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JUNE 2,  2018

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

THEY CAN HAVE HIM – FROM DAILY CALLER:  Former White House aide Ben Rhodes, who served as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and advised former President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues, will start his new job on Sunday as a politics contributor for MSNBC and NBC News.  MSNBC’s public relations department made the announcement on Twitter on Saturday, noting that Rhodes will make his official debut on Sunday’s “Meet the Press” and Monday’s “All In With Chris Hayes.”  A man with no qualifications for the job was made deputy national security adviser for Obama, and boasted that he engaged in deception to sell the Iran nuclear deal.  He'll do well in the fake- news business.

CAUGHT – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:  The New York Times issued a correction Wednesday about the crowd size at President Trump’s rally after the president challenged the paper’s mistake, acknowledging the audience in Nashville, Tennessee, was more than five times larger than The Times initially reported.  In its article online, The Times said an earlier version of the story “cited an incorrect figure for the number of people attending President Trump’s rally.”  “While no exact figure is available, the fire marshal’s office estimated that approximately 5,500 people attended the rally, not about 1,000 people,” the correction stated.  Mr. Trump had accused the Times Wednesday morning of lying about the crowd size at the arena where he was campaigning Tuesday night for GOP Senate candidate Marsha Blackburn.  A discrepancy that large cannot simply be called a mistake.  If it was a typo, the reporter writing the story, or the editor editing it, would have discovered the gaffe immediately.  This looks very mean-spirited, and an internal investigation by The Times is called for.

TERRIFIC! – FROM PAGE SIX:   “Sherlock” star Benedict Cumberbatch fought off a gang of four muggers as they beat up a defenseless Deliveroo cyclist.  The actor, 41, leapt from an Uber car and waded in after spotting the attack near detective Sherlock Holmes’s fictional home in London’s Baker Street.  The gang fled. Uber driver Manuel Dias said: “The cyclist was lucky, Benedict’s a superhero.”  The star leapt to the rescue as the yobs punched the defenseless cyclist and smashed him over the head with a bottle.  Witnesses told how Benedict jumped from an Uber car in which he was riding with wife Sophie Hunter and sprinted into the fray, yelling: “Leave him alone.”  He dragged the four muggers off their bloodied victim. They then tried to punch Benedict, but he fended them off before they fled.  Give him a special Oscar for sheer guts.  Let's see if he gets any respect in the media for risking his life. 

June 2,  2018     Permalink   

HE SPEAKS AGAIN – AT 11:24 P.M. ET:  John Kerry has now assessed Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.  You may recall that Kerry was the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate.  From Daily Mail:

John Kerry has suggested that Hillary Clinton contributed to her own downfall in the 2016 presidential election by encouraging the Russians to hack America.

The former Secretary of State said that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him he was 'incensed' by a speech Clinton gave in 2014 comparing him to Hitler.

Kerry said Clinton's comments made Putin feel he was under attack and that interfering in the US election was a way to even the score with America.

In an interview at the New York City BookExpo, Kerry also praised President Donald Trump and said that he would 'applaud' his engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

But he sharply criticized Trump for pulling of the deal with Iran on nuclear weapons - which Kerry brokered - and said he was 'deeply, deeply, deeply concerned' about his presidency.

Kerry made his comments at the major book industry conference while promoting his forthcoming memoir, Every Day Is Extra.

COMMENT:  I look forward to Kerry's book.  I have bouts of insomnia and I'm sure, after reading two pages by John Kerry, that it will be cured forever.

June 2, 2018       Permalink

CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME – AT 2:29 P.M. ET:  There is a California primary on Tuesday.  It's an odd primary in which the top two finishers go on to the gubernatorial election, regardless of party.  So you can have two Democrats running against each other in November, or, theoretically, two Republicans. 

Some Republicans believe they have a reasonable chance of winning the governorship this year.  But first they must get a GOP candidate into one of the top two slots on Tuesday.  From Fox: 

California gubernatorial candidate John Cox (R) is edging closer to frontrunner Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) after an endorsement from President Trump. 

Cox is the leading Republican for the June 5th "jungle" primary, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party.  

Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, holds a nine-point lead on Cox, according to Real Clear Politics' polling average.

Outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has sparked controversy in the state with the passage of a sanctuary law, which critics argue hinders the ability of federal authorities to apprehend criminal aliens. 

Cox said on "America's Newsroom" Friday that both he and the president are "businessmen" and that 19 states have Republican businessmen or women as their governors.

"We get the job done. We don't engage in a lot of partisan bickering. ... That's what the president is doing," he said, touting the new jobs report.

Cox said he believes Californians "are looking for change" and are becoming more and more concerned about the state's affordability after years of Democrat-led tax hikes, including on gasoline. 

"I think they're finally getting it. We don't want to become the Venezuela of America. We don't want government running our lives completely," he said. 

COMMENT:  California used to be a Republican state.  It was the state that elected Ronald Reagan the governor twice.  In recent years it has drifted strongly blue.

Will this year break the pattern?  I have no idea, but I'll be watching the returns Tuesday night. 

June 2, 2018       Permalink

YIPPEE – AT 12:51 P.M. :  The good news on the economy keeps coming, like a desirable avalanche.  From Breitbart: 

The U.S. economy is expanding at a 4.8 percent annualized rate in the second quarter, the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow forecast model showed on Friday.

The forecast has been climbing higher following the release of a series of good economic data. On May 25, the measure foresaw four percent GDP growth. This rose to 4.7 percent Thursday and ticked even higher on Friday following the better than expected jobs report for May.

The Atlanta Fed forecasts a big boost in private sector fixed investment, which includes capital investment in machinery, land, buildings, vehicles, and technology. Earlier, the Atlanta Fed saw this growing at 4.6 percent. But following the release Friday of a construction spending report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Manufacturing ISM Report On Business from the Institute for Supply Management, this was upgraded to 5.4 percent growth.

COMMENT:  Three percent is considered solid.  A 4.8 percent rise is superb.  Of course the Democrats, in the person of Nancy Pelosi, are claiming that the economy is not good at all, that we are facing disaster, and that only Nancy herself and Maxine Waters can save us. 

I don't think the country agrees.

June 2,  2018     Permalink

JUNE 1,  2018

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

END OF AN ERA – FROM JAPAN-NEWS.COM:  The Yomiuri Shimbun Canon announced Wednesday it would end sales of its EOS-1v, the last remaining model of film camera that the company has sold in Japan. The company’s film cameras, which symbolize Canon’s old-time roots, will come to the end of their 80-year history.  As the sales of film cameras have been on a decline due to the spread of digital cameras, the company stopped the production of the EOS-1v in 2010 and currently is shipping its remaining stock.  The company said it will continue to accept repair orders and other customer inquiries until Oct. 31, 2025, even after finishing selling the product.  Canon’s film cameras have a sales history of about 80 years since the company’s predecessor released the Hansa Canon in 1936, having developed it from a prototype.  Film photography used to be a family staple, as well as a huge commercial business.  Kodak's "yellow box" was one of the world's great brands.  But no more, and unlikely to return.  It's economics.  We go on a trip and can shoot a thousand digital pictures without spending a dime.  Shoot a thousand photos on film and see what it costs.  It's in the hundreds, or more.  And that is really the story.

OUR NEXT NATIONAL HOLIDAY – FROM FOX:  Tucker Carlson called out the city of West Hollywood for declaring Wednesday to be "Stormy Daniels Day."  Daniels, an adult film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, is suing President Trump and his attorney over a non-disclosure agreement related to her alleged 2006 affair with Trump and a $130,000 payment she received to keep quiet about it.  On Wednesday, Daniels made an appearance at West Hollywood's Chi Chi LaRue’s and received a key to the city for being a "profile in courage by speaking truth to power."  “(The) Trump administration has been a direct threat to the people of the city of West Hollywood - our LGBTQ community, our immigrant community, women here in this community - so Stormy Daniels has really showed up as the woman to save the Republic,” West Hollywood Mayor John Duran said prior to the event.  Up next – the Stormy Memorial in Washington, featuring marble walls with Stormy's most inspiring quotes.

BILL CLINTON IS RIGHT – FROM FOX:  Former President Bill Clinton responded to 2017 comments by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who said that he should have resigned the presidency during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.  Clinton told CBS News that he disagrees with her contention, pointing to the new "context" in which she made the statements.   "You know, she’s living in a different context. And she did it for different reasons. So ... I just disagree with her," he said in the interview, which will air in full Sunday morning.  I agree with Bill, but only because he's responding to Kirsten Gillibrand, our junior senator, and one of the worst senators I've seen.  This "senator" could walk into any venue in New York State, and no one would know who she is.  She has made no  impression, but is running for president anyway.  Kind of like a feminist Barack Obama.  I don't think she has much of a shot. 

June 1, 2018       Permalink  

A NEW ROSEANNE? – AT 11:35 P.M. ET:   Nothing ever seems to die permanently in television.  There is talk of a re-invention of "Roseanne," which was cancelled this week following Roseanne Barr's obnoxious racial tweet.  From Adweek:

Two days after ABC canceled its top-rated series Roseanne following Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet about President Obama’s White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, the network is still formulating a plan about what will fill the hole in its schedule this fall.

One possibility, however, would be an iteration of Roseanne without the involvement of Barr, and with a new title: in essence, Roseanne without Roseanne.

There's an old saying in the TV industry:  "Imitation is the sincerest form of television."

As soon as tomorrow, the network could meet with Roseanne executive producers Sara Gilbert (who also plays TV daughter Darlene), Tom Werner and showrunner Bruce Helford to discuss options to bring back some version of Roseanne, according to Variety and other reports.

ABC told Adweek the reports are still speculative at this point, but the idea has been gaining traction, given social media sentiment that the show should continue without Barr—and that the network and Carsey-Werner, which produces the series, are already on the hook for several of the actors’ salaries for next season (including Gilbert, John Goodman and Laurie Metcalf).

In an email to ABC staffers yesterday, Disney-ABC Television Group president Ben Sherwood, who had joked about Barr’s Twitter feed two weeks earlier while onstage at ABC’s upfront, talked about “the many men and women who poured their hearts and lives into the show and were just getting started on next season. We’re so sorry they were swept up in all of these, and we give thanks for their remarkable talents, wish them well and hope to find another way to work together down the road.”

COMMENT:   I'd imagine that part of ABC's thinking on this, to the extent that there's thinking at all, is to be sure not to insult the conservative part of the audience, who will miss Roseanne.  Even in Hollywood there may be some who realize that there are people out there who do not share Hollywood "values."  And they buy products that advertisers want to sell.

June 1, 2018       Permalink

COMMON SENSE – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:   It's so good to see at least one public figure come up with a plan to prevent school shootings that actually puts the lives of children first.  Watch the left go after him.  From Breitbart:

Governor Greg Abbott’s (R) security plan in response to the Santa Fe High School attack includes placing armed veterans in Texas schools for defense of students and teachers.

Details are set forth in the School and Firearm Safety Action Plan, released May 30, 2018.

The plan calls for a greater law enforcement presence throughout Texas schools by all means necessary. This includes having officers use schools as a stop for “breaks, lunch, or to file reports.” Abbott’s plan also asks schools “to provide office space for a local or state law enforcement official to work from.” He is asking the state to consider grants to help schools offset the cost of providing such space and accommodating a great law enforcement presence.

Abbott’s plan also focuses on the use of retired police officers and employing veterans to serve as armed patrols in Texas schools:

Texas public schools are permitted to hire any person who is a licensed peace officer to provide campus security. Texas retired and off-duty peace officers already have extensive firearms and emergency response training, and many would be willing and able to protect Texas campuses. Texas should authorize schools to prioritize recruitment and hiring of such personnel to protect their campuses and their student bodies, faculty, employees, and guests. Hiring should prioritize individuals with the most applicable skill sets (i.e., former police, sheriffs, and constables).

In addition, the state should create a pathway for our veterans – many of whom have extensive firearm training – to help protect our schools through a modified school marshal program that ensures they have the appropriate training to transition their expertise into the campus environment.

Veterans who complete tailored training and background checks should have the ability to once again serve their communities in times of need.

Abbott is also focused on arming more teachers. Fox 5 reports that Texas has 1,000 school districts, and approximately 170 of those districts allow teachers and school staff to be armed on campus for self-defense. Abbott’s plan would increase the number of armed teachers and staff.

COMMENT:  Abbott is running for re-election this year, and is well ahead in the polls.  He is a potential presidential candidate.

The plan is a very good start, as it puts the emphasis in the right place – protecting children first.  Other schemes, like "gun control," are at best theoretical, and would probably take years before having any effect at all. 

June 1, 2018       Permalink 

GREAT ECONOMIC NEWS – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  It doesn't get much better than this.  From the Washington Examiner:

The unemployment rate for black workers hit new record lows in May, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

Black unemployment fell sharply to 5.9 percent, beating out the 6.6 percent record low that was set a month earlier.

The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers hit a record low in April, at 4.8 percent, but it rose slightly to 4.9 percent in May.

The total unemployment rate for white workers dropped from 3.6 percent to 3.5 percent.

President Trump has cheered the record low unemployment rates seen for black workers on his watch. He and his supporters have pointed to the falling numbers for black workers as proof that Trump is working to better the lives of all Americans, even as Trump's critics continue to say Trump is a racist who should be removed from office.

The total unemployment rate for all workers fell to 3.8 percent, from 3.9 percent in April.

COMMENT:  If this can be kept up, it will have a profound effect on the November midterms, unless the president's opponents can come up with an October surprise.  And they may well.

If the economy continues to boom, I hope the GOP proposes another tax cut for the American people.  It will drive the Democrats completely crazy, especially if it benefits traditionally Democratic constituencies.  Maxine Waters will go into hiding.

June 1,  2018     Permalink