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.

JUNE 11,  2017

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

SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT – FROM DAILY CALLER:   Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate former attorney general Loretta Lynch instructing James Comey to mislead the public about the Clinton email investigation.  Comey testified on Thursday that Lynch instructed him, without explanation, to call the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use a private email server as secretary of a state a “matter” instead of an investigation. Lynch’s request, Comey said, made him feel “queasy” as it appeared she was “looking to align the way we talked about our work with the way the political campaign was describing the same activity, which was inaccurate.”  Feinstein is to be praised for her call, which goes against the interests of her own party.  Now the Republicans must follow up.  Of course this needs to be investigated!

SOME GOOD DECISIONS – FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:  Delta Airlines and Bank of America pulled out of their sponsorship of New York’s Public Theater on Sunday over a production of “Julius Caesar” that reimagines the main character as President Trump.  Shortly after Delta, who was a four-year sponsor, made its announcement, Bank of America yanked its support as well.  The Shakespeare in the Park play tells the story of the leader assassinated by Roman senators over the fear that he’s becoming too tyrannical, but rather than the original setting, the production stages Caesar (Gregg Henry) and his wife, Calpurnia, (Tina Benko) with Donald and Melania Trump lookalikes.  Henry, who already played a Trump stand-in on “Scandal” last year, models his Caesar almost perfectly after the man in the Oval Office. He meets his end after being stabbed to death by women and minorities on stage.   This is the legendary "Free Shakespeare in the Park" series.  Was it necessary to sully even this to prove loyalty to the political left?  I look forward to other sponsors pulling out. 

I'M JUST SO EXCITED – FROM THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:  Political watchers in the Hamptons are finding themselves nostalgic about Camelot amid today’s reality show White House.
“All everybody can talk about is Caroline Kennedy having her eye on another (congressional) run,” says one prominent Hamptons-goer, freshly back from a long weekend out east — and about to embark on another.
According to that source — a Republican who knows President Trump personally and is in good standing with both the Clinton and Bush families — the Democratic Kennedy’s possible candidacy for a 2018 congressional seat is being regarded among some circles as part of a larger push for power by blue-blood elites out east.  “She’s the family matriarch now,” says our insider. “Even her son Jack, who’s 24, is the focus of talk about fulfilling the legacy.”  Will someone write Caroline a note and tell her we don't do dynasties?  Even the Roosevelts have faded, and Jeb Bush was handed the message last year. 

June 11, 2017      Permalink

PUERTO RICO VOTES – AN UNDERREPORTED STORY – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  Puerto Rico, which is essentially bankrupt, votes today, as it does periodically, on what its people want for their future.  But does the vote actually matter?  From the Miami Herald.

When Puerto Ricans vote Sunday on the political future for the U.S. territory, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is confident most will choose statehood.

“It’s unfortunate U.S. citizens here don’t have the same power,” he said. “We need to take action.”
But in some ways, the timing couldn’t be worse. With a political divide on the island, a deepening economic crisis and — critically — a lack of congressional support to become the 51st American state, experts say the vote seems unlikely to result in any real change.

“Now is the worst time and the worst manner to deal with the issue,” said Federico de Jesús, a Puerto Rico native and the former deputy director of the Governor of Puerto Rico’s Washington, D.C., office, under former Gov. Alejandro García Padilla, a member of the Popular Democratic Party who opposes statehood. “All parties agree that the current system needs to be modified, but this is definitely the wrong course of action.”

This will be the island’s fifth referendum asking Puerto Ricans to choose statehood, independence or keep some version of the current status as a commonwealth. Opposition groups who don’t believe in statehood and felt unrepresented on the ballot — which originally included only statehood and independence/free association — are boycotting the vote, and experts say a statehood verdict doesn’t necessarily represent what the population wants.

COMMENT:  Puerto Rico's problems will not be solved until the population is more unified, and heading more in one direction.  It is a very messy situation.

Many Puerto Ricans, of course, come to the mainland, and have become an important part of our economy.  And yet, the future of Puerto Rico is an invisible mainland issue.  When was the last time you saw it debated?

June 11, 2017        Permalink

THE WORM TURNS – AT 12:14 P.M. ET:  The Comey testimony has produced several dramatic turns.  Now it is Comey who is, in some circles at least, under investigation.  From Breitbart: 

A bipartisan group of powerful senators is asking the man believed to have helped ex-FBI Director James Comey leak his infamous “let this go” memo to the media to produce that memo for them.

Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-DE) — the chairs and ranking Democrats of the Senate Judiciary Committee and its National Security Subcommittee — sent a letter Thursday to Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman demanding he provide them with the original memo he supposedly leaked to CNN on Comey’s say-so.

The letter calls the memo, reported to describe President Donald Trump telling Comey to go easy on former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, “relevant to the Judiciary Committee’s ongoing investigative efforts.”

The letter also demanded all other memoranda Comey may have provided Richman and gave him only until midnight Friday. Breitbart News cannot confirm if Richman complied with the senators’ demands.

Richman confirmed to multiple news outlets Thursday that he was the “friend” whom Comey enlisted to leak the memo to the press. This ended speculation that began immediately after Comey admitted under oath he had leaked the memo containing his account of conversations between himself and President Donald Trump. Comey claimed that his hope in doing so, immediately after he was fired, was to force the appointment of a special counsel, which has now come to pass in the person of Comey’s predecessor as head of the FBI, Robert Mueller.

COMMENT:  I love the fact that the leak enabler is a Columbia law professor.  I wonder what he teaches his students.  Leaking 102?  Lawbreaking 304, a prerequisite to Bringing Down the Government 325? 

The sad thing here is that all these inquiries, which have uncovered so little, are making it more and more difficult for the government to govern.  And, of course, that is the Democratic purpose – to frustrate the will of the people by these tactics.  Who cares what those deplorables want?

June 11,  2017     Permalink

JUNE 10,  2017

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

I FEEL SO SORRY FOR THEM – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   Posh New Yorkers headed to the Hamptons and beyond this weekend were “freaking out” since private flights out of town were delayed by Donald Trump.  The president was headed to Bedminster, NJ, on Friday. But that meant other private fliers were grounded for a time.  Chopper service Blade sent out a Friday alert to riders announcing “epic weekend weather in the Hamptons, Nantucket, Newport and Jersey coast.”  But it also warned, “flights 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. will be impacted by frozen airspace due to Trump arrival in NYC.”  Some of the poshest probably called teams of lawyers to deal with the stress.

SELF-DELUSION – FROM THE HILL:  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) continued his praise of Jeremy Corbyn and the U.K.'s Labour Party Saturday, saying the left-leaning party gained seats in Parliament by standing up to British elites.  While speaking Saturday at The People's Summit in Chicago, Sanders said Labour supporters were successful "not by moving to the right, not by becoming more conciliatory - they won those seats by standing up to the ruling class.”  The anti-establishment senator praised his British counterpart before and after the U.K.’s general election. While Labour did not get a majority of seats in Parliament, they surpassed pollsters expectations and put the Conservative Party in a considerably weakened position  "We may not have won the campaign in 2016, but there is no question that we have won the battle of ideas,” he said.  Bernie, Bernie, Labour made progress because the Conservatives waged such an awful campaign.  Americans will not fall in love with socialism.  Oh, and by the way, congratulations on making more than a million dollars last year.

FEEL THEIR PAIN, THEIR ANGST – FROM ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:    A collection of TV creators say worries about Donald Trump’s presidency is making their jobs to create entertainment much more challenging.  A panel at the ATX Television Festival in Austin, Texas, on Friday, titled “Trumped Up TV,” was assembled to analyze the impact of the president on the industry. The consensus of the group is that Trump has been rather distracting, to say the least.  “How can I possibly focus?” said Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost). “There’s a lot of stress eating involved … more than anything else, the torrent of news and information is about the stuff you do to mitigate your stress to be effective.”  Royal Pains producer Michael Rauch agreed, noting he has a rule that no computers or cell phones are allowed in his writers’ room while the team is working. But the moment there’s a break “the next hour all we’re talking about is how horrendous and depressing it is, then we’re back to work trying to be funny.”  And we think soldiers in combat zones have it rough.  They should only know the stress of Hollywood comedy writers.

June 10, 2017       Permalink

CHALK ONE UP FOR THE BOSS – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  President Trump is one of the most active presidents I've seen.  And he is getting results.  Don't look for compliments, or even news reports on his accomplishments, from the mainstream media.  We'll have to shout this news ourselves.  From American Thinker: 

President Trump is delivering on his promise to end the role of America as “Uncle Sugar” for its allies, bearing the major burden of collective defense.   American taxpayers and American military personnel have ponied up money and lives for more than 70 years, while allies have devoted their resources elsewhere, freed up by the generosity of the superpower created by victory in World War II.

Yesterday, an extraordinary thing happened: The president of Romania, the former Soviet-era puppet enslaved by Stalin’s troops, came to the White House, and stood up during  Rose Garden press conference with President Trump, and stated that his country will start paying up its share of the burden for NATO – because of President Trump. CNS News reports:

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Friday that his country is increasing its contribution to NATO after hearing President Donald Trump's speech last month at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

During a joint press conference at the White House, Trump praised Iohannis for committing to increase Romania's defense spending to NATO from 1.4 percent to two percent, as Trump called for during his speech in Brussels on May 25. Trump said other nations are also starting to "realize that it's time to pay up."

"I was in Brussels, and I met President Trump. I listened to his speech, and I liked it, because you see NATO is based on values, but it is ultimately military alliance," the Romanian president said. A reporter asked whether Iohannis thought it was fair that Trump encouraged NATO members to pay but also countries, including Romania, who had not paid two percent in the past to make up for that difference.

"And you know, military spendings are complicated, and you need a lot of money, because NATO is the strongest alliance the earth ever saw, and we want to keep it that way, so we have to spend money for defense purposes," Iohannis said. "And spending money means if you're in alliance, everybody has to spend money. This is called burden-sharing, and I fully agree, Mr. President, to that."

COMMENT:   A breath of fresh air, needed in Washington.  More important than what was revealed at any hearing this week.

June 10, 2017       Permalink

COWARDICE ON CAMPUS – AT 11:30 A.M. ET:  It seems that college students can get away with pretty much anything these days, including rioting.  From College Fix: 

Actions don’t have consequences for Claremont McKenna College faculty.

Over the objections of the administration, professors voted to let students participate in graduation who are facing possible expulsion for shutting down "War on Cops" author Heather Mac Donald in her April campus speech, The Claremont Independent reports.

This was an unprecedented break with college policy, as was made clear by Dean of Faculty Peter Uvin’s May 4 letter to professors, obtained by the Independent:

I inform you that there are among this group of [graduating] students a number who are currently … the subject of a Conduct Investigation and Review process related to the blockade and other disruptions at the Athenaeum and the Kravis building on April 6, 2017.

The school’s “expedited conduct review process” is “not appropriate” in any of the cases, which is a first in college history, Uvin wrote:

The charges against these students are sufficiently significant for the College to have activated the procedure that carries the highest potential sanctions, including suspension or expulsion. It is wrong to let students, over whom such significant doubts as to their good standing exist, graduate from the College as if these concerns did not exist. In the past, the College solved this conundrum by dramatically expediting conduct processes … Today, and rightly so, conduct processes have become much more complicated, with many more intermediary steps designed to protect the respondents to serious charges. The result is that we are now obliged to directly grapple with this question: are we willing to simply graduate students against whom there was sufficient preliminary evidence to warrant a Conduct Investigation and Review process?

COMMENT:  At least the dean had the courage to write that.  Good man.  I wonder if he'll survive.  The behavior of the faculty was pretty typical in today's colleges.

Read the whole thing.  It's a terrific, if depressing, story.

June 10, 2017       Permalink

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME! – AT 10:48 A.M. ET:  There is considerable buzz that Kirsten Gillibrand, US senator from New York, may run for president in 2020.  She's known as "the hottest senator," and is indeed attractive.  But she may also become known as the dumbest senator.  Consider, from Heatstreet: 

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) slammed President Trump with colorful language Friday, saying he has not kept his promises.

"Has he kept his promises? No. F--- no,” she said while addressing the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City.

“If we are not helping people, we should go the f--- home," she continued, repeating a line she used in an April New York magazine interview while talking about paid family leave legislation.

The New York senator is seen increasingly as a rising star within the Democratic Party, spurring chatter that she could be a candidate for president in 2020.

COMMENT:  Who does she think she's appealing to?  Does our nothing senator realize that the country isn't made up entirely of hip college students and "urban males"?  Does she think she's being cool?

It seems to be a trend in the Democratic Party.  The new senator from California, Kamala Harris, aside from being shockingly rude to witnesses at committee hearings, has also spoken publicly using disgusting language.

The new Democratic national chairman, Tom Perez, has made speeches, with children on the stage, using obscenity.

And they tell us that Trump is crude.

The Republican Party is having its problems, but the Democratic Party is a disgrace.  It has no real leadership, Hillary is hanging on, Nancy Pelosi can't remember the name of the president, Biden attacks Hillary's campaign, and there are no young leaders of any stature.  And now we have active, unashamed vulgarity, even out of the mouths of female senators.  What a bunch!

The Dems win only when the Republicans mess things up, and, sadly, they are expert at that.

June 10,  2017     Permalink