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JULY 17,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:56 P.M. ET:

NOW WE'RE TALKIN' – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   Several students involved in a large and aggressive protest against a pro-police speech at Claremont McKenna College in April that blocked the public from attending the talk have now been punished, the school announced Monday.  The throng had surrounded the building, forcing the speaker, “The War on Cops” author Heather Mac Donald, to give the talk via livestream to a near-empty room as demonstrators yelled “F*ck the police” and “Black Lives Matter” and banged on the venue’s windows.  After reviewing video and photos of the blockade, the college has punished seven students: Three received one-year suspensions, two received one-semester suspensions, and two were put on conduct probation, the college’s announcement said.  Officials also issued provisional suspensions of on-campus privileges to four non-students who appear to have played significant roles in the blockade, according to the statement.  It's a good start.  There must be a certainty of punishment for those who violate school rules. 

HEALTH CARE CRISIS – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Declaring defeat in the current the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday night that his chamber will vote to completely repeal President Obama’s health care program — with a two-year delay to come up with a replacement.  “Regretfully, it is now apparent that the effort to repeal and immediately replace the failure of Obamacare will not be successful,” McConnell said in a statement.  McConnell wants the Senate to vote on a 2015 bill that passed both chambers and was vetoed by President Obama.  The two-year delay would “provide for a stable transition period to a patient-centered health care system,” MCConnell said.  The move comes after two Republican senators came out against the current bill.  Republicans must get this right.  They've had years to come up with a replacement for Obamacare.  Simple repeal right now seems like the best way to go, with a two-year delay to form a new plan.  Now the GOP must move on to tax cuts for the American people.  If the party cannot execute that it will deserve to lose the 2018 election.

WONDERFUL – FROM FOX:  World World ll widow Catherine Tauer this week received something she had longed for for seven decades.  The remains of the love of her life, Army Staff Sgt. Gerald “Jerry” Jacobsen were returned to her in Minnesota this week after years of resting under a nameless cross in France.  “This is such a lift to my heart,” said Tauer, 94. “It’s wonderful to have him home.”  Tauer and Jacobsen were married in 1943. Jacobsen was 27 when he went missing in action in 1944. He was declared dead a year later.  Every morning Tauer greeted a picture of her husband beside her bedside table, all while searching for his remains to no avail.  “He was just so good to me. No one could ever take his place.” The personal saga of World War II goes on.

July 17, 2017       Permalink

CAN TRUMP GET THINGS BACK ON TRACK? – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  You can't blame Trump entirely for the muddled messages we're getting from Washington.  After all, the press is relentlessly negative and has tried to torpedo him at every turn.  But still, he has to move more effectively to retake the bully pulpit.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

WASHINGTON—The White House on Monday will embark on a three-week messaging campaign aimed at refocusing attention on President Donald Trump’s agenda and framing a debate later this summer over rewriting the U.S. tax code.

The “Made In America” campaign, which starts with the president highlighting locally made products from around the country, is the latest attempt by Mr. Trump’s communications team to control a narrative that has consistently spun out of their grasp during the six months since the inauguration.

The challenge controlling the message is partly due to turmoil within the West Wing over strategy and tactics. Disagreements continue over how the communications shop should be organized and on what policies the team should concentrate, White House officials said. These conflicts have impaired the president’s ability to hire experienced Republican communicators, with even some of Mr. Trump’s supporters declining White House posts.

Scott Jennings, a consistent defender of the president on television and an ally of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refused White House inquiries about taking a senior-level position in the communications department, two White House officials said.

But the team’s biggest hurdle may be inside the Oval Office. Mr. Trump, who often says he is his own best adviser on politics and communications, frequently strays from the White House’s script and has fought attempts to tone down his Twitter persona, of which many top aides—and a majority of the American public—say they disapprove. Several senior administration officials privately complain that the White House’s main problem is decision-making, not public relations.

COMMENT:  A very straightforward report.  Let's see if the Trump White House can get a clear message of accomplishment out without stepping all over it.

And the White House must have a plan to stick to that message even in the face of efforts by CNN and others to get attention back to the "Russia" issue, which is their bread and non-cholesterol margarine right now. 

Trump should take a lesson from Reagan, who also faced a hostile press:  Speak directly to the American people.  The press will never be for you.

July 17, 2017       Permalink

KOREA UPDATE – AT 10:24 A.M. ET:  The new South Korean government is making some diplomatic moves that must be carefully monitored.  This government is less vigilant toward North Korea than the last one.  That could be a problem, a serious one, if there is a major confrontation with the North.  From Fox: 

South Korea is willing to put the North’s first intercontinental ballistic missile test aside and work with the isolated regime on easing tensions and resuming reunions of families separated by their war in the 1950s.

Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo Suk said Monday the South’s defense officials are proposing talks at the border village of Panmunjom on Friday to discuss how to end hostile activities along the border. Seoul’s acting Red Cross chief Kim Sun Hyang said it wants separate talks at the border village on Aug. 1 to discuss family reunions.

Seoul's proposal for two sets of talks indicates President Moon Jae-in is pushing to improve ties with Pyongyang despite the North's first intercontinental ballistic missile this month.

Moon reiterated earlier this month he's willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if conditions are met. Moon also said the two Koreas must halt hostile activities along the border, restart family reunions and cooperate on the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Moon has said he would use both dialogues and pressures to resolve the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program. But his push has reported little progress with the North test-firing a series of newly developed missiles since Moon's May 10 inauguration.

COMMENT:  Sometimes negotiations are good.  But other times they are simply a stall that gives a determined enemy more time to advance and build up.

If the South Korean government goes soft, all our efforts to contain North Korea can go down the drain.  That is why every diplomatic move must be carefully watched.

July 17, 2017       Permalink

GOOD FOR BETSY – AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  Betsy DeVos, a wealthy woman who could have spent her life going to parties, instead has devoted it to serving the educational needs of America's children.  Now she is secretary of education, and, of course, a target for every crackpot, self-server, lazy educator and corrupt ideologist out there.  But she is staying her course, and doing the right thing.  From the Politico: 

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she is "returning" the Office for Civil Rights "to its role as a neutral, impartial, investigative agency."

In a July 11 letter to Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, DeVos asserted that the department's civil rights arm under the Obama administration "had descended into a pattern of overreaching, of setting out to punish and embarrass institutions rather than work with them to correct civil rights violations and of ignoring public input prior to issuing new rules."

As part of the changes she is implementing, the civil rights office would no longer issue "new regulations via administrative fiat," as the Obama administration did, she wrote.

DeVos' letter, which lays out a far less activist philosophy for the civil rights office, came in response to a letter sent late last month by 34 Senate Democrats, who blasted her for a series of actions they said had "diminished" civil rights enforcement. The lawmakers asked DeVos for a host of information by July 11, including a list of civil rights investigations that have been closed or dismissed since the Trump administration began. DeVos didn't provide any of the information in her response.

COMMENT:  The "letter" is from a Democratic contingent under the control of the far left.  Who cares about real guilt or innocence?   Who cares about due process in campus sexual assault investigations?  Who cares about anything except what we want?

DeVos will run into plenty of opposition as she tries to lift the reign of terror carried out by the "office of civil rights," which, under Obama, often looked more like an inquisition.  Students were, under federal rules, dragged up before Soviet-style campus panels convened to "investigate" sexual assault charges.  The standard of proof was set so low that a ham sandwich could be convicted.   Students were deemed guilty, rather than given the presumption of innocence.   There were horrible abuses, like the recent case art the University of Virginia, which stained, for life, the reputations of boys in a fraternity.

Many young men sued the universities, on grounds that any semblance of due process was stripped from them during "investigations."  Many have won their cases.

I don't know if Betsy will win.  Powerful forces are aligned against her, and the Republican Party is not notably courageous in taking on big fights.  But she's on the right side.

July 17,  2017     Permalink

JULY 16,  2017

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

SAME OLD, SAME OLD – FROM FOX:   Sen. Bernie Sanders’ wife, Jane Sanders, is crying sexism against the man responsible for an FBI investigation into the allegations she fraudulently obtained a loan for the Vermont college she once oversaw.  “I find it incredibly sexist that basically he’s going after my husband by destroying my reputation, and that’s not OK,” Jane Sanders told The Boston Globe.  It won't work, Jane.  The "sexism" card is way overplayed.  This case began under the Obama administration.  Nothing sexist about it.

MARTIN LANDAU DIES – FROM CNN:  (CNN) Martin Landau, 89, a character actor who starred in the 1960s television show "Mission: Impossible" and won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in the movie "Ed Wood," died Saturday, his publicist Dick Guttman said Sunday night.  Landau died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles following "unexpected complications during a short hospitalization," Guttman said in a statement.  An excellent actor whose work on the iconic "Mission Impossible" series helped define an era in television history.  He starred alongside his wife, Barbara Bain.  Now his ex-wife, she lives on. 

EXPLAIN THIS TO THE INSURANCE COMPANY – FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH:  Bruce Redding returned home from the gym Sunday afternoon to find an SUV on his roof and much of the front of his house destroyed.  Authorities say the speeding SUV had hit an embankment and launched into the air, like something out of a Hollywood movie, before crashing down on Redding’s roof in the 5900 block of Lillian Avenue. He was told the SUV sped down Mimika Avenue to where that street ends in a T-intersection in front of his home.  “I can see straight through my house,” said Redding, 66, who had recently paid off the home.   I'd like to know the driver's record.  Not every driver can end up on the top of a house.  Maybe it's global warming. 

July 16, 2017       Permalink

MUST HE? – AT 1:26 P.M. ET:  I guess they all have to do it.  Deposed FBI Director James Comey is writing a book.  It would have been more appropriate for him to wait a year.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

Former FBI Director James Comey is writing a book about his career in public service, including his dramatic and short tenure in the Trump administration, and all major publishing houses have expressed interest, his literary agent said.

Comey has been meeting with editors and publishers in New York in recent days and is being represented by literary agency Javelin partners Keith Urbahn and Matt Latimer, the New York Times reports. It will not be a "tell-all memoir," the report says, but it will delve into his role in the Hillary Clinton email investigation and his conversations with President Donald Trump regarding the Russian election interference probe:

"It’s a book about leadership and his search for truth, informed by lessons and experiences he’s had throughout his career, including his recent experiences in the Trump administration," said Mr. Latimer, whose agency also represents Tucker Carlson and Donna Brazile. "It will speak to a broader desire in our country for more ethical leadership."

COMMENT:  Seems to me awkward for Comey to be accepting a book contract now, when we know he'll be called to give testimony in the future.  Whether he means to give the impression or not, it looks like a grudge job. 

The tone in Washington is terrible. 

July 16, 2017       Permalink

ON THIS DATE – AT 12:42 P.M. ET:   The world changed on this date in 1945.  It was the date of "Trinity," the first nuclear explosion in history, carried out by the United States at a test site in New Mexico.

Trinity was the culmination of the Manhattan Project, carried out under the direction of Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves and the nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.  The Manhattan Project was so named because some of its early work was done at Columbia University in New York's borough of Manhattan.  The urgent objective was to be sure the Nazis didn't get the nuclear bomb first, and use it to win the Second World War. 

But Nazi Germany had already surrendered by the time Trinity was conducted.  The Japanese, though, were still fighting, and plans were being finalized for an Allied invasion of Japan later in 1945.  The casualty predictions were horrifying. 

Once Trinity proved that an atomic bomb would work, American strategists focused on using it to bring a quick end to World War II, without the need for an invasion of the Japanese mainland.  The first operational atomic bomb was thus dropped on Hiroshima by a B-29 bomber named the "Enola Gay" on August 6th.  Please note the remarkable speed with which the United States, under its new president, Harry S. Truman, acted after the Trinity test.   From Trinity to Hiroshima was only three weeks.  On August 9th a second nuclear bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.  The Japanese capitulated on August 14th. 

The nuclear bomb was, and is, the most destructive weapon man has ever developed.  And yet its use by the United States, although it resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands, undoubtedly saved the lives of millions of others by ending the largest war in history.  Over the years, some historians have argued that the bomb wasn't necessary, that Japan would have surrendered within weeks anyway.  But that view has faded in light of facts that have come out, some of them revealed by Japanese historians.  In truth, Japan had no intention of surrendering.  The real power in the country lay with the Japanese army, which believed in a fight to the death.

Today we are facing the same fear of nuclear proliferation that began to emerge at the end of World War II.   Still, we should not regret our development of the nuclear weapon.  It probably saved a generation of young Americans, still fighting in the Pacific in August of 1945.  They deserved to live, too.

July 16,  2017     Permalink

NORTH KOREA – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:  It's the usual story.  At some point we find out that our enemies are "further ahead" than we'd believed.  This time it's North Korea, and the issue is nuclear.  From AFP:  

Seoul (AFP) - New images of North Korea's main nuclear facility show that the isolated regime has apparently produced more plutonium for its weapons programme than previously thought, a US monitor said, as tensions soar over Pyongyang's ambitions.

The respected 38 North website, a monitoring project linked to Johns Hopkins university, said Friday that thermal imagery of the Yongbyon nuclear complex appeared to show that Pyongyang had reprocessed spent fuel rods at least twice between last September and June this year.

"The Radiochemical Laboratory operated intermittently and there have apparently been at least two unreported reprocessing campaigns to produce an undetermined amount of plutonium that can further increase North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile," it said.

North Korea deactivated the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it after Pyongyang's third nuclear test in 2013.

Increased thermal activity was also noted at Yongbyon's uranium enrichment facility but it was unclear whether this indicated a push to increase supplies, possibly for weapons, or if it was part of maintenance operations, the website said.

COMMENT:  We have gotten absolutely nowhere with North Korea.  Years of "agreements" and "strategic patience" have produced no reduction in the growing North Korean threat.

And yet, a military solution is almost too ghastly to contemplate, as even a single "punishment" strike could quickly turn into a major ground war with mass casualties.

Douglas MacArthur once said that all military disasters begin with two words:  too late.  We have been too late in dealing with North Korea, with one administration after the other kicking the can down the road.  Now Trump is stuck with the problem, and the opposition party will oppose him no matter what he does.

July 16,  2017     Permalink