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JULY 6,  2016

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

A TWISTED MIND – FROM BREITBART:  A left-wing German politician has admitted she lied to police about the nationality of three men who raped her in case it triggered racism against migrants in her country.  Selin Gören, who is a spokeswoman for the left-wing youth movement Solid, was attacked in the city of Mannheim in January while working as a refugee activist. She was ambushed in a play area late at night and forced to perform a sex act on her attackers.  Although she went straight to the police after the attack, she did not report the ethnicity of the men, nor that they were speaking Arabic or Farsi.  Instead, she said the men spoke German and robbed her.  However, after her initial interview she went back to the police 12 hours later and told the truth.  She told the latest edition of Germany’s Spiegel magazine that, after the reaction to the Cologne sex attacks, she did not want to create “more hatred against migrants in Germany”.  A true case of left-wing brainwashing.  I wonder how other victims of sexual assault feel about this holier-than-thou fanatic.

DECISIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES – FROM US NEWS & WORLD REPORT:   Attorneys for people who allegedly mishandled classified information say the outcome of the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton could be good news for their clients.  Though many see a double standard in FBI Director James Comey’s decision not to recommend charges against the former secretary of state who used a personal and unsecured email system for official business, others see possibilities.  Mark Zaid, a defense attorney for national security whistleblowers and people accused of mishandling secrets, says he plans to ask for “the Clinton deal” in the future.  And Zaid says he probably can get it.  In 2015, shortly after former CIA Director David Petraeus received a plea deal featuring probation and a fine for sharing highly classified information with his mistress Paula Broadwell, Zaid says he called the Justice Department on behalf of a client accused of taking classified records home.  “We absolutely got on the phone to the prosecutor and said, ‘We want the Petraeus sentence. We want the commensurate, parallel sentence.’ And we got it!” he says, winning a $5,000 fine and a short probation term instead of possible prison for a now-retired intelligence agency employee.  Another service the Clinton syndicate performed for America.

THE CRUMBLING MUSIC BUSINESS – FROM BILLBOARD:   It's the worst year (so far) for music sales since the 1991 debut of SoundScan (now Nielsen Music). Album sales, including track-equivalent albums (TEA, whereby 10 track sales equal one album unit) are down 16.9 percent in the first half of this year. But sales figures no longer tell the whole story of the record business.  First, let's bottom-line those disappearing sales. Album units overall fell 13.6 percent, with 100.3 million total sales. The compact disc continued to crumble, losing 11.6 percent and moving 50 million. Digital album sales fell to 43.8 million, from 53.7 million in the first half of last year. Vinyl sales continued to move up and to the right, growing 11.4 percent, to 6.2 million. New album releases have been most affected by the continued contraction, falling 20.2 percent overall, to 44.1 million units. Catalog albums fell "just" 7.7 percent, to 56.2 million.   It's streaming audio that's doing this.  Why buy albums when you can order them up digitally?  I still love the sound of vinyl records on a great stereo system.  But I'm over 16, so what could I know?

July 6, 2016       Permalink

IT'S WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT – AT 10:21 A.M. ET:   The left-wing bias in our colleges and universities, that is.  Be careful where you send your children.  From the College Fix: 

Diversity everywhere, except in political thought.

Sarah Lawrence College Prof. Samuel Abrams, a self-described moderate who “might as well have been Ted Cruz” at his elite liberal arts school, writes in The New York Times that the ideological skew in higher education is severe in most regions of the U.S.

And it’s nowhere more pronounced than in New England, home to half the Ivy League.

By running the numbers from 25 years of “ideological leanings” surveys by the Higher Education Research Institute, Abrams found that geography is the best predictor of a professor’s political orientation.

Though diversity of thought has become more common in Rocky Mountain-area colleges – down to 1.5-1 liberal-to-conservative faculty in 2014, from 2-to-1 in 1989 – the New England institutions have become a one-party state on the level of Russia:

In 1989, the number of liberals compared with conservatives on college campuses was about 2 to 1 nationwide; that figure was almost 5 to 1 for New England schools. By 2014, the national figure was 6 to 1; for those teaching in New England, the figure was 28 to 1.

Even the professoriate in the far west — the liberal “left coast” — saw the ratio of liberal to conservative professors jump only to 6 to 1, from about 3 to 1, during that time. Those teaching in other regions, from the Plains to the Southeast, saw far smaller changes, to 3 to 1, up from 1 to 1, on average.

What’s notable about Abrams’ findings is that pronounced ideological differences by school type and academic discipline are much less so when you remove New England from the data set.

COMMENT:  Check those airline prices and send the kids flying.  There is hope out there, maybe even in anthropology. 

July 6, 2016       Permalink

FORMER AG SPEAKS OUT – AT 9:48 A.M. ET:   Real anger is building at the FBI decision not to recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton.  From Breitbart: 

Mike Mukasey, who served as Attorney General from 2007 to 2009, says FBI Director James Comey wrongly excused Hillary Clinton during his press-conference by wrongly claiming that any prosecution requires strong evidence that she had the intent to violate classification laws.

But the law requires that cops and prosecutors show mere “gross negligence,” Mukasey wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, titled “Clinton Makes the FBI’s Least-Wanted List.” Moreover, Comey effectively showed during his prosecution-style press conference that Hillary Clinton’s reckless use of her unprotected home-brew email network meets that “gross negligence” test for federal prosecution, Mukasey argues.

From Mukasey's Wall Street Journal piece:

And what of the finding that the investigation did not disclose “clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information”? Even the felony statute requires no such evidence, and no such intent.

The misdemeanor involves simply the knowing removal of classified documents to an unauthorized location. That is the statute to which David Petraeus, the former U.S. Army general and Central Intelligence Agency director, pleaded guilty in 2015. (He had disclosed classified documents to his biographer/mistress, who also had top-secret clearance, returned the information to him and never disclosed it in his biography or elsewhere.)

COMMENT:  We're seeing more and more arguments like Mukasey's.  Clearly there is a substantial body of opinion that Director Comey got it wrong.

For Hillary Clinton, the case continues.  There's no way the FBI will reverse its recommendation.  But the debate over the FBI's actions will go on, as will a very high-profile discussion of Clinton's behavior at the State Department, whether technically legal or not.

July 6, 2016       Permalink

THE EMAIL STORY ISN'T OVER – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Republicans in Congress are demanding more answers about the Clinton affair.  From The Hill:

Republicans will hold hearings to learn more about the FBI's decision to not recommend criminal charges for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday night.

"People have been convicted for far less," Ryan said during an interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News's "The Kelly File," saying that he thought FBI director James Comey "was going to recommend prosecution" based on the FBI director's opening remarks in a press conference Tuesday.

Ryan said the FBI's decision not to recommend charges "underscores the belief that the Clintons live above the law."

Comey said that while there was evidence Clinton and her staff were "extremely careless" with classified information, "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring a case against her in relation to her use of a private email server while secretary of state.

"We're going to have hearings," Ryan said on Fox, mentioning House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). Chaffetz indicated hours earlier on Fox that he was considering calling Comey to Capitol Hill to testify about the FBI's probe and conclusion not to recommend charges.

Ryan said Clinton "clearly lives above the law," saying Comey has ”shredded" Clinton's defense of her email practices while serving as secretary of State. Ryan described Clinton as "grossly negligent."

COMMENT:  Hearings are justified and required.  There is a widespread perception that justice is not applied equally.

July 6,  2016     Permalink

JULY 5,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

LAST CHANCE – FROM THE HILL:    Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol joined a conference call on Tuesday night to encourage Republican delegates to protest on the floor of the convention in a last ditch effort to block Donald Trump from obtaining the party’s nomination.  Kristol, who has spearheaded the charge for an independent candidate to enter the race, was the guest speaker on an organizing call of conservatives who are seeking to deny Trump the nomination at the party’s convention in Cleveland next month.  The group of delegates, lawyers, rules experts and political action committees insist that delegates are not bound to any primary or caucus vote, and are looking to pass convention rules that allow them to vote their “conscience.”  Kristol told organizers on Tuesday night that if their representative at the convention doesn’t cast a vote in accordance with their wishes, they should protest on the floor....“I think we’re on the right side of history and on the right side of rejecting someone who shouldn’t be the nominee of the Republican Party,” he added.  Many agree with him, but I don't see much chance here.  Trump won the nomination by winning primaries.  He has the votes, and has them legitimately.  I am not a fan of his, but I can't deny the reality of his electoral achievement.  But I'm glad Kristol is trying.  I have no problem at all with a serious challenge.

LIBERAL OPINION – There was little of the knee-jerk, automatic support of Hillary Clinton, in the face of today's FBI report, that we've come to expect from the liberal community.  Indeed, many liberal outlets seemed shaken by the sting in Director Comey's condemnations of Clinton's behavior.  From The New York Times:  As Mrs. Clinton said in the past, and her campaign reiterated on Tuesday, her decision to use private email was a mistake. She remains, far and away, the most experienced and knowledgeable candidate for the presidency, particularly when compared with Mr. Trump. But she has done damage to her reputation by failing to conform to the established security policies of the department she ran and by giving evasive or misleading answers about her actions and motivations. If there was ever a time that Mrs. Clinton needed to demonstrate that she understands the forthrightness demanded of those who hold the nation’s highest office, this is that moment.  It is remarkable how, after 25 years as a national figure, Hillary Clinton still has not established basic trust.  What does that say about her?  Why is she the presidential nominee of a major party?

THE ANNOUNCEMENT – I've spent most of the day examining the announcement by FBI Director Comey that no criminal charges will be leveled against Hillary Clinton in the e-mail case.  Curiously, Comey didn't mention any other probes of Clinton that might be underway, such as an investigation of the Clinton Foundation and whether its huge flow of money, some of it from foreign dictatorships, was used to influence (bribe) Clinton when she was secretary of state.

While Comey's statement was eloquent, there seemed to be a growing feeling during the day, especially among Republicans, that it didn't make much sense.  If Hillary Clinton was as reckless as Comey says she was in the handling of classified material, why is that not cause enough for an indictment?  Republicans may hold hearings, appropriately, to find out.  Despite Comey's estimable reputation, he's not being given a free pass by the loyal opposition.  There is a great deal of talk about a double standard of justice – one standard for the Clintons, another for the rest of us. Comey may not come out unscathed.  There are reported rumblings from inside the FBI of angry agents who felt Comey let them down. 

Democrats were clearly relieved to have the legal load lifted from their candidate's shoulders, but they understand that Comey's devastating portrait of an irresponsible Clinton in control of classified information will haunt her for the rest of the campaign. 

There have even been some questions about how Clinton could get security clearance as president, considering her handling of classified information.  As I understand it, though, security clearance for the president is automatic.

July 5,  2016     Permalink

BULLETIN – NO FBI RECOMMENDATION FOR CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST CLINTON, BUT HER BEHAVIOR WAS RECKLESS – AT 11:22 A.M. ET: 

In a brilliantly formulated statement on live television, FBI Director James Comey announced that the Bureau will not recommend criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for the handling of classified e-mails while she was secretary of state.  However, Comey hardly gave Clinton a clean bill of health.  From CNN:

(CNN)  FBI Director James Comey said Tuesday that he would not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state but that Clinton and her aides were "extremely careless" handling classified information.

"Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case," Comey said.
"Although we did not find clear evidence" of intentional misconduct, he added, "There is evidence that they were extremely careless of very sensitive, highly classified information."

Comey said neither the Department of Justice nor the White House knew what he was going to announce Tuesday, and said the FBI investigation it was nearing its end.

While Comey's announcement lifts the immediate legal cloud from Clinton, it does nothing to improve her political situation.  The words "extremely careless" will resonate through this campaign.  If the Republican Party and its presidential nominee were smart, and there are serious questions about that, it would ask the public whether any person so described – "extremely careless" – should be president of the United States.

At least CNN gave us the flavor of what Director Comey said.  I've quickly read through other news reports of his statements, and some didn't even mention his characterization of Clinton's behavior, only noting that no criminal charges will be brought.  They call that slanted journalism.  They call that disgraceful reporting.

I have no doubt that Donald Trump will be out soon with a statement.  I hope he is careful.  There is an old line in politics:  If your opponent is committing suicide, don't stand in the way.  It would be wise for Trump to attack Clinton in a "more in sadness than anger" tone, while making clear his view that Comey's findings disqualify her.

As for Clinton, this will probably be her "Checkers" moment, the need to deliver a speech much like the one Senator Richard M. Nixon delivered in 1952, when running for vice president on Dwight Eisenhower's ticket.  It had been discovered that he had been given a "slush fund" by supporters, and he had to explain it away.  It is called the "Checkers" speech because he told of how his two daughters had been given a dog, which they named Checkers, and that they loved the dog, and that he'd never give it back, no matter what anyone said.  The speech saved Nixon.

That's where it stands we'll monitor the fallout throughout the day.

July 5, 2016       Permalink 

TRUMP CLOSING – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:   A new poll just out confirms last week's Rasmussen finding, that Donald Trump is closing the gap with Hillary Clinton.  From The Hill: 

Hillary Clinton’s lead over Donald Trump has narrowed to single digits in a new national poll.

Clinton tops her likely general election rival by 5 points, 45.6 to 40.4 percent, in the USA Today/Suffolk University poll released on Monday.

Two months ago, Clinton led the businessman by double digits, 50 to 39 percent, in that poll.
Including Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein as potential options drops Clinton's lead over Trump to 4 points, 39 percent to 35 percent.

Monday's poll comes as both Clinton and Trump have solidified their standing as their parties' presumptive nominees despite their in-the-red favorability ratings.

Fifty-three percent have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton, 60 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, and one in five—or roughly 20 percent—have a negative opinion of both candidates, according to the poll.

David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, told USA Today that voters who have a negative opinion of Clinton and Trump could end up "holding their noses and picking one of them or opting for a third-party option. Or staying home, come November."

According to the poll, 61 percent of likely voters feel "alarmed" about the election, while 23 percent are "excited" and another 9 percent say they are "bored."

The USA Today/Suffolk University poll of 1,000 likely voters was conducted by landline and cell phone from June 26 to June 29. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

COMMENT:  I just have a feeling that we're in for a very bumpy ride this fall, with poll numbers changing rapidly.  There is enormous discontent in the electorate, and for good reason.  Millions of Americans don't feel the American dream is working for them.  And they feel let down by the people they've elected.  That anger has to go somewhere politically, and we'll find out where on election day.

July 5,  2016     Permalink

STUNNING NUMBERS – AT 9:07 A.M. ET:  Voting numbers for the primary season are now complete, and they show a stunning turnout in Republican primaries, but a disappointing turnout in the Dem race.  From Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit: 

This ought to keep Democrats up late at night.

Despite the constant negative press by the liberal media, Republicans are coming off a historic primary season.

Donald Trump continues to fill stadiums across the country like this capacity crowd in Bangor, Maine last week.

Republican turnout was up 62% this year.
Democratic turnout was down 21% this year.

Despite her tight race with Socialist Bernie Sanders Hillary Clinton received 1,019,237 fewer votes this year than in 2008.

DEMOCRAT PARTY TURNOUT–
** In 2008 there were 38,111,341 Democrat votes in the primary. In 2016 there were 29,939,251 votes. A net decrease of 8,172,090 (-21%).

REPUBLICAN PARTY TURNOUT–
** In 2012 there were 19,214,513 Republican votes in the primary. In 2016 there were 31,108,968 votes. A net increase of 11,894,455 (+62%).

Republicans had 1.1 million more primary voters this year than the Democratic party.
These are stunning numbers!

COMMENT:   I think that Republican prospects for the November election are much better than the presumed experts believe.  There may well be a large, silent, Republican vote out there – people who may not tell the pollsters the truth about who they favor.  As readers know, I'm not a Donald Trump fan, but he often did better in the final vote tallies than in the pre-vote polling.

And yet, one can only dream of where we'd be if Trump were a better, more accomplished candidate.

July 5, 2016       Permalink