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JUNE 15,  2017

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

WISE STATEMENT – FROM THE HILL:  The Justice Department issued a statement Thursday night warning the media and other Americans against believing anonymous sources, and warning that the Justice Department doesn't confirm statements from unnamed officials.  "Americans should exercise caution before accepting as true any stories attributed to anonymous 'officials,' particularly when they do not identify the country - let alone the branch or agency of government - with which the alleged sources supposedly are affiliated," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote Thursday.  "Americans should be skeptical about anonymous allegations," the statement continues. "The Department of Justice has a long-standing policy to neither confirm or deny such allegations."  It's about time someone said this.

BIG MOUTH FUMBLES – FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:  Elizabeth Banks messed up, and she is very sorry.  Those are the words Banks used in a tweet posted Thursday afternoon, a lengthy apology directed at Steven Spielberg and anyone offended by her comments on Tuesday night from the podium at Women in Film's Crystal + Lucy Awards, where she claimed Spielberg had never directed a film featuring a female lead.   "I framed my comments inaccurately. I want to be clear from the start that I take full responsibility for what I said and I'm sorry," posted Banks, who made the gaffe during her acceptance speech for the Crystal Award for Excellence in Film, presented to her by Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley. "When I made the comments, I was thinking of recent films Steven directed, it was not my intention to dismiss the import of the iconic #TheColorPurple."  My dear, grown-ups do their research before they open their mouths, especially when attacking a revered director.  Why do I think this thespian will have trouble  getting another job?

June 15, 2017      Permalink

TRUMP APPROVAL STILL HOLDS– AT 10:43 A.M. ET:  We are constantly being assured that the president is collapsing.  He is a goner.  Off the charts unpopular.  While it's true that some polls show slippage in his approval, others do not.  And we should remember that Barack Obama spent most of his presidency with approval in the low forties.  From Rasmussen, today:   

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 47% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.

The latest figures for Trump include 30% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 44% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -14.

A sizable number of voters, including most Republicans, believe former FBI Director James Comey should be punished for leaking to the media.  

Following Comey’s public testimony before a Senate panel last week, voters tend to believe that President Trump tried to interfere with the Russia probe. But as usual, party affiliation makes a big difference.

Fifty-four percent (54%) of voters think Congress should investigate whether Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s Attorney General, sought to influence the FBI’s probe of Hillary Clinton’s handling of top secret information in her e-mails.

A gunman with a reported history of posting anti-Trump and anti-Republican messages on social media opened fire on Republican members of Congress during baseball practice yesterday in Virginia. Rasmussen Reports is asking voters whether or not they think the shooting represents a growing trend toward political violence in this country and will release those results tomorrow.

COMMENT:  On balance, not bad for the president.  If he can score some legislative victories, he might start moving ahead.  He is under relentless attack, but the attacks are falling short.

Reagan was very far down at one point.  Truman was almost lost.  Look at their reputations today.

June 15, 2017       Permalink

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS – AT 9:54 A.M. ET:  The Washington probes may be turning into a useless farce, but they may still bring Trump down, which is the objective.  The Democrats are trying everything, literally everything.  From IBD: 

Politics: It is merely a coincidence that just as the Trump-Russia collusion story started seriously falling apart, Democrats suddenly shifted gears to file a lawsuit against President Trump for allegedly violating an obscure provision of the Constitution involving foreign "emoluments."

On Monday, attorneys general from Maryland and Washington, D.C., filed a lawsuit against Trump claiming that he is "flagrantly violating" the Constitution because he is still the owner of his businesses, even though he's given up the operation of them.

On Wednesday, nearly 200 Democratic lawmakers sued Trump on the same basis, with Michigan Rep. John Conyers claiming that "Trump has conflicts of interest in at least 25 countries, and it appears he's using his presidency to maximize his profits."

For those who don't know, Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution stipulates that "no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

The idea that Trump's businesses could be a problem vis-a-vis this clause never came up before the election. In fact, the only article we found in a search was one that questioned whether Hillary Clinton violated it as secretary of state when her foundation was getting fat foreign gifts while she was making decisions that benefited foreign governments.

The topic came up only after the election — but before Democrats decided to charge Trump with colluding with Russia to swing the election, after which the topic disappeared from view.

But after Democrats came up empty-handed with James Comey's testimony last Thursday — in which the former FBI director made it clear that Trump had not been a subject of the investigation and that he didn't believe Trump had pressured him to drop his investigation into Russian collusion — "emoluments" suddenly shot to the front of the Democrats' agenda. Why?

The chance that Democrats will succeed in their cases against Trump are incredibly slim. The Supreme Court has never heard a case involving this clause. As a result, it's not even known whether it applies to the president; there is in fact a debate about that among legal scholars. It's also far from clear whether Democratic lawmakers or state attorneys general have standing to bring such a suit, because they'd have to show that they were somehow harmed by the Trump Organization's business dealings.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  It's fascinating.  I'm especially worried about the activities of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, former head of the FBI.  Special counsels have a bad history.  They often become witch-hunts, designed more to keep the probe going and to justify their salaries than to find real truth.  Some good people have been badly hurt.  And special counsels tend to take a long time, disrupting government and casting a cloud of suspicion over officeholders who may have done nothing wrong.

June 15,  2017     Permalink

HORROR IN BALTIMORE – ART 9:33 A.M. ET:  Remember Baltimore?  It got some news coverage last year when the national press thought it could stick it to the police there.  Then, when the cops charged in an officer-involved death were all acquitted, the national press went home, leaving a demoralized police force to try to save the city.  It's not working out very well.  From CBS:

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore sees multiple deadly shootings in just a matter of hours. It was a burst of violence that forced the commissioner to make a drastic move today.

All uniformed officers will be on mandatory 12-hour shifts, as the city hustles to control the crime.

Ava-joye Burnett reports the violence spilled over from the night into broad daylight today.

After a violent night, the police department announced a plan on how to address this problem, as the Police Commissioner was angered by the violence.

The violence in Baltimore started Monday evening and lasted through the night. It spilled over into the middle of Tuesday and by the end of it all, at least 12 people had been shot and at least six dead.

The victims include a 28-year-old man killed during a drug dispute on Bentalou Street, a 37-year-old woman killed in a bullying incident on Gertrude street and a man and woman– both in their twenties, killed during a quadruple shooting on Bonaparte Ave.

The police commissioner didn’t hold back or temper his tone.

“Quite frankly it pisses off the community, it angers us, it frustrates us,” says Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis.

COMMENT:  But who cares, right?  See any interest by "Black Lives Matter"?  See former President Obama rush to the city to help calm things?  Hey, Reverend Al Sharpton, where've you been?

No TV cameras, no interest.  What a farce.  Baltimore has many great qualities, swallowed up by senseless violence.

June 15,  2017     Permalink 

JUNE 14,  2017

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

IT'S GETTING EMBARRASSING – FROM AMERICAN MIRROR:  Hillary Clinton has mastered the art of capitalizing on other people’s achievements and popular social trends in an attempt to keep herself relevant.  On Tuesday, she was glomming on to Wonder Woman.  In a “surprise video” Wednesday in honor of Elizabeth Banks – a Clinton backer, activist and producer – that was shown at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards in Beverly Hills, Clinton spent much of her 95-second message likening herself to the woman superhero taking the box office by storm, according to the Hollywood Reporter.  Clinton thanked Women in Film for supporting women in the industry, then quickly shifted the focus to herself.  “Now I haven’t seen Wonder Woman yet, but I’m going to, in part because it’s directed by the fabulous Patty Jenkins,” Clinton said. “But something tells me that a movie about a strong, powerful woman fighting to save the world from a massive international disaster is right up my alley.”  No it ain't.

LET'S PUSH FOR THIS – FROM CBS:  MADISON, Wis. — A Taiwanese company that assembles Apple's iPhones and other electronics is considering building a plant in Wisconsin that could employ thousands of people and give Gov. Scott Walker a huge political boost as he prepares to run for re-election.  A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the state is in talks with Foxconn. At least one other upper Midwest state, Michigan, is also pursuing the plant.  President Donald Trump alluded to negotiations with an unspecified company during a visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday, saying Walker might get "a very happy surprise very soon." Trump said "we were negotiating with a major, major incredible manufacturer of phones and computers and televisions."  Let's get this nailed down, Mr. President.  And let's boost Governor Walker in the process.  Making America great again.

THE SHOW WILL GO ON – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   A modern production of “Julius Caesar” — with an actor made up as Donald Trump getting offed onstage — will continue to play in Central Park as scheduled, the theater company said.  The production — part of the annual Shakespeare in the Park series — has been ripped by the White House since it was mounted Sunday.  Donald Trump Jr. even retweeted a comment Wednesday that it may have spurred on the shooting at a practice for a congressional baseball team.  The Public Theater stressed the current production — scheduled to play until Sunday — was never meant to promote violence.  No, it's just bad taste.  That used to be enough to get a severe reprimand, but this is New York in the new century.  American Express, however, has just pulled out.

June 14,  2017     Permalink

BULLETIN, AT 11:25 A.M. ET:  Man accused of shooting at Republican congressmen at a Virginia baseball field this morning has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Illinois.  He is reported to be a Bernie Sanders supporter who campaigned for Sanders last year.  Please draw no conclusions from this initial report until more details are known. 

AND THE BEAT GOES ON – AT 11:14 A.M. ET:  Not content with a new hearing every minute, the Dems in Congress are now expanding their effort to make it impossible for Trump to govern.  They're suing Trump directly.  The party of "lawfare" must be in ecstasy.  From Reuters:

More than 190 Democratic lawmakers sued President Donald Trump in federal court on Wednesday, saying he had accepted funds from foreign governments through his businesses without congressional consent in violation of the US Constitution.

The complaint said Trump had not sought congressional approval for any of the payments his hundreds of businesses had received from foreign governments since he took office in January, even though the Constitution requires him to do so.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment but has said Trump's business interests do not violate the Constitution. The Trump Organization has said it will donate profits from customers representing foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury but will not require such customers to identify themselves.

At least 30 US senators and 166 representatives are plaintiffs in Wednesday's lawsuit, representing the largest number of legislators ever to sue a US president, according to two lawmakers who are among the plaintiffs.

The Constitution's "foreign emoluments" clause bars US officeholders from accepting payments and various other gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.

"The president’s failure to tell us about these emoluments, to disclose the payments and benefits that he is receiving, mean that we cannot do our job. We cannot consent to what we don’t know," said Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the lawmakers bringing the lawsuit, in a conference call on Tuesday.

COMMENT:  I love it when Blumenthal speaks.  The man blatantly lied about his military record, yet was sent to the Senate anyway from oh-so-chic Connecticut.  He has no shame.

Please wake me up when Congressional Democrats actually do something for the country.  I expect to be asleep a long time.

June 14, 2017       Permalink

A JOKE – AT 10:36 A.M. ET:  The hearings into collusion between Trump operatives and the Russkies are turning into a joke.  They're like a poorly plotted movie, with nothing actually happening.  How long must we endure this?  From NRO:   

After two days and almost six hours of high-stakes public testimony, I’m struck by the total lack of any compelling claims supporting the “big” collusion narrative, that Russia conspired with Trump or Trump officials to “hack” election. While we certainly aren’t privy to all the relevant information or all the relevant testimony, nothing that James Comey said last week or that Jeff Sessions said yesterday (much less any of the questions directed his way) contained so much as a meaningful hint that the Committee was on the verge of uncovering the political scandal of the century. Rather, the focus keeps shifting to much narrower questions regarding Trump’s decision to fire James Comey — questions that are important but far less historically consequential than any claim that a president or his attorney general are traitors to their country. 

Here’s where we stand:

1. Not only is there no evidence that Trump personally colluded with Russians or ordered anyone to collude with Russians, there’s now evidence that he hasn’t been under personal investigation by the FBI.

2. There is absolutely zero available evidence that Jeff Sessions colluded with the Russians.

3. Similarly, there is so far no evidence that even Trump’s more unsavory aides – men like Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn — colluded to influence the election

4. To the extent that there is evidence of wrongdoing connected with a foreign power, it deals not with the election itself but rather with Flynn’s alleged failures to disclose foreign payments and contacts. 

COMMENT:  The Democratic Party is itself a mess, split between the old reds of the Sanders brigades and moderate liberals, and has no real program.  So it satisfies itself with investigations and lawsuits.  It is really not a functioning political party.

If all this were not fueled by the anti-Trump press, it would go away rather quickly.

June 14, 2017       Permalink

THE SHOOTING – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:  There has been a shooting at a baseball practice attended by Republican members of Congress.  The practice was for an annual baseball game for charity.  From Fox:

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and a congressional aide were shot by a rifle-wielding gunman who sprayed a hail of bullets at a GOP baseball practice in Virginia Wednesday morning, before U.S. Capitol Police took the gunman down.

Scalise was "badly injured," according to a tweet from President Trump, but expected to recover. A spokesperson from Scalise said he was "stable" and undergoing surgery after being shot in the hip. Five people were "transported medically" from the scene, Alexandria Police Chief Michael Brown said. It appeared that included Scalise, a congressional aide, the gunman and two law enforcement officers -- one of whom was hit by fragments.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told Fox News: "We were like sitting ducks."

"Without the Capitol Hill police it would have been a massacre," Paul said, describing the scene as "sort of a killing field."

COMMENT:  Capitol Hill Police were present because Scalise, as a member of the Republican leadership, has a security detail.  Late reports say that he will make a complete recovery. 

We have no late word on the others who were hit.  We also have no word yet on the gunman or his condition.  Some reports say he has died, but there is no confirmation.

Some other reports say the shooter was out to kill only Republicans, but that is unconfirmed.

June 14,  2017     Permalink