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JULY 25,  2017

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

MADNESS – FROM LEGAL INSURRECTION:  Higher education’s crusade to eradicate masculine white men continues in the Ivy League. Since March, Princeton University recently filled an opening for a very particular position — Interpersonal Violence Clinician and Men’s Engagement Manager.  The position, which is part of the campus's SHARE office (Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources, and Education), “works closely with a network of campus and community partners to foster a University environment that is intolerant of abuse, responsive to needs of survivors, and holds perpetrators accountable for their actions. We aim to contribute to a campus culture in which interpersonal violence has no place and our distinctive community of learning is free to flourish.”  One of the most concerning aspects of the job is the provision that allows for punishing students (men) who’ve been accused, not found guilty or convicted, but simply accused of sexual misconduct under Title IX.  Princeton's historic mascot has been the Princeton tiger.  Maybe a pussycat would be better.

CAPITOL HILL CULTURE – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, apologized to Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, after she was caught on a hot mic making derogatory comments about Farenthold at the end of a Senate hearing Tuesday.  "Neither weapons nor inappropriate words are the right way to resolve legislative debates," Collins said in a statement Tuesday to CNN. "I received a handwritten apology from Rep. Farenthold late this morning. I accept his apology, and I offer him mine."  In a statement to the Washington Examiner earlier Tuesday, Farenthold had no comment on Collins's statements.  Collins issued her apology after she was heard telling Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., that Farenthold is "so unattractive it's unbelievable" after a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Tuesday.  "Well, fat guy. He's huge," Collins told Reed. "He's so … he's so unattractive, it's unbelievable. Did you see the picture of him in his pajamas next to this bunny, this Playbook bunny?  Well at least she didn't call him Hitler, which is the gold standard for Washington epithets these days.

NEW HOUSING BOOM – FROM BLOOMBERG:   Business has never been better at Atlas Survival Shelters, which ships bunkers to customers around the world from its U.S. factories. Among the best sellers: the BombNado, with a starting price of $18,999.  The popularity of the company’s doomsday fortifications is no surprise, considering the state of the world in general and, specifically, Kim Jong-Un’s pursuit of a missile that can hit the continental U.S. Curiously, though, the most furious surge of interest isn’t in America but Japan, a country that’s long been within North Korea’s striking distance.  “Japan’s going hog wild right now,” said Ron Hubbard, owner of Atlas Survival. The Montebello, California-based company makes about a dozen different underground refuge models intended to be inhabitable for six months to a year, some outfitted with escape tunnels, decontamination rooms and bulletproof hatches.  I wonder when they'll be featured in Architectural Digest.  The boom in shelters isn't that surprising, given the inability of the laughably labeled "international community" to stop North Korea's nuclear program.

July 25, 2017       Permalink

SUCH EXCITEMENT, I CAN'T STAND IT – AT 5:22 P.M. ET:  The Democrats went to a little town in Virginia to unveil to the world their exciting new program to save America and much of the immediate universe. 

It was a pathetic show.  From McClatchy: 

BERRYVILLE, VA. – The Democratic Party’s top leaders talked about reviving Teddy Roosevelt’s fights against big corporations, mimicked Bernie Sanders’ calls for a massive minimum wage hike, and echoed Franklin Roosevelt’s promise to deliver a “New Deal” to the American public.

It was the kind of message the party’s liberal wing has waited years to hear.

“For a long time the Democratic Party has been pretty timid about the role of government,” said Tamara Draut, a vice president of policy and research at the liberal think tank Demos. “It’s a good thing to see them leaning in to it.”

In an attempt to prove they are about more than saying “no” to President Donald Trump, the party’s congressional leaders gathered Monday in this small Virginia town to unveil an agenda they hope will unite Democrats for the foreseeable future. It didn’t include any mention of the polarizing president or the investigation into his campaign’s ties to the Russian government, a decision Democrats say they made deliberately to show they have their own ideas and messages.

The leaders and their aides say Democrats tried to conceive an agenda any Democrat can run on — whether the candidate is in a deep red state or bright blue city — a months-long process they describe as exacting and careful to bring everybody on board.

But the most important audience for their “Better Deal” program was the party’s increasingly vocal liberal wing, which has blamed the party’s electoral wipeout in recent elections on the establishment’s perceived political timidity and fealty to corporate interests.

COMMENT:  It's absurd.  You can't appeal to moderates and hard leftists at the same time.  The leftists despise moderates more than they despise conservatives. 

It was sad to see Chuck Schumer speaking for the Dems.  Doesn't he understand it's not his party any longer?  Schumer, with all his faults, is an intelligent, sane guy, although a liberal.   His was the Democratic Party of Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy.  The new Dems are the party of George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama.  They'll ease Chuck out as fast as they can.

Neither party, right now, has much to brag about.  The Republicans are in the best position numerically they've enjoyed in almost a century, but don't know how to govern.  The Democrats are losing everywhere, but believe the nation is yearning for their return.

Does the term "third party" appeal to you?

July 25, 2017        Permalink

BUT THE TROOPS ARE GETTING ANGRY – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:   Related to the post just below.  Trump's assault on Jeff Sessions isn't winning him any warmth among Republicans in the Senate.  Sessions was one of them.  And this could be trouble for the president down the line.  What if the House were to flip to the Dems next year, and the Dems impeached Trump?  He'd then be tried by a Senate where even his own party dislikes him.  From McClatchy: 

President Donald Trump is getting a bitter Washington lesson when he messes with Jeff Sessions – you don't pick a fight with one of the Senate's guys.

It's a lesson that could cost him politically in a Senate where he badly needs Republican support for his lengthy agenda, starting with healthcare on Tuesday.

"I don’t understand it. There’s no more honorable person I’ve ever met in my life than Jeff Sessions,” said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., a close friend of Sessions and his wife. “The only person who is more upset with Trump about this than me, is my wife.”

Sessions spent 20 years in the Senate, winning a reputation for affability and party loyalty. He understood and doggedly practiced the code of what's been called the world's most exclusive club: You can disagree without being disagreeable, but you protect the institution and its members.

Trump, clearly, doesn’t play by those rules.

COMMENT:  And remember that the Senate would have to confirm any replacement for Sessions.  Even Republicans might slow-walk the process.,

Byron York reported on Fox this morning that Sessions is being advised by friends not to resign.  Let the president fire him.  If Trump were actually faced with the prospect of firing the first senator to support his election campaign, he might realize he's going over a cliff.

July 25, 2017       Permalink

THEY'RE ALREADY PLAYING TAPS – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:  I did think that Trump would calm down about Jeff Sessions.  But it now appears he really does feel betrayed by Sessions's move to recuse himself from the Russia probe, opening the way for special counsel Robert Mueller.

I cannot see how Sessions can survive the new attacks from Trump.  From Fox: 

President Trump took his criticism of Jeff Sessions to a new level Tuesday morning, describing his stance on Hillary Clinton's alleged misdeeds as “VERY weak” -- amid reports the president has spoken with advisers about the possibility of firing the attorney general. 

The president unleashed a battery of tweets berating Sessions for the absence of an investigation into Clinton’s connections to Ukraine and Russia.

“Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign – 'quietly working to boost Clinton.' So where is the investigation A.G.," he began, tweeting at Fox News' Sean Hannity.

Moments later, he added: “Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!” 

COMMENT:  The death watch has begun.  The buzz mentions Rudy Giuliani or Ted Cruz as possible replacements for Sessions.  Rudy, however, says he's not under consideration.  And not only that:  he expressed clear support for Sessions's decision to recuse.

Cruz is brilliant, but personally obnoxious.  He is disliked intensely by many members of the Senate, which would have to confirm him.  During the campaign, Trump attacked Cruz viciously when Cruz was still a candidate for the presidential nomination.

And July is supposed to be a dull month in politics.

July 25,  2017     Permalink

JULY 24,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:18 P.M. ET: 

MSNBC RISES – FROM NBC:  NEW YORK (July 24, 2017) – For the first time in the network’s 21-year history, MSNBC finished the week as the most-watched cable network during weekday prime (M-F 8-11pm) in total viewers. According to Nielsen, MSNBC ended the week of July 17-21 as the #1 cable network for all weekday prime, averaging 2.34 million viewers, ahead of FOX News at 2.25 million. MSNBC was previously #1 in cable news in weekday prime during the weeks of May 15, 2017 (behind TNT) and September 3, 2012 (behind USA) among total viewers, but this was the 1st time MSNBC was #1 among all of cable.  Additionally, MSNBC’s 7pm through midnight lineup was the #1 cable network in total viewers.  Can't deny they're doing well, but I wouldn't despair just yet.  Their "victory" over Fox was narrow, and Fox has had a particularly bad year, with constant personnel problems.  MSNBC is now the go-to network for the left, and is probably grabbing viewers from CNN, which is going through an identity crisis.  I don't see MSNBC having the clout that Fox still has.

I'M NOT SO SURE THIS IS PROGRESS – FROM FOX:    A Wisconsin tech company says they are about to become the first business in the U.S. to offer microchip implants to its employees.  Three Square Market (32M), a River Falls-based software design company, says starting August 1st, it will be offering microchips to all their employees. The chips will be implanted underneath the skin between the thumb and forefinger, which will allow employees to pay for food and drinks in the company’s break room, open security doors, and login into their computers without any special cards—or passwords.  And what do you do if someone steals your password, run to the emergency room and demand a chip-o-dectomy?

THE NEW DEMOCRATS? – FROM REALCLEARPOLITICS.COM:  Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) ripped President Trump for his immigration policy in a sermon at Chicago's Lincoln United Methodist Church on Saturday. The Democratic Congressman said Trump is the "major criminal" and he will "eliminate" him as president when the Democrats win a majority in the House.  The Lincoln United Methodist Church is a sanctuary church and according to Gutierrez's website, he "spoke to a packed house about the need to defend DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and other forms of legal immigration status that are under attack from Republicans and Donald Trump."  Gutierrez said that while Trump is attempting to criminalize immigrants, the president is the "real criminal." The Congressman said illegal immigrants are not criminals and that history will determine who the true criminals are.  If an immigrant is illegal, how can he or she not be a criminal?  I'm afraid this is the new Democratic Party, and it will drown out any voices of reason.

July 24,  2017     Permalink

SOME PROGRESS – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:   Occasionally the good guys get going.  And bad guys get hammered.  It may take some time, but it's gratifying when it happens.  From College Fix: 

Yvette Felarca may be the highest profile militant leftist activist in America based on her leading role in black-bloc riots, including those that forced the cancellation of Milo Yiannopoulos’s UC-Berkeley event last year.

Now the Berkeley Unified School District teacher and By All Means Necessary leader has finally been arrested, more than a year after she was captured on video beating up a “white nationalist” at a rally in Sacramento.

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office announced last week Felarca was arrested in southern California “on charges of Assault by Means of Force Likely to Inflict Great Bodily Injury, Participating in a Riot, and inciting a riot. We have no further information as to Felarca’s court date at this time.”

The office noted the Traditional Worker’s Party had legal permits for the June 26, 2016 protest, but Felarca and her comrades did not: “In the hours that followed, violent clashes occurred between the two groups resulting in a number of assaults and several stabbings.”

COMMENT:  We have reason to fear that, as the new academic year starts, and the runups to the 2018 midterms begin, there will be more violence and more provocations.  Only firm action and the certainty of punishment will keep the peace.  That is a lesson we have to learn over and over.   Some never learn it at all.  They're called liberals.  Or professors.

July 23, 2017       Permalink

FASCINATING – AT 11:29 A.M. ET:  One of the great political games is to try to determine how popular a president is at any given time, and how that popularity translates into achievements...or failures. 

The pollsters, love 'em or not, are critical to these analyses.  Gallup has an interesting take on Trump, state by state.  From The Hill:   

President Trump has averaged a job approval rating of 50 percent or higher in 17 states since taking office earlier this year, according to a Gallup survey.

Trump has recorded a job approval rating of below 40 percent in the same number of states, however, according to the poll.

The president has had some of his highest approval ratings in the Southern, Plains and Mountain West states. His highest marks came in West Virginia, North Dakota and South Dakota, where his approval ratings were near 60 percent.

Trump received some of his lowest job approval ratings in states in the Northeast and along the West Coast. Those states include Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland and California, where Trump received job approval ratings of 30 percent or less.

The results are based on Gallup tracking polls from Jan. 20 to June 30 that included interviews with more than 81,000 adults.

COMMENT:  Not shocking and not particularly disturbing.  Even though Trump won the election, his approval on election day, on average, was in the forties.   He always underpolls.  The actual result is better than his poll numbers.  I think some of his potential opponents realize that.  Even reporters might realize it.

Barack Obama spent a good part of his presidency in the low forties.  It was only toward the end that he began to rise again, possibly the result of some racial good will in the population.  But his policies were never particularly popular, nor did the public seem to have great confidence in him.  There was a hollowness about the Obama presidency, a feeling that nobody was home. 

One of Ronald Reagan's major strengths was the belief of most Americans that he would do the right thing for his country.  There was that gut confidence.  That's golden in politics.  It cannot be replaced, and often cannot be explained.  Call it spiritual if you wish.  It is one of the reasons Reagan is so revered by so many. 

Trump has not yet achieved that confidence.  It will come if he can produce solid achievements, can stay out of his own way, and enhance the connection with the American people that led to his November victory.  He is a work in progress, or a work in deterioration, depending on how you see it.

July 23, 2017       Permalink 

JARED SPEAKS – AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, will testify before Congress today on his contacts with Russia.  I doubt if most Americans care at this point, as months of "reporting" have discovered nothing particularly unusual about those contacts.  But the Democrats care passionately, as conspiracy theories have replaced policy in their ranks.  From NBC News:

President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on Monday released a statement detailing four contacts with Russians during the election and transition, hours before he was due to be interviewed by staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

“I did not collude, nor know of anyone else in the campaign who colluded, with any foreign government,” he said in the statement. “I had no improper contacts.”

The Intelligence Committee is investigating Russia's alleged attempted interference in the 2016 presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the covert operation was intended to damage Hillary Clinton's campaign and evolved into an attempt to help Trump win.

If that was their intent, they didn't get much for the effort.  Trump is tougher on the Russians than Obama ever was.

Kushner arrived at Capitol Hill for his interviews around 9:40 a.m., and did not respond to questions being shouted by reporters.

He is expected to be questioned about his relationships with Russian officials, including his participation in a meeting last year with a Kremlin-linked lawyer.

“I have not relied on Russian funds to finance my business activities in the private sector,” he said in Monday’s statement. “I have tried to be fully transparent with regard to the filing of my SF-86 form [for White House security clearance] above and beyond what is required. Hopefully, this puts these matters to rest.”

He also said that a June 2016 meeting that included Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was such a “waste of time” that he asked his assistant to call him out of the gathering.

COMMENT:  The White House has begun actively to fight back against the rumors and accusations.  The president can expect no help from the press or even his own wayward party.  But don't underestimate the resilience of the family.

July 24, 2017      Permalink