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.

Our Angel's Corner archive is here.

JULY 15,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET:

TRUMP LEADS ANOTHER POLL – FROM THE L.A. TIMES:   As the presidential race moves into a key two-week period, with the announcement of running mates and the party conventions, Donald Trump has taken an apparent slim lead over Hillary Clinton, based on strong support from white voters, particularly men....It comes amid a flurry of other surveys, both nationally and in battleground states, that show support for the former secretary of State declining since last week when FBI Director James B. Comey characterized her handling of classified material while in that office as “extremely careless.” Comey also said her conduct and that of her aides did not clearly violate the law or warrant prosecution...In the new tracking poll, through Thursday night, Trump led Clinton 43% to 40%. That’s within the poll’s margin of error of 3 points in either direction, meaning the apparent lead could be the result of chance.  Like other polls, this one shows a much greater Clinton decline than a Trump gain.  It's turning into a "who do you like less" contest.

NICE, FRANCE – The portrait of the terrorist killer being sold to us by many officials is that of a disturbed, angry recluse with family and financial problems, and a petty criminal, but not necessarily a jihadist.  I'd reserve judgment on that.  He's a young man, 31, from Tunisia, he followed a truck-based attack plan outlined in detail in an Al Qaeda magazine, and he struck on Bastille Day, making a political statement against France.  He apparently didn't hurt any of the people with whom he's recently had trouble.  Some experts point that a number of jihadist terrorists, including some of the 9-11 hijackers, haven't had a public relationship with Islam, and some have been radicalized online.  Investigation continuing. 

UNBELIEVABLE – FROM BREITBART:   Black Lives Matter (BLM) supporters have claimed the deadly terrorist attack in France was “to make people lose attention” [sic] in their movement and focus on “white” lives instead.  “Ok I’ve come to the conclusion that what happened in Nice was to make people lose attention off [sic] #BlackLivesMatter and focus and unite against us”, wrote Twitter user Semsa, who is based in London but says “Egypt’s the motherland”. She has since made her account private.  “Don’t #PrayForNice we are fighting a civil war against whites. #BLM”, tweeted Franklin Omar, an activist who also appears to be from London, and describes himself as a “Muslim”.  Radical nutbags, who will deliver nothing to African-Americans.

July 15, 2016       Permalink

BULLETIN – TRUMP ANNOUNCES PENCE – AT 10:54 A.M. ET:   Donald Trump has just announced, via Twitter, his choice of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as vice-presidential candidate on the Republican ticket.

Trump had previously been scheduled to hold a live press conference at 11 a.m. today to make the announcement, but held off out of respect for the victims of the attack in France.  However, we understand that Pence had only until noon today to take himself off his state ticket as candidate for re-election to the governorship.  That would have been picked up by the media, probably forcing Trump to make his Twitter statement.  From Talking Points Memo:   

After a week of veepstakes chaos, speculation and changed plans, Donald Trump used Twitter to announce that he had chosen Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) to be his vice presidential candidate:

I am pleased to announce that I have chosen Governor Mike Pence as my Vice Presidential running mate. News conference tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.

Pence was on a short list that reportedly also included New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Outlets began reporting mid-day Thursday that Pence had been selected, and the campaign had an official unveiling event planned for Friday in New York. After the attack in Nice, however, Trump announced that he would be delaying the event. As Trump's Tweet Friday said, the campaign is now planning an event for Saturday morning.

COMMENT:  Now everything is set for the Republican convention, which starts Monday.  I think this convention is far more important than most.  It will be the first chance for Trump to address the nation as the formal nominee of his party.  It will be a critical speech in which he must fight the portrayal of him as an out-of-control lightweight, yet maintain his image as a smash-the-establishment renegade.  Not an easy task.  We'll know the verdict in a week.

July 15,  2016     Permalink

LEFTIST WHACKJOB – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:  We recall with great warmth Bernie Sanders's appointment of Dr. Cornel West to the Democratic Party's platform committee.  West, whom I personally diagnose as borderline insane, is a hard-leftist African-American academic who wound up "teaching" at Princeton after the president of Harvard, where he'd been employed, suggested he do some serious work.  Racist!

Now West is taking another walk, after enjoying the hospitality of the Democrats.  From The Hill:

Activist Cornel West is endorsing Green Party candidate Jill Stein after previously backing Bernie Sanders’s presidential bid.

“This November, we need change,” he wrote Thursday in an op-ed for The Guardian. "Yet we are tied in a choice between [Donald] Trump, who would be a neo-fascist catastrophe, and [Hillary] Clinton, a neo-liberal disaster."

West then said he would back Stein over the alternatives.

“I am with her – the only progressive woman in the race – because we’ve got to get beyond this lock-jaw situation,” added West, a member of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) platform drafting committee.

West said he could not in good conscience follow Sanders’s lead in supporting Clinton’s campaign earlier this week.

“I have a deep love for my brother Bernie Sanders, but I disagree with him on Hillary Clinton,” he said of the independent Vermont senator.

“I don’t think she would be an ‘outstanding president,’” West added of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. “Her militarism makes the world a less safe place.”

West added the presidency of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s husband, is responsible for many of the nation’s problems today.

COMMENT:  What a loyal Democrat.  I wonder if Bernie had ever met him before appointing him to the Platform Committee. 

The beneficiary of West's new love, Jill Stein, makes Bernie Sanders look like an arch-conservative.  She's as far left as they get without getting arrested.

I love the factionalism of the left.  Just like the circus.

July 15, 2016       Permalink 

TERROR UPDATE – AT 9:29 A.M. ET:  The latest on the terror attack in Nice, France, which killed 84 people yesterday.  From Fox: 

A father and son from Texas and 10 children are among the 84 people murdered Thursday night when a terrorist plowed an explosives- and weapons-laden truck into a crowd of thousands gathered along a seaside promenade in Nice, France, to watch the city's Bastille Day fireworks.

The driver, who sources identified to Fox News as a 31-year-old Tunisian national, left a mile-long swath of carnage along the seaside walkway before police killed him in a shootout. French authorities did not hesitate to pronounce the attack, which began at 10:40 p.m. local time, an act of terrorism.

"Such a monstrosity," French President Francois Hollande said Friday morning. "France is deeply saddened, but it is also very strong. I can assure you we will always be stronger than the fanatics who are trying to attack us."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but two sources, including a U.S. counterterrorism source who collects and monitors jihadist social media, told Fox News that accounts linked to ISIS were “celebratory” and their followers were told to use the hashtag “Nice.”

COMMENT:  France has been a terror target for decades, despite its largely pro-Arab policies.  The perpetrator in this case was not on the French terror watch list, but, according to several reports, was known to local authorities for petty crime.

This will not be the last attack.  They are coming more frequently now.  Orlando was hit only weeks ago, although Field Marshal Obama refused to link it to Islamic terrorism, despite the history of the killer.

July 15,  2016     Permalink 

JULY 14,  2016

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

HORROR – A Tunisian-born terrorist killed an estimated 84 people in Nice, France, today, driving a large truck down a promenade for a mile and mowing down the innocent.   He also fired a semi-automatic rifle.  The attack occurred on Bastille Day, more properly called the French National Day.  It commemorates the storming of the Bastille, a prison in Paris, in 1789, during the French Revolution.  While no claim of responsibility has been made, most terrorism experts believe the attack will be traced to ISIS.  We'll be following this closely.  The Republican convention starts Monday, and there is serious concern about what might happen outside the hall.

BERNIE ISN'T PLAYING HIS PART – From The American Mirror:   The love fest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders lasted about as long as it took to tear down the stage at their “unity” rally on Monday. Sanders gave a speech to the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington,  DC one day after his appearance with Clinton, and he mentioned her a total of zero times.  That’s zero — with a “Z.”It wasn’t like he didn’t have time to say “Hillary Clinton.” He had 23 whole minutes.  If Clinton loses in November, there will be a bloody fight for control of the Democratic Party. 

NO V.P. CHOICE FRIDAY – Donald Trump announced that he'd name his choice for running mate on Friday at 11 a.m.  He canceled the scheduled announcement out of respect for the French terror victims.  There's no new date set, but virtually all news organizations are reporting that Trump has chosen Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, a solid conservative.  The choice should prove popular, if not exciting, among the party regulars, but vice-presidential candidates rarely make much of a difference in an election.  Trump has largely closed the polling gap with Hillary Clinton, and his chances for victory in November are no longer being written off.

July 14, 2014       Permalink

AS THE PUNDITS WERE SAYING – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:   The conventional wisdom, handed down by the Washington pundocracy, is that Donald Trump will cost the Republican Party seats in the Senate on election day.  Well...maybe not.  From McClatchy: 

The hopes of congressional Democrats that presumptive Republican Donald Trump’s presidential run will hurt incumbent Senate Republicans might be just that – hopes.

A new Qunnipiac Poll Thursday finds three incumbent Republicans in key swing states comfortably leading their Democratic challengers.

The poll shows that Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, and Rob Portman of Ohio are not only fending off their Democratic challengers but, in some cases, they’re widening their leads.

Rubio leads Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., by 50-37 percent, a 6-point gain since Quinnipiac’s last poll of Florida voters in June. Rubio is also ahead of Rep. Alan Grayson, another potential Democratic challenger, 50-38 percent.

“Democrats made fun of Sen. Rubio when he opted for a last-minute re-election bid in Florida, but he may be on the way to the last laugh, having quickly opened double-digit leads over both Democratic challengers,” said Peter, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

In Ohio, Portman leads former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland by 47-40 percent. Quinnipiac’s survey differs from a Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll released Wednesday that showed Portman and Strickland tied at 44 percent.

In Pennsylvania, Toomey holds a double-digit advantage over Democrat Katie McGinty 49-39 percent.

COMMENT:  Goody.

July 14, 2014        Permalink

RUTHIE EATS CROW – AT 10:40 A.M. ET:  Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has apologized for her sharp comments about Donald Trump.  From USA Today: 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg regrets her insults of Donald Trump.

The Supreme Court justice — who has been involved in a scuffle with the presumptive Republican nominee over the past few days — apologized for her remarks and promised to stay out of it in the future.

"On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them,” Ginsburg said in a statement. "Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect."

In three separate interviews the justice sounded off on Trump, at one point saying she didn't “want to contemplate” the effects a Trump candidacy would have on the court. Ginsburg is known for her liberal bent, but the comments created a firestorm nonetheless because members of the Supreme Court generally avoid getting involved in presidential politics.

Trump called on her to resign from her post and said “her mind is shot!”

But he wasn’t the only one unhappy with the remarks: Ginsburg received widespread (and bipartisan) criticism, even earning editorials from both The New York Times and TheWashington Post.

COMMENT:  There's a time to get off the stage, and Ruthie's time has come.   Her apology is appropriate but, should Trump become president, any action before the Supreme Court that involves his policies will make her opinions suspect.  She's cooked.

July 14, 2014       Permalink

ANOTHER BLOW TO HILLARY – AT 9:57 A.M. ET:  A new New York Times/CBS News poll shows the presidential race dead even.  This poll is no better than any other, but it carries the Times and CBS names, and is thus widely consulted.  From The New York Times: 

Hillary Clinton has emerged from the F.B.I. investigation into her email practices as secretary of state a wounded candidate with a large and growing majority of voters saying she cannot be trusted, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

As Mrs. Clinton prepares to accept the Democratic Party’s nomination at the convention in Philadelphia this month, she will confront an electorate in which 67 percent of voters say she is not honest and trustworthy. That number is up five percentage points from a CBS News poll conducted last month, before the F.B.I. released its findings.

Mrs. Clinton’s six-percentage-point lead over the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump, in a CBS News poll last month has evaporated. The two candidates are now tied in a general election matchup, the new poll indicates, with each receiving the support of 40 percent of voters.

Any single poll is but a snapshot, and many other polls show Mrs. Clinton with a narrow but consistent lead over Mr. Trump. The Times/CBS News survey was conducted shortly after the release of the F.B.I. report on her email practices that suggested they were imprudent but not illegal. The damage from those revelations may or may not prove lasting.

COMMENT:  True, the polls can change dramatically.  I've seen some new anti-Trump ads that are devastating and effective, using Trump's own foolish quotes, in his own voice.  The one person who can defeat Donald Trump is Donald Trump.

But the one person who can defeat Hillary Clinton is Hillary Clinton, and she is doing a good job.

Both conventions are coming up.  The GOP meets Monday.  Veep choices are coming up.  Let's check the polls in three weeks or so.

July 14,  2014     Permalink