricky Lacy, to "turn their face the other way" during the crime, the documents state.  Officers confronted Poole and Hal and discovered they had 94 cellphones and an Apple Watch, according to the warrants. The items were valued at $48,390.  Not too smart.  How long did these clowns think they could do this without people realizing that iPhones were missing?  Probably the most noticeable, and desired, item in most shipments today.

INCREDIBLE TRAVEL – FROM QZ.COM:   Qantas Airways, the flag carrier of Australia, is looking to launch what would be the world’s longest flight by 2022. The proposed Sydney-to-London route would take 20 hours and 22 minutes.  The airline has a business plan, but no plane to fly it. Qantas has requested proposals from Boeing and Airbus for airplanes and configurations that could operate the trip. The plane makers would likely need to shave weight to provide a solution. That means fewer passengers and less cargo, but more legroom and possibly even lounges or gyms on board.  The route would shorten the flight time between Sydney and London by 3 hours and 45 minutes before as well, of course, any layovers and time needed to make connections.  Lounges?  Gyms?  Oh, just get some new ocean liners and give yourself some real travel time.

December 23, 2018       Permalink

THEY'RE FOOLING AROUND ALREADY – AT 12:20 P.M. ET:   Pretty soon, the presidential race, and the states are competing with each other.  From the Politico:

California’s newly instituted March 3 primary date is rattling the early presidential state map, as Democratic state and party officials grapple with the shadow cast by the nation’s most populous state.

The idea that millions of absentee and mail-in votes could be cast in advance of California’s actual primary election day — and the prospect that presidential candidates might bypass the early states entirely to concentrate on target-rich California — is finally beginning to sink in.

Bill Gardner, the longtime secretary of state who has the legal authority to set the New Hampshire primary election date, told POLITICO he doesn’t plan to set the date for the nation’s first presidential primary until the fall, when he will better understand the potential impact of California’s early voting and determine whether other state legislatures have attempted to infringe on the Granite State’s first position.

While the schedule set forth by the Democratic National Committee has New Hampshire’s primary slated for Feb. 11, 2020, Gardner raised the prospect that the date could change.

“Not the case,” said Gardner, referring to the Feb. 11 date. “I haven’t set the date. I’ll set the date, most likely, next fall.”

Was it possible that he could set the nominating contest as early as December 2019? Gardner called that speculative, but wouldn’t rule it out.

“Well, the law, and the circumstances could require that. The law says it can be in the year of the election or the year before,” he said. “The law provides a great deal of flexibility in order to preserve the tradition of the primary.”

COMMENT:  I'll bet some political operator comes up with the idea of primaries starting a year or more before the election.  The news networks would love it.  So would the ad agencies and the political advisers.  The 18-month campaign might actually happen.

December 23, 2018       Permalink

COMMON SENSE – FROM BREITBART:  One great thing Trump is doing is reversing the damage done by Barack Obama.  From Breitbart: 

The Trump administration has revoked an Obama-era policy that urged public schools to employ more lenient forms of discipline for students of color and of other minority groups.

On Friday, the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice rescinded the Obama administration’s 2014 “Dear Colleague Letter” that a federal school safety commission said “may have paradoxically contributed to making schools less safe.”

The Obama-era Departments of Education and Justice, under Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder, issued school guidelines that claimed students of color are “disproportionately impacted” by suspensions and expulsions, a situation they said led to a “school-to-prison pipeline” that discriminates against minority and low-income students.

In school districts that adopted the policy, minority students whose behavior would have previously drawn an arrest or a suspension were, instead, referred to “teen courts” or “restorative talking circles.”

According to the Obama administration’s 2014 Dear Colleague letter, school districts whose disciplinary measures showed “disparate impact” – meaning a disproportionately greater number of minority students are affected by disciplinary measures – were open to investigation by the Departments of Justice and Education, even if the behaviors leading to the discipline were unacceptable.

Critics of the Obama-era guidance say it tied the hands of teachers and school officials to administer discipline fairly and effectively and forced them to make statistics – which would be viewed favorably by the federal government – the priority.

In its final report, the safety commission had “significant concerns …  regarding the legal framework upon which the Guidance is based.”

COMMENT:  Equal justice is the goal, not special justice for some.  Many don't realize how radical the Obama administration actually was.  Radical and reckless.

Now things are changing for the better.

December 23,  2018     Permalink