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

FEBRUARY 27,  2017

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

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN EDUCATION – FROM BREITBART:  Mirrors in Bucknell’s Swartz Hall were covered on Sunday evening in an effort to promote “body positivity” and “self-love.” The construction paper was draped over the mirrors to bring attention to Eating Disorder Awareness Day, which took place on Monday.  The coverage of the restroom mirrors was done in part to draw attention to “Self-Love Week,” an initiative program taking place this week at Bucknell. One of the events being advertised on the mirror of the men’s restroom is entitled “Words Your Body Needs to Hear,” and will be taking place in the Swartz Hall lobby on Tuesday.  Anybody for math? physics? chemistry?  No, I guess not.

OSCARS DOWN THE DRAIN – FROM DEADLINE.COM:  ...the near final numbers for last night’s 89th Academy Awards are now in, and they are down from last year. Sunday night’s show drew 32.9 million viewers with a 9.1 rating among adults 18-49.  Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the first time, the 2017 Oscars are down 4% in viewership and 13% among adults 18-49 from what the 88th Academy Awards ended up snagging in its final numbers last year. Like the metered market numbers of early today, that equals a nine-year viewership low for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' annual ceremony. In fact, the 2017 Oscars were the third-least-watched of the 21st century.   America is sending a message to Hollywood, but Hollywood isn't getting it.  With more losses like this, the Oscars might soon be relegated to the
Good Food and Hair Color channel.

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   A majority of online and social media defenders of Obamacare are professionals who are "paid to post," according to a digital expert.  "Sixty percent of all the posts were made from 100 profiles, posting between the hours of 9 and 5 Pacific Time," said Michael Brown. "They were paid to post."  His shocking analysis was revealed on this weekend's Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, broadcast on Sinclair stations and streamed live Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Her upcoming show focuses on information wars and Brown was describing what happened when he had a problem with Obamacare and complained online.  Brown said that social media is used to manipulate opinion, proven in the last presidential election.  I wonder if this story will be picked up by the mainstream media.  Don't hold your breath.

February 27, 2017       Permalink

PREVIEW – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:   President Trump will deliver an address to Congress tomorrow night.  It won't exactly be a State of the Union message – new presidents generally don't do that – but a general speech on the plans for his administration.

I expect that it will be very good, and very reasonable.  Trump can make that happen when he wants to.  Part of his strategy will probably be to throw the Democrats off balance.  From The Hill:

President Trump said Monday that his first budget proposal would feature major boosts to military spending and local law enforcement funding offset by “greater savings and efficiencies” in the federal government.

Trump promised a budget of “great rationality" that included funding increases that fulfill several of his key campaign promises while reducing overall federal spending.

“We’re going to do more with less and make the government lean and accountable to the people,” said Trump at a White House meeting of the country’s governors. “The government must learn to tighten its belt, something that families across the country have had to learn to do.”

Trump’s remarks come one day before he’ll speak to a joint session of Congress on his policy agenda. The president said the budget would be “a very big part” of Tuesday night’s speech, with the administration expected to release an outline of his proposal on March 13.

"It’s going to have to do with military, safety, economic development and things such as that," Trump said of his budget proposal. "Great detail tomorrow.”

Trump said his budget will include “a historic increase in defense spending to rebuild the depleted military.”

COMMENT:  The military desperately needs rebuilding, and that in turn means more manufacturing jobs in the United States.  For Trump, it's a twofer. 

There may well be disruptions during the speech.  Each member of Congress gets one ticket for a guest in the gallery, and it's well known that some leftist members give tickets to groups like Code Pink.  I wouldn't be shocked if the Code Pinkers show up and start shouting.

February 27, 2017       Permalink

MIRACLE AT YOUR LOCAL CARDIOLOGIST – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Have you noticed the massive, almost breathtaking rise in the "popularity" of Obamacare?  Why, it's all the rage.  The media tells us it's so.

Uh, not so fast.  Seems the numbers really don't add up, as the American Spectator notes: 

Who says the age of miracles is over? Having endured years of public scorn, Obamacare is reputedly enjoying a sudden and timely increase in popularity. USA Today breathlessly reports a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF): “More people view the health law favorably than at any point in nearly seven years.” The story implies that the threat of repeal has succeeded where years of taxpayer-funded promotional campaigns failed — moving the needle on Obamacare’s favorability ratings. The KFF poll found that the percentage of adults with a positive view of the law has risen to an underwhelming 48 percent.

If that percentage seems lackluster, it is also inconsistent with the survey’s other findings. When asked if our medical delivery system is on the right track, for example, “Six in ten (62 percent) Americans say that when it comes to health care, things in this country have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track.” Oddly enough, none of the “news” outlets touting the poll mention this highly inconvenient datum — despite an impossible-to-miss KFF graph pointing it out. The USA Today story neglects to mention it, ABC ignores it, U.S. News & World Report fails to note it, and Time refuses to violate the media code of Omertà.

Nor do any of these paragons of journalistic integrity mention KFF’s finding that the percentage of Americans who favor repeal of Obamacare is statistically identical to the percentage who do not want Congress to deep-six it: “[T]he public remains divided on what they would like lawmakers to do when it comes to the 2010 health care law with 47 percent wanting lawmakers to vote to repeal the law compared to 48 percent who say they should not vote to repeal it.” All of the outlets named above — and countless others — cherry-picked a single positive finding and ignored anything that failed to fit the “increase in popularity” line.

COMMENT:  The heroes of the media do it again!  Getting it wrong has become almost an honor.  Maybe there should be a Pulitzer Prize for "distorted reporting that advances progressive causes."  There'd be no shortage of nominees.  A great moment in journalism.

February 27, 2017       Permalink

WARNING FROM BRITAIN – AT 8:18 A.M. ET:  It may be that the biggest story in America right now is the mixup at the Oscars, a tragedy of mammoth proportions that will undoubtedly be written about by historians a thousand years from now.  I can see the volumes produced in our universities – "The La La Land Mixup, its Historic Implications." 

But there are also people called grown-ups out there who have real history, and tragedy, in mind.  There is a new warning from Britain.  From the Telegraph: 

British citizens are facing a level of threat from terrorists not seen since the IRA bombings of the Seventies, the country’s new terrorism watchdog has warned.

In his first major interview since taking the role, Max Hill said Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) was planning “indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians” on a scale similar to those perpetrated by the IRA 40 years ago.

He told The Telegraph that Islamists were targeting UK cities and said there was an “enormous ongoing risk which none of us can ignore”.

The warning comes just days after Mr Hill, one of Britain’s leading terrorism prosecutors, was unveiled as the new independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

It follows a 30-year legal career during which he helped convict the 21/7 bomb plotters, break up terror cells and imprison Damilola Taylor’s killers.

Revealing his views about the terrorism threat in Britain, Mr Hill also:

Expressed “enormous concern” at the imminent return of hundreds of British jihadists who have been fighting for Isil in Syria;

Warned that British teenagers as young as 14 are being radicalised by extremist videos and hate speech online...

COMMENT:  If they can strike over there, they can strike over here.  President Trump is trying to develop an anti-terrorism and immigration policy that will safeguard this country, and is being ridiculed for it.  And if the horrible moment occurs, the very people doing the ridiculing will claim it's America's fault.

And the press will blame Trump.

February 27,  2017     Permalink   

FEBRUARY 26,  2017

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

THE FLOP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD – I did not watch the Oscars.  But they apparently featured a full left-wing array of anti-Trump speeches, followed by the biggest blunder in Oscar history – the naming of the wrong film for the "best picture" award.  Warren Beatty told us it was "La La Land," and those associated with the movie came up and gave their acceptance speeches.  Then it was realized that Beatty, who gets paid for reading lines that other people write, had read the wrong thing.  The real winner was "Moonlight."  Overflow embarrassment, but somewhat symbolic of an industry more involved with left-wing politics than with getting its craft right.  Maybe the gods were issuing a warning. 

AMERICANS CATCHING ON TO PRESS BIAS – FROM THE HILL:   A majority of Americans believe news organizations are too critical of President Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Sunday.  Fifty-one percent of Americans said the media is too critical of Trump, while 41 percent think news organizations have been fair and objective.  The poll also found that Americans are becoming more optimistic about where the country is headed, with 40 percent saying it is headed in the right direction. In December, 33 percent felt that way, compared to 18 percent in July.   The country sent the elites a message by electing Trump in November.  Now it's sending the media a message:   Do it straight and get it right.  I don't think the message will be received favorably.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:    A GoPro drone crashed through a Manhattan woman’s 27th-floor window and landed just feet from her as she sat in her living room enjoying a quiet evening at home, police sources said Sunday.  The 66-year-old resident was working on her computer inside the East River high-rise when the hobby craft smashed through the window at around 5:45 p.m., according to the sources.  The 1-by-1-foot device — which has a 10-inch propeller and a camera — landed on the floor just 4 feet away from her, cops said.   “Poor lady. She’s lucky she wasn’t killed,” said Stephanie Bowden, 23, who was visiting her boyfriend’s apartment 11 floors below at the time.  Police on Sunday were investigating who owns the drone, a remote-controlled 2.2-pound GoPro Karma Quadcopter model, and where it came from.  The New York Times will speculate that it's either Trump or Cheney.

February 26,  2017     Permalink

OH, IT'S THE OSCARS – AT 2:26 P.M. ET:   Such an inconvenience, the Oscars.  You have to stand in line at the supermarket because people are buying their popcorn for the telecast.  The other TV stations put on reruns.  Such an annoyance.

I have no intention of watching.  Is there really a feature-film industry left to care about?  Do I need another lecture by Meryl Streep?  Indeed, there is talk of a boycott by Trump supporters.  From London's Telegraph: 

It should be a glittering celebration of artistic endeavour where the women dazzle in designer gowns and men look sharp in their well-cut dinner jackets.

But this year’s Oscars are more likely to be remembered for what is said than what is worn.

Just over a month into the presidency of Donald Trump, hostilities are expected to be resumed between the new incumbent of the Oval Office and America’s entertainment industry.

Mr Trump, perhaps conveniently, will not be watching as he and the First Lady will be attending the Governors’ Ball in Washington.

But his supporters have already made it clear that they will have no truck with people they regard as “Limousine Liberals”.

A Facebook post originated by Republicans in Arizona has called on the “backbone and decent people of America” to stand up against the “bitter people of the entertainment industry”.

The group hopes its supporters will hit the television ratings by voting with their remote controls should Mr Trump come under attack during the acceptance speeches. The political sympathies of nearly all the nominees suggest that this is possible.

COMMENT:   Who cares what they say.  Will anyone remember tomorrow morning?  After speaking on radio with my good friend Silvio Canto Jr tonight, I will do some work on my taxes, write "Short Takes" for this blog, and go to bed.  Don't wake me with results.   Best Picture will always be "Gone With the Wind."

February 26, 2017       Permalink

THE DEMOCRATS – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  The Democratic Party now has a new chairman.  Oops, a new chair.  Non-gender.  A chair. 

He is Tom Perez, a man of the left, the former head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under Barack Obama, and later Obama's secretary of labor.  Even though he's way out in left field, he's considered "establishment," an ally of both Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Perez defeated, by a very narrow margin, Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, an African-American and a Muslim, a man who represents the Bernie Sanders flakeshop within the party.  Ellison, whose controversial history includes a stint as a follower of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, becomes deputy chairman.

Okay, that election is over.  The white smoke rose from the Oppressed Persons Center and Grill in Atlanta, and the chair has been named.  Now what?

The Democratic Party is in terrible shape.  It is essentially leaderless, short of the distinguished senators and governors who led it to victory in many critical elections past.  It is often seen, by millions of Americans, as arrogant, aloof, obsessed with race, gender, and ethnicity, and vaguely hostile to the nation itself.  It has shown contempt for some of our most cherished institutions – the military, religion, law enforcement, innovation. It is a party out of touch.

What must the party become?  In reply to that question, we can think back to a story told by Doris Kearns Goodwin and other historians about an incident that occurred the day FDR died, April 12th, 1945.  A reporter saw a soldier at the White House gate, crying.  The reporter approached the soldier and asked, "Did you know him?"  The soldier answered, "No, but he knew me." 

And that's the idea.  A political party must know its country.  In recent decades it has been the Republican Party, once seen as little old men in green eyeshades, that has been closest to the American people and its ideals.  Far from a perfect party, it has still embodied the spirit of the free American.  Ronald Reagan became the modern FDR, the man who spoke for us.

If the Democrats are to succeed, they must first relearn their country.  Many don't want to.  They live within themselves and believe their lives are defined by their College Board scores.  Given what the party has become, I think it has only a 40 percent chance of success.  It is not easy to change people who spend too much of their time celebrating their wonderfulness.

Good luck, Democrats.  But don't be shocked if a new party comes along to replace you.

February 26, 2017       Permalink

DISSENTER IN THE WHITE HOUSE – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  The most interesting person in the new administration, by quite a bit I think, is Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the president's new national security adviser.

McMaster's appointment received almost universal praise.  He has been described, in words that may come back to haunt both him and the president, as, among other things, the best Army officer of his generation, a dissenter in the tradition of Rickover and Billy Mitchell, and a superlative combat commander who brings battlefield experience to an already considerable intellect. 

McMaster brings other characteristics as well:  1) He has the support of a press that despises his boss; 2) He has his own constituency.  He is like the superlative opera singer who can hear the special, loud applause of his claque at every performance.  That means that, although Trump can fire him, he also holds power over Trump.  He is, at the outset, perhaps the most powerful figure in the administration.   Everything he does will be watched, with admiration by some, jealousy by others.  If he becomes a star, the term "President McMaster" is not out of the question.

The world is his oyster, and the knives will be at his back.

McMaster wrote "Dereliction of Duty," which questioned the behavior of America's military leaders during the Vietnam War.  It is now considered required reading in the Army.  The general will be sensitive to the lessons of his own book.  But he could easily become "locked in" to those lessons. 

There are some resemblances to Douglas MacArthur, although McMaster is far less famous.  MacArthur was a major commander in the greatest war in history, World War II.  He became a five-star general.  He'd had some of the highest grades in the history of West Point.  His landing at Inchon during the Korean War was the key step in the saving of South Korea.  But MacArthur, a man of robust ego, went too far in questioning the judgment of President Harry S. Truman, and Truman fired him.  The firing stunned a nation that had come to see MacArthur as a god.  Indeed, during MacArhur's poignant and dramatic farewell speech to Congress, a representative from Missouri pointed to him and exclaimed, "That's God up there."  The god was reduced considerably in the following years as the public began to disagree with his arguments.  The god never even came close to the presidency, which he coveted.

Now comes McMaster.  He is not MacArthur in record, stature, or public fame, but he has been the recipient of a deserved buildup.  If he should resign his position as a matter of principle, a resignation in protest, he could devastate the Trump administration.  He knows that.  So does Donald Trump.   McMaster, though, also knows the history of Douglas MacArthur.

Things are getting interesting, aren't they?

February 26,  2017     Permalink