Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

JANUARY 27,  2018

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

WYNN RESIGNS – FROM CNN:   Washington (CNN) Steve Wynn has resigned from his position as finance chairman for the Republican National Committee amid controversy over sexual misconduct allegations.  RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said she accepted Wynn's departure on Saturday.  "Today I accepted Steve Wynn's resignation as Republican National Committee Finance Chair," she said in a statement.  Wynn is facing allegations of sexual misconduct following a story in The Wall Street Journal that published on Friday. He denies the allegations, calling them "preposterous." Politico was first to report Wynn plans to step down on Saturday.  In a statement announcing his resignation, Wynn called the controversy a "distraction."  "Effective today I am resigning as Finance Chairman of the RNC," Wynn said in the statement Saturday. "The unbelievable success we have achieved must continue. The work we are doing to make America a better place is too important to be impaired by this distraction. I thank the President for the opportunity to serve and wish him continued success."  Wynn has denied the charges and is entitled to a full defense and his day in court.

WHAT A FRAUD – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Hillary Clinton loves you, bitches.  The former presidential candidate and secretary of state sent out a video message “directed to activist bitches supporting bitches,” as she put it, via Twitter Friday night.  “Hey everyone, I just wanted to say thanks,” Clinton said into a cellphone camera, seated at a red banquette in what appeared to be a restaurant. “Thanks for your feminism, for your activism, and all I can hope is you keep up the really important, good work,” she said.  At the urging of an off-camera companion, she added with a laugh: “And let me just say, this is directed to the activist bitches supporting bitches. So let’s go.”  What a class act.  I wonder what this individual has to say to the women her husband abused.

UNDOUBTEDLY THE ARTISTIC EVENT OF THE CENTURY – FROM FOX:  A cabal of Hollywood elites, progressive groups and social activists are planning a “People’s State of the Union” as a “public alternative” on the eve of President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address.  Notable participants in Monday's scheduled event in New York City include filmmaker Michael Moore, actors Mark Ruffalo, Alyssa Milano, Rosie Perez and Whoopi Goldberg.  They'll congregate at the Town Hall in Manhattan, the venue where suffragists met in the 1920s. Singer Andra Day and rapper Common will be performing the song, “Stand Up for Something,” from the biopic film "Marshall," about the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.  Tickets were still available Saturday at $47 each.   And I suspect they'll continue to be available.  Can you believe this?  The "People's State of the Union?  Which people?   People who fly around in private, studio-supplied jets?  And get that nifty song, "Stand Up for Something."  I'm so inspired by the title.  So much more inspirational than, say, "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful."  And I can't wait for the sequel to "Stand Up for Something," which will have the rousing title, "Hey, You Gotta Do Stuff."  I'm overwhelmed.

January 27,  2018     Permalink

FIGHTING BACK – AT 2:38 P.M. ET:  I like Melania Trump.   She's been a fine first lady, stylish and elegant, and a hit wherever she goes.  Naturally, she's under attack, and the subject of endless rumors.  She's fighting back, and good for her.  From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump’s office is fed up with speculation about marital strife in the White House.  Mrs. Trump’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, took to Twitter Friday to blast “flat-out false reporting” about the first lady that has emerged in recent days.

“BREAKING,” she wrote. “The laundry list of salacious & flat-out false reporting about Mrs. Trump by tabloid publications & TV shows has seeped into ‘main stream media’ reporting.”

Grisham added that Mrs. Trump is focused on her family and role as first lady, “not the unrealistic scenarios being peddled daily by the fake news.”

The tabloid Daily Mail reported Friday that Mrs. Trump has spent a number of nights at a D.C. hotel in the wake of reports of allegations by adult film star Stormy Daniels that she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, shortly after he married Melania.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump’s personal lawyer brokered a $130,000 payment to Daniels in October 2016 to prohibit her from publicly discussing the alleged affair before the election. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, has scheduled an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday.

Mrs. Trump had originally been scheduled to join her husband at an economic summit in Davos, Switzerland, this week. But her office said Tuesday, the day before Trump’s departure, that Mrs. Trump would not be going, citing unspecified scheduling and logistical issues.

On Thursday, the first lady paid a visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington in advance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

She has joined her husband on his other foreign trips.

COMMENT:  I have no doubt that some of the wild stories about the president are true, just as some of the stories about John F. Kennedy were true, and even FDR, who had a mistress, Lucy Mercer, while he was president.

Melania Trump knows the story, and handles herself superbly.  I look forward to her next public appearance.

January 27, 2018       Permalink

TRUMP AT DAVOS – AT 12:44 P.M. ET:  The president has now returned from Davos, where he had a triumphant appearance.  Of course, you won't see that in the mainstream media, especially the disgraceful CNN, whose news reports can be reduced to two words:  Robert Mueller.  Soon CNN may be selling the exciting Robert Mueller doll.  Buy one for your kids.

But Davos was a Trump triumph.  From DC Whispers: 

It was by most accounts (with the exception of those among the most biased of the anti-Trump media) a remarkably successful showing by POTUS Trump in Davos. He was confident, cordial, tough, yet fair – and in the end, the world cheered this new era of “America first but not America alone” leadership.

Within minutes of finishing his speech, the stock markets rocketed to new all-time highs, adding TENS OF BILLIONS of dollars more into the retirement accounts of the American Middle Class.

Where once world markets groaned when Barack Obama gave another meandering anti-American diatribe, those same markets now cheer a U.S. president’s promise of opportunity, freedom, and innovation. By nearly every measure, the lives of ALL Americans are better since Donald Trump became President. It is for that reason his enemies wish to see him destroyed. He is a true political outsider, someone far removed from the incestuous-globalist echo chamber, who continues to play by his own rules – not theirs, and who also puts the needs of the American people first, not those of America’s enemies.

What remarkable times we now live in. 

COMMENT:  My fear, and we'll be discussing this at Urgent Agenda, is that Trump will be brought down before the end of his term by the Washington/journalistic/academic establishment, an establishment that regards victory for the United States as unsophisticated and beneath it, an establishment that believes it should determine the future of the country, not the American people.

We are in for major battles.  The outcome is uncertain.  The best thing we can do is to be sure our side actually goes to the polls on election day.  It's a simple thing, but it's everything.

January 27, 2018       Permalink 

REX AT WORK – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  Rex Tillerson gets no respect.  He works hard, is reshaping the State Department as a modern institution, and works doggedly on our behalf.  From Reuters: 

WARSAW - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Saturday that working groups on fixing what the US sees as flaws in the Iranian nuclear deal have already begun to meet, trying to determine the scope of what is needed and how much Iran needs to be engaged in it.

Tillerson, ending a week-long European trip in Warsaw, said that he had secured support from Britain, France and Germany - all parties to the 2015 agreement - to work on the deal that President Donald Trump has warned he will walk away from unless changes are made.

"It's always darkest before the dawn," Tillerson told journalists. "The working groups have already begun to meet on efforts to agree principles, what is the scope of what we attempt to address and also how much we engage Iran on discussions to address these issues," he said.

The nuclear deal gave Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in return for curbs on its atomic program.

Trump vowed to stop waiving US sanctions unless the Europeans agreed to strengthen the deal's terms by consenting to a side agreement that would effectively eliminate provisions that allow Iran to gradually resume some advanced atomic work. Trump also wants tighter restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program.

COMMENT:  This will be tough going, especially with the Germans, who see Iran as a large market.  But President Trump is increasingly being seen as a serious international leader, and a man determined to win.  The will to win, and the power behind it, tend to move mountains. 

January 27, 2018       Permalink  

JANUARY 26,  2018

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

I CANNOT WAIT, CAN YOU? – FROM BUZZFEED:   One of President Donald Trump’s fiercest critics on Capitol Hill will address the country just after next Tuesday’s State of the Union.  Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, will speak at the top of a Black Entertainment Television News special after Trump delivers the State of the Union, a BET spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. The program, “Angela Rye’s State of the Union,” is part of a broader partnership announced just days ago between the network and the Democratic strategist and political commentator.  I'm sure "Auntie Maxine" will be thoughtful and helpful.  Oh, by the way, she lives in a $4.5-million mansion in one of the whitest sections of Los Angeles.  Just another representative of the downtrodden.

MAJOR EDUCATION NEWS – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  A professor of religious studies at Michigan State University recently argued that white people who practice yoga are guilty of enjoying a “system of power, privilege, and oppression.” To truly honor yoga, writes Michigan State University professor Shreena Gandhi, white Americans should understand its history, acknowledge the cultural appropriation they engage in, and possibly reduce the cost of yoga classes for poor people, a group that often includes people of color and “recent immigrants, such as Indian women to whom this practice rightfully belongs.”  Gandhi, in an article she recently co-authored, argued yoga as it’s practiced in America today is an extension of white supremacy and the “yoga industrial complex.”   Didn't Eisenhower warn about the yoga industrial complex?

DOES THE PUNISHMENT FIT THE CRIME? – FROM RT:  Men in France could be fined €350 (US$435) if they follow women in the street, whistle at them, make loud comments about their appearance or ask for their phone numbers, according to a draft proposal to combat “sexual contempt.”  The new report will be presented to the French government in the coming days, local media report. The plans come from a parliamentary working group set up by France's secretary of state for equality, Marlene Schiappa. The politicians behind the proposal suggest that men who “violate women’s freedom of movement in public space” should face a minimum fine of €90 for those who can pay on the spot. If the fine is delayed, it could reach €350, the report says. The document will be presented to Schiappa, Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet, and Minister of the Interior Gerard Collomb.  A bit much, I think.

January 26, 2018       Permalink

THE DEMOCRATIC WORLD – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  The Dems, gearing up for the 2018 midterms, are trying to convince Americans that times are really bad.  From Fox:   

The disconnect between what congressional Democrats are saying about the recently enacted tax cut and what is happening in the real world is so wide that it is getting difficult to see across the chasm.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who as the 15th richest member of Congress has a minimum net worth of nearly $30 million, referred to the millions of dollars in bonuses and pay hikes announced by more than 100 companies in the wake of the new tax law as “crumbs.”

Among the crumb-dispensers is Apple, headquartered just a few miles from Pelosi’s district. The tech giant is paying out $2,500 stock bonuses, planning $30 billion in capital expenditures over five years, and adding 20,000 employees. The company estimates that the direct impact on the U.S. economy will be more than $350 billion over that timeframe.

But Pelosi is far from the only Democrat who voted against tax reform while arguing that it would be an economic “Armageddon” for everyday Americans. Behind her stands a long list of Democrats in states that Donald Trump won, in some cases by large margins, who will have to explain how they could have been so wrong.

COMMENT:  The sad fact is that most of the media will go along with the explanations, which is what gives the Dems such a boost.

January 26, 2018       Permalink

DESPERATE, AND HYPOCRITICAL – AT 8:53 A.M. ET:   The Democratic Party, which was once an actual political party, is making plans to counter President Trump's State of the Union message.  Ah, the originality.  Ah, the phoniness.  Let the circus begin.  From Reuters:

(Reuters) - Massachusetts Rep. Joseph Kennedy III is to give the Democratic Party’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, The Boston Globe reported, illustrating his rising profile in the party ranks.

From healthcare to economic justice to civil rights, the Democratic agenda stands in powerful contrast to President Trump’s broken promises to American families,” Kennedy, 37, grandson of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and three-term congressman, told the paper.

Virginia Democrat Elizabeth Guzman of the Virginia House of Delegates will give the Spanish-language response, the paper reported.

COMMENT:  That's the best they can do?  A third-generation Kennedy?  I guess he was selected for his name, but his name means little to the great mass of Americans.  After all, President Kennedy was in the White House more than 55 years ago.

Guess there's no one else.

The hypocrisy here is that John F. Kennedy couldn't get anywhere a presidential nomination in today's Democratic Party, and might even be a Republican.  JFK favored a strong national defense, a vigorous space program, and tax cuts.  He believed America was a force for good in the world.  I wonder how this young Kennedy feels.

January 26, 2018        Permalink

GOOD - INVEST IN AMERICA – AT 8:35 A.M. ET:  President Trump is having an impact in Davos.  People are reacting, and well, to the booming American economy.  From Daily Caller: 

President Donald J. Trump hosted a dinner with European business leaders and CEOs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Thursday evening. Trump has been making the rounds in Davos, holding bilateral meetings with other world leaders and conducting business roundtables. Trump met with various business leaders in shadow of the recent economic boom in America.

In a stunning moment, one by one, European titans of industry from companies like Adidas, Siemens and Bayer went around the table to thank Trump for the passage of tax cuts and the easing of corporate tax burdens. Almost every CEO had a new US-based investment or strategic business to announce.

The president of Seimens, Joe Kaeser, said, “since you have been so successful in tax reform we have decided to develop the next generation gas turbines in the United States.”

Trump responded “That’s great!”

COMMENT:  Trump knows who to talk to, and who to talk to seriously.  That might not include the windbags of the press and the ultra-windbags of many governments.  It's business that will be investing in America.  And international corporations like what Trump is doing.

American workers will benefit.  I'm not so sure the Dems care.

January 26,  2018     Permalink