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FEBRUARY 18,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:50 P.M. ET: 

WEIRD – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is telling friends and staff he is taking a role with the Trump administration, according to a source close to the White House.  The GOP governor’s position has not been worked out, but he would not replace Reince Preibus as the president’s chief-of-staff, the source said.  “Trump told him to be patient,” the source said. “Christie will only take something where he is answerable to the president.”  Trump told The Wall Street Journal last month “at some point, we’re going to do something with Chris.” But the White House said it has not offered Christie a position.   This is very strange.  Trump doesn't need Christie, but Christie was loyal to Trump.  Christie's star has faded.  He may yet face indictment on corruption charges.  He has grown unpopular in his own state.  What precisely would he do?

WELL, OF COURSE – FROM THE COLLEGE FIX:   The Ohio State University’s Middle East Studies Center in partnership with the Multicultural Center is set to host author Nathan Lean to discuss the “pernicious phenomenon” of Islamophobia.  The event, slated for Monday, comes roughly three months after a Somali refugee student plowed a car into a crowd of Ohio State students before stabbing several of them with a butcher knife. In the past, that student had praised an al-Qaeda leader as a “hero” and criticized America for interfering in the Middle East.  Lean, author of “The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims,” is a researcher focused on Islam, Islamophobia, the Middle East, Muslim-Christian relations, and other issues, his website states.  Just what we need, another "scholar" who believes the problem is with us, and not the terrorists.  We had a crowd like that in the 1930s, claiming that Hitler was simply a response to the rude behavior of other nations. 

OH PLEASE – FROM THE POLITICO:   Historians have ranked Barack Obama the 12th best president of all time, the highest rated since President Ronald Reagan, in a new C-SPAN survey released Friday.  Less than a month after exiting the White House, Obama received high marks from presidential historians for his pursuit of "equal justice for all" and for his commanding "moral authority," ranking third and seventh among all former presidents in each respective category. The 44th president also cracked a top 10 ranking for his "economic management" and public persuasion.  The former president's tenure earned its lowest marks for the relationship between the presidency and Congress, with bitter partisanship often stagnating the effectiveness between the two and Obama seeing his Democratic majority slip in both the House of Representatives and the Senate during his eight years in office.   I guess we had to expect that "presidential historians" – also known as professors – would give Obama a big boost, but number 12 is absurd.  They ranked George W. Bush at 33, and Bush was more successful.  Ignore these lists.  They'll just ruin your day.

February 18, 2017       Permalink

THE "BLIND SHEIKH" DIES – AT 1:29 P.M. ET:  He led the first terrorist effort to bring down the World Trade Center.  The second one worked.  From Fox: 

Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind firebrand Islamist cleric behind the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, has died in federal prison, Fox News has learned. He was 78.

Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian radical who maintained a global following even while imprisoned for more than two decades, died Saturday morning at Butner Federal Medical Center in North Carolina, where he was serving a life sentence.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed that Abdel-Rahman died at approximately 5:40 a.m. Saturday of natural causes after a long health battle with diabetes and coronary artery disease.

His son Ammar told Reuters that his family had received a phone call from a U.S. representative saying his father had died.

Abdel-Rahman was convicted in 1995 of plotting terror attacks throughout New York City, targeting the United Nations and other New York City landmarks. He was also linked to the 1993 World Trade Center attack in which six people died and more than 1,000 others were injured.

COMMENT:  I recall the first World Trade Center bombing.  People were shocked that anyone would attack such an icon.  Little could we know...

The sheikh, of course, was defended at trial by the usual corps of left-wing lawyers, who sided with anyone who was anti-American.

February 18, 2017       Permalink

PUBLIC SIDES WITH TRUMP ON MEDIA – AT 12:21 P.M. ET:  It seems that the president's assaults on the media – and that's what they are – reflect sentiments held by large numbers of Americans.  From Fox:   

Howard Kurtz says that the latest Fox News Poll shows that Americans are "so polarized" and that there is "so much distrust" of the media.

The poll, released Friday evening, reflected that 45 percent of voters trust President Trump more than the media, while 42 percent say the media are more trustworthy.

On "The First 100 Days," Kurtz said the poll should elicit some "soul-searching for our [journalistic] professionals."

COMMENT:  This is the second poll recently taken that shows a plurality of respondents siding with the president.

The result is not surprising.  For years, decades really, the press has drifted further and further away from the American people, and drifted closer to the ruling elites in Washington, the universities, Manhattan and the nicer parts of Beverly Hills.

The press we have today derives most directly from the journalism that grew up in the 1960s – less driven by "reporting the news" and more by "interpreting the news."  My mentor at The New York Times, Lester Markel, who was one of the inventors of interpretive journalism, always warned that it could easily lead to editorialization within news stories.  The line between interpretation and opinion is very thin, and I'm afraid our mainstream media has crossed over it repeatedly. 

The public is smarter than journalists realize, and sense what has happened.  And people don't enjoy being patronized.

February 18, 2017       Permalink

DRIFTING AWAY – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:  There are signs the Trump-Putin bromance may be starting to fade.  From AFP and AP:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Saturday for an end to a world order dominated by the West and said Moscow wanted to establish a “pragmatic” relationship with the United States.

Lavrov was speaking at the Munich Security Conference shortly after US Vice President Mike Pence told the audience Washington remained “unwavering” in its commitment to the US-led NATO military alliance as it faced a more assertive Russia.

Lavrov said that the time when the West called the shots was over and, dismissing NATO as a relic of the Cold War, added: “I hope that (the world) will choose a democratic world order — a post-West one — in which each country is defined by its sovereignty.”

Lavrov said Moscow wanted to build relations with Washington which would be “pragmatic with mutual respect and acknowledgement of our responsibility for global stability.”

The two countries had never been in direct conflict, he said, noting that they were actually close neighbours across the Baring Straits.

Russia wanted to see a “common space of good neighbor relations from Vancouver to Vladivostok,” he added.

Earlier at the conference Pence vowed to “hold Russia accountable” even as President Donald Trump searches for new common ground with Moscow at the start of his presidency.

COMMENT:  I believe that Mike Pence's role in this administration will be critical, and one of the main things to watch.  He is seriously experienced, calm, and capable, and, one assumes, has his eye on the top job.  Remember that 2020 is only three years away.

February 18,  2017     Permalink

FEBRUARY 17,  2017

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

WARNING – FROM THE HILL:   The Secret Service is reportedly investigating after a vehicle in President Trump's motorcade was hit by an object in south Florida, where the president is spending his weekend.  A US Secret Service spokesperson told members of the President's press pool that they are investigating an incident: “The Secret Service can confirm that an object appears to have been thrown at the motorcade this afternoon. We are investigating at this time and don’t have anything further.”  According to ABC News, law enforcement said the object was a rock. It didn't hit the presidential limo, but another vehicle in the motorcade.  I'm increasingly uneasy, and I know many readers share that feeling, about the level of hate directed at the president.  If anything ever happens to him, this country might well suffer a severe splitting asunder.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER – FROM THE HILL:   Retired general and former CIA Director David Petraeus has reportedly pulled his name from consideration to replace Michael Flynn as National Security Adviser.  According to a report by the Wall Street Journal Friday, Petraeus's name was floated for the role, but the White House was miffed by his concerns about staffing and independence. It's not clear how seriously he was being considered.  Still reportedly on the short list for the position are acting national security adviser Keith Kellogg, a retired three-star Army general and Flynn's chief of staff, former United Nations ambassador John Bolton, and Army strategist Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.  The Washington Examiner reported that Kellogg, Bolton and McMaster will meet with Trump separately at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this weekend to discuss the position, citing an administration official.  The most fascinating name is McMaster.  He's a protégé of Petraeus, and the author of a brilliant book about Vietnam analyzing what went wrong.  But he has a glowing military career, and I wonder if he'd leave it to be caught up in the Washington meatgrinder.  I also wonder if Trump would select a man known as a rebel.  This is getting interesting.

MISPLACED PRIORITIES – FROM HEATSTREET:   A Yale student group has waged a war on the university fraternities and will use Title IX to force them into admitting women—while letting female-only sororities off the hook.  Engender, a group led by students of Yale, claims it will lobby the university—citing Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on gender, and internal Yale policies against discrimination—to issue sanctions against male-only fraternities.  Will McGrew, a co-director of the organization, told Yale News that it’s a “logical next step” to approach the Yale administration “because all of these organizations fall under the purview of Yale legally, either because they are registered as Yale organizations or it is literally all Yale students that constitute them.”  Of course, all proper ideologists know that this is more important than nuclear proliferation.  It's obvious.

February 17, 2017       Permalink

WELL, LOOK AT THIS – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:   Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with President Trump earlier in the week.  Trudeau is a Canadian leftist, a self-avowed feminist, and a big fan of almost unrestricted immigration.   He is the non-Trump.  But look what he's saying.  From Daily Caller: 

Sounding like a voice from President Donald Trump’s administration, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that he was impressed with Trump during their meeting this week in Washington.

“What I saw from the American president was a focus on getting things done for the people who supported him and who believe in him, while demonstrating that good relations with one’s neighbors is a great way of getting things done,” said Trudeau.

Trudeau was speaking at a news conference in Strasbourg, France along with the president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani. Tajani echoed Trudeau’s message of reassurance and suggested that Canada can play a special intermediary role between the U.S. and Europe because Monday’s Washington summit had “paved the way for better relations between European Union and the United States of America,” Tajani said.

“We want to work with the Americans. Over the next years, the Canadian work is very good for relations between us and America. It’s easier for the Canadians to speak to the Americans.”

COMMENT:  What is being missed by the media is the number of good meetings Trump is having with foreign leaders...who come away impressed by Trump.   One by one he is building his relationships.  This may well be a very successful foreign-policy president.  Compare please with the last one.

February 17, 2017       Permalink

IN THE MATTER OF CNN – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  The president really took off at CNN during his press conference yesterday...and he was right.  The anti-Trump barrage from the network is relentless, beginning from early in the morning to late at night.

And it didn't start recently.  From Daily Caller:  

You may think Trump is too harsh on CNN.

But take a look at how the network treated Trump back in November.

Less than a week after Trump won the election, a cadre of CNN employees made their way to the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington to attend the 2016 International Center for Journalists awards dinner.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer was the emcee of the November 14, 2016 event. Zucker, CNN’s Worldwide president, was also there — sitting near the front of the ballroom — where he had the pleasure of witnessing two of his employees receive awards.

First up was Clarissa Ward, a war correspondent for the network, who gave a gracious speech about how journalists “have to listen to voices we don’t want to hear.”

Carmen Aristegui, on the other hand — whose popular show airs on CNN Espanol — compared Trump to Adolf Hitler.

The Mirror requested a comment from Zucker as well as a CNN publicist. Neither answered our questions.

In a speech that, at times, stunned the audience into silence, the Mexican journalist began by saying “[t]he triumph of Donald Trump has left us shaken. We are all still in a state of shock.”

And...

Twice during her speech, Aristegui dramatically raised two fingers to her upper lip to emphasize Trump’s supposed similarities to Hitler.

COMMENT:  CNN now says that it will hold the Trump administration to account.  That's fine.  But when did it ever hold the Obama administration to account? 

The president yesterday said that he'd inherited a mess.  Yes he had.  And it was news outlets like CNN that defended that mess, or looked the other way.

I find CNN unwatchable, but I have to watch it to understand what media is doing.   Media is destroying itself by destroying its credibility.

February 17, 2017       Permalink

SICKENING – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:   Some leftists started this game when Goldwater ran for president in 1964.  It's right out of the Kremlin playbook, and it's revolting.  From The Hill:

A growing number of Democrats are openly questioning President Trump’s mental health.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) in a floor speech this week called for a review of the Constitution's procedures for removing a president. He warned the 25th Amendment of the Constitution falls short when it comes to mental or emotional fitness for office.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) during a weekend interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” said that “a few” Republican colleagues have expressed concern to him about Trump's mental health.

And Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) plans to introduce legislation that would require the presence of a psychiatrist or psychologist in the White House.

The Democrats justify their questions by pointing to Trump’s habit of making demonstrably false claims. At a press conference Thursday, he said he’d had the biggest Electoral College win since President Ronald Reagan, for example, when his margin was lower than either of President Obama’s wins.

Blumenauer told The Hill he started taking another look at the 25th Amendment because Trump had casually repeated easily disproven claims, such as stating that it wasn’t raining during his speech on Inauguration Day when it was.

“It’s not normal behavior. I don’t know anybody in a position of responsibility that doesn’t know if they’re being rained on. And nobody I work with serially offers up verifiably false statements on an ongoing basis,” he said in an interview steps from the House chamber.

But suggesting the president has a mental health problem invites criticism that Democrats are going too far.

COMMENT:  Of course the Democrats are going too far, and some of their more thoughtful leaders realize it.  They'd be better off coming up with ideas that would benefit the American people.  Then they might get some votes as well, to counter their historic decline.  The Democrats have lost about a thousand legislative seats in recent years, and have no obvious, popular presidential candidates for 2020.  Elizabeth Warren, the sentimental favorite of the Dem fringe, is in trouble in her own state of Massachusetts.  She may be too obnoxious even for her own party. 

I'd rather have Trump's eccentricities than Obama's self-love.

February 17,  2017     Permalink