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JUNE 26,  2017

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

THREE CNN EMPLOYEES QUIT OVER FAKE STORY – FROM THE WRAP:  Three CNN employees have handed in their resignations over a retracted story linking President Trump to Russia, the network announced Monday.  The article was removed from CNN.com on Friday after the network decided it could no longer stand by its reporting.  “In the aftermath of the retraction of a story published on CNN.com, CNN has accepted the resignation of the employees involved in the story’s publication,” a network spokesperson told TheWrap in a statement.  One gets the feeling that some people at CNN are finally coming to their senses about the "anti-Trump all the time" programming that has defined the network for months.  Such self-realization does not seem present at the three major networks or at The New York Times or Washington Post.

MEGYN COLLAPSING – FROM VARIETY:  “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” continued its downward trajectory in the Sunday overnight ratings, with the new NBC newsmagazine slipping to a new low in both the key demo and total viewers. Meanwhile, Fox fell to an average of less than 1 million viewers on a rerun-dominated night.  Airing at 7 p.m., “Sunday Night” averaged a 0.4 rating in adults 18-49 and 3.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen data. That is down from a 0.5 and 3.6 million viewers last week’s episode, which featured Kelly’s controversial interview with InfoWars founder Alex Jones.  I have nothing against her and wish her well.  But I wonder if she's been so over-hyped that she cannot possibly meet expectations.  She's supposed to take over a full hour of the Today Show, although I wonder whether NBC will go forward with that plan in the face of her low ratings.  I have a sense also that many viewers may resent her rocket ride to fame, and may also resent the fact that she abandoned the network, Fox, that made her famous.

AND THE WINNER IS – FROM AFP:   Moscow (AFP) - Russians have picked Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin as the greatest figure in history, a new poll said Monday, beating President Vladimir Putin into joint second alongside poet Alexander Pushkin.  In the poll conducted in April by the Levada Centre independent pollster, Russians were asked to pick the ten greatest individuals of all time.  Stalin came out on top with 38 percent, while Putin shared second place on 34 percent with Russia's beloved national bard Pushkin.  Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Tsar Peter the Great and first man in space Yury Gagarin came next in the list of 20 people, with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in last place on six percent.  Strange taste, these Russians.  Stalin is the greatest?  Putin is second?  What about Elvis?

June 26, 2017       Permalink 

BULLETIN – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  FROM AP: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is letting the Trump administration enforce its 90-day ban on travelers from six mostly Muslim countries, overturning lower court orders that blocked it.

The action Monday is a victory for President Donald Trump in the biggest legal controversy of his young presidency.

IN THE MATTER OF CNN – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  We often discuss the corrupt press here, but an incident at CNN may signal that responsible journalists are starting to fight back.  From frontpagemag.com:   

Someone in the media finally went too far even for his own colleagues. And that's saying something. Editor's note:  The following quote comes from The Hill:

CNN is reportedly implementing strict new rules for the network's stories regarding Russia.

The new restrictions come after CNN on Friday retracted a story that connected Anthony Scaramucci, a prominent ally of President Trump, to a Russian investment fund managed by a Kremlin-controlled bank.

CNNMoney executive editor Rich Barbieri sent out an email Saturday regarding the network's new rules after the network a day earlier issued a retraction on one of its stories.
"No one should publish any content involving Russia without coming to me and Jason [Farkas]," said the email, obtained by BuzzFeed News.

"This applies to social, video, editorial, and MoneyStream. No exceptions," the email added. "I will lay out a workflow Monday."

Sadly, I doubt the Washington Post would have retracted, And we know the New York Times would not have. They proved that recently when they defended a discredited fake news story.

But this comes of turning conspiracy theories into news and then pretending that they're journalism.

The news is supposed to report on actual events. Conspiracy theories just link different elements that appear to have some kind of relationship and turn that it into a story. Pope Francis and the head of Deutsche Bank both wear New Balance shoes

That proves the New Balance shoe company runs the world.

90% of the Trump-Russia stories either fall into this, Category A or Category B consisting of "An anonymous source close to the investigation told me they're investigating Y".

None of this garbage is journalism. It's conspiracy theories meant to establish the lefty conviction that President Trump can be brought down.

But CNN's retraction, the latest poll and the reaction to the special election setbacks suggest the fever may be breaking. The public isn't particularly interested. While the Washington Post and the New York Times cater to a fanatical left-wing demographic, CNN has to think about a larger audience.

COMMENT:  It will be a long battle.  Journalists are trained by colleges and universities, and these institutions have no intention of giving up their current, trendy mission to "make a difference," that difference being a sharp move to the left.  

But the CNN move is encouraging.  I'd imagine there are many journalists who realize there's something terribly wrong, but don't have the power to do much about it.

June 26, 2017       Permalink

MAJOR EDUCATIONAL ADVANCE (JUST KIDDING) – AT 9:39 A.M. ET:  Finally, emotionally stressed college students are saved, at least at one "progressive" school.  Now we won't have to read those ugly stories about students being disappointed, or even sad.  From College Fix:   

Smith College, a top-ranked liberal arts school for women, is teaching them that life comes with disappointment, rejection, stumbling blocks — and it’s OK to experience such hurdles and learn from them.

The Massachusetts-based elite university, which costs about $67,000 annual in tuition, fees and other expenses, has rolled out a new program called “Failing Well.” And while the name implies it’s helping the young women cope with life’s really big screw ups, the fine print illustrates the initiative is actually more about helping students grapple with a thing called life.

“We’re not talking about flunking out of pre-med or getting kicked out of college,” Rachel Simmons, the program’s facilitator, told The New York Times. “We’re talking about students showing up in residential life offices distraught and inconsolable when they score less than an A-minus. Ending up in the counseling center after being rejected from a club. Students who are unable to ask for help when they need it, or so fearful of failing that they will avoid taking risks at all.”

The effort was recently featured in a lengthy New York Times article that noted Smith is just the latest in a parade of elite universities to offer students programs to help them cope with disappointment and rejection.

“Nearly perfect on paper, with résumés packed full of extracurricular activities, they seemed increasingly unable to cope with basic setbacks that come with college life: not getting a room assignment they wanted, getting wait-listed for a class or being rejected by clubs,” the Times reports.

COMMENT:  Well, our great national nightmare is over.  There is comfort.  There is warmth.  Of course, we won't ask where the parents were when these gems were growing up, or not growing up.  Such a question would be so middle class.

June 26, 2017       Permalink

LET THE FLOODGATES OPEN – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  We're seeing the first signs of a crack in the Democratic Party over the "Russia" issue.  It's clear that knowledgeable Dems know what's coming, a long-overdue exposé of the negligence of the Obama administration.  Some Dems want to get out front, ahead of the story, presumably to avoid later embarrassment.  From Fox: 

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday the Obama administration should have done more to counter Russia’s meddling in the U.S. election.

"I think the administration needed to call out Russia earlier, needed to act to deter and punish Russia earlier, and that was a very serious mistake," Schiff, of California, said in a televised interview with CNN.

Schiff added that President Barack Obama may have been worried that doing more against Russia would have looked like he was “trying to tip the scales for Hillary Clinton” and did not want to give in to the notion that the election was “rigged” against Donald Trump, according to The Hill.

President Trump criticized Obama earlier Sunday for allegedly doing “nothing” about reports that Russia interfered in last year’s presidential campaign.

“I just heard today for the first time that (former President) Obama knew about Russia a long time before the election, and he did nothing about it,” he said on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” “The CIA gave him information on Russia a long time before the election. … If he had the information, why didn't he do something about it?”

COMMENT:  It's nice that criticism of Barack Obama is now being permitted.  We thank the media commissars for their indulgence. 

This issue will grow, making Democrats regret that they ever started investigating Donald Trump. 

June 26,  2017    Permalink 

JUNE 25,  2017

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

SPIRIT OF THE SECOND AMENDMENT – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   “As a nation, the U.S. has a deep and enduring connection to guns. Integrated into the fabric of American society since the country’s earliest days, guns remain a point of pride for many Americans. Whether for hunting, sport shooting or personal protection, most gun owners count the right to bear arms as central to their freedom,” reports a wide-ranging new poll from the Pew Research Center.  It found that 74 percent of all U.S. gun owners say owning a gun is “essential to their freedom.” Another 73 percent of the owners say they could never see themselves “not owning a gun.” Half say that “all or most of their friends” also own guns.  In many areas of the country it is responsible gun owners who provide critical protection to the citizenry and their own homes, especially in areas where police patrols are spotty and police response times, due to great distance, are inadequate.

THIS DATE:   On this date in 1950, forces of North Korea, with vast Soviet support, invaded South Korea, starting the Korean War.  Most Americans today don't know much about that war, but if they're aware of a free, prosperous, pro-American South Korea, they know something of the result.  President Truman's decision to resist the invasion was one of the most critical decisions a modern president has had to make.  Aggression was punished, and the Communist states learned that we would indeed fight back if our vital interests were threatened.  Some 37,000 Americans lost their lives in the Korean War, and their sacrifice must never be forgotten.  They contributed mightily to the ultimate, and successful end to the Cold War in the late 1980s.

UGLY MARK FOR A BEAUTIFUL STATE – FROM HAWAII NEWS NOW:  At least we're consistent: For a seventh straight year, Hawaii has been named the worst state to make a living thanks to its astronomical cost of living.The ranking, put together annually by MoneyRates.com, says while Hawaii has the 10th-highest median wage nationwide, that's not enough to make up for living expenses that are two-thirds higher than in the rest of the nation. The high cost of living is compounded by one of the highest state tax income burdens in the nation.  To put together the ranking, MoneyRates considered median salary, state tax rates, cost of living and unemployment rates.  It's also a very liberal state politically, which may have something to do with its economic problems.  But we still love Hawaii.  And it's still our first line of defense in the Pacific. 

June 25,  2017     Permalink 

THE OBAMA CURSE – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 1:48 P.M. ET:  What is the cause of the rise of Trump?  Well, one cause is a guy named Barack Hussein Obama Jr.  Michael Goodwin, the superb pundit at the New York Post, puts Obama's influence in sane perspective.  It's not the kind of report card you bring home to mama:

For Republicans, luck can’t get much better. While Clinton and Pelosi were hardly innocent bystanders in the historic rout of Democrats at every level of government, the main culprit was Obama.

It was Obamaism, more than Clintonism or Pelosism, that elected Donald Trump and gave the GOP both houses of congress. The former president’s coercive liberalism at home and appeasement abroad led to the greatest upset in American politics.

His two biggest achievements, ObamaCare and the Iran nuclear deal, were sold on the backs of lies. President Trump is Obama’s legacy.

And now Dear Leader wants to “help” Dems again. Let’s see how many Clinton and Pelosi critics have the courage to tell him “No, thanks, you’ve done enough.”

Obama’s desire to re-litigate his tenure comes amid other signs that the siege of the Trump White House is lifting and the political momentum is shifting.

Suddenly, Dems are the fighting, fractured party with no agenda or leader while Republicans finally show signs of uniting their majorities to get big things done.

Indeed, Obama’s return to the fray coincides with a belated congressional focus on his administration’s misconduct on the Clinton investigation and his failure to counter Russian interference in the election.

COMMENT:  Well said.  Now the Republicans must handle the health-care issue carefully and sensitively.  It's health we're talking about.  If they can pass a good plan they can build toward tax reform and head into the 2018 election with confidence.

June 25, 2017       Permalink

THE CONDITION OF THE DEMOCRATS – AT 11:57 A.M. ET:  It's terrible.  I almost weep.  Almost.  Well, almost almost.  From AFP: 

Washington (AFP) - Frozen out of power in Washington and having lost a string of congressional races this year, Democrats are struggling to craft winning strategies to convert disillusionment with President Donald Trump into victory in 2018's midterm elections.

The party fielded a hodgepodge of candidates in four special elections in recent months, including a banjo-strumming cowboy poet in Montana. Most recently Democrats nominated a young novice in Georgia, where the party, judging it had its best pick-up opportunity, threw millions of dollars into the race.

Yet each time, Republicans beat back the advances. And Democratic lawmakers, strategists and party officials have been left scratching their heads about how to turn it around and launch a viable bid to reclaim Congress next year.

"They're definitely licking their wounds," Kerwin Swint, professor and chair of the political science department at Georgia's Kennesaw State University, told AFP.

Debate has swirled among Democrats about what strategy to deploy: going all in with a nationwide anti-Trump agenda, or tailoring individual races to local economic issues in a bid to repair fraying connections between the Democratic Party and the common voter.

The Georgia race showed "the effectiveness of Trump's staying power" despite the scandals rocking the White House, Swint said.

"Democrats should not focus their campaigns about him, they should be about jobs," he added. "They need a much more focused economic pitch."

COMMENT:  This is not the Democratic Party of old.  This is the Democratic Party of Barack Obama.  Talk about the average voter, but never talk to the average voter.  I mean, who would be inerested in those dull people who work 9 to 5?  Where do they go on holiday?  Some local beach?  The Washington Monument?  Avoid these peasants!

June 25, 2017       Permalink

OH HOW JUICY – AT 11:41 A.M. ET:  With news that Senate Republicans will look into Loretta Lynch's behavior at the Justice Department, it has now been shown that the GOP has at least some pulse.  And there's more.  The "Russian" issue is getting complicated in ways the Democrats may not have anticipated.  From the New York Post: 

A secretive Washington firm that commissioned the dubious intelligence dossier on Donald Trump is stonewalling congressional investigators trying to learn more about its connections to the Democratic Party.

The Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month threatened to subpoena the firm, Fusion GPS, after it refused to answer questions and provide records to the panel identifying who financed the error-ridden dossier, which was circulated during the election and has sparked much of the Russia scandal now engulfing the White House.

What is the company hiding? Fusion GPS describes itself as a “research and strategic intelligence firm” founded by “three former Wall Street Journal investigative reporters.” But congressional sources says it’s actually an opposition-research group for Democrats, and the founders, who are more political activists than journalists, have a pro-Hillary, anti-Trump agenda.

"These weren’t mercenaries or hired guns,” a congressional source familiar with the dossier probe said. “These guys had a vested personal and ideological interest in smearing Trump and boosting Hillary’s chances of winning the White House.”

Fusion GPS was on the payroll of an unidentified Democratic ally of Clinton when it hired a long-retired British spy to dig up dirt on Trump. In 2012, Democrats hired Fusion GPS to uncover dirt on GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney. And in 2015, Democrat ally Planned Parenthood retained Fusion GPS to investigate pro-life activists protesting the abortion group.

COMMENT:  I love it!  Turn the tables.  Turn on the TV cameras.  This has the potential to turn into a major investigation, taking some of the heat off Trump. 

June 25,  2017     Permalink