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JUNE 28,  2018

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

WHERE'S THE REVOLUTION? – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Here’s what you get when you hold primary elections in June: a tiny percentage of party voters determine the congressional candidates.  Even in the most competitive races on Tuesday, more than 80 percent of eligible voters stayed home.  In the race that caused an earthquake in the Democratic Party, 28-year-old newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez upset long-time incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley, 57 percent to 42 percent.  But only about 13 percent of registered Democrats turned out to vote in the 14th congressional district that takes in parts of Queens and The Bronx, according to a preliminary city Board of Elections tally.  Tbe truth surfaces.  This was no great revolution.  Her family came out to vote, along with six socialists from Venezuela.  She's a second-hand
Evita Peron.

OH REALLY? – FROM NEWSWEEK:   Toronto Mayor John Tory has warned Canada's biggest city can no longer cope with the number of asylum seekers and refugees entering the country amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.  "We have exhausted our available sites, our resources and our personnel," Tory said during a press conference on Tuesday, issuing a plea for assistance from provincial and federal governments.  Citing a report from Acting City Manager Giuliana Carbone, Tory said the "the City staff report reiterates our urgent request that the federal and provincial governments take immediate steps to initiate and lead a regional response to housing these populations."  Note how the story tries to blame Trump.  But remember the details the next time Canada lectures us on immigration policy.  No nation can just open its doors to mass, unregulated immigration.   

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST? – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  President Trump’s chief of staff John Kelly is expected to leave his post at The White House as early as this week, a report said Thursday.  Trump is consulting his aides on who should replace Kelly and considering at least two candidates for the top post, according to The Wall Street Journal.  The paper said Kelly has told colleagues he doesn’t intend to stay in the role beyond his one-year anniversary, which is July 31.  The two contenders for the position are Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers and head of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney, the Journal said.  Tough job, high turnover.  But the president must have the person he wants.

June 28,  2018     Permalink

NO DONE DEAL – AT 1:54 P.M. ET:  Conservatives are euphoric over the opportunity to put another of their own on the Supreme Court.  I hope it happens, but it's no done deal.  Confirmation of any Trump nominee will be difficult, and Republicans only have a two-seat majority in the Senate. 

While a simple majority is enough to confirm, getting there may not be a rosy road.  The problem might not be with Democrats, but with recalcitrant Republicans, those who aren't as conservative on some issues as the majority of their party.   From The Hill: 

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said on Wednesday that she believes Roe v. Wade is settled legal precedent — and she believes judges should respect precedent. 

"I view Roe v. Wade as being settled law. It’s clearly precedent and I always look for judges who respect precedent," Collins told reporters on Wednesday, referencing the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Her comments come after Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement announcement quickly reignited talk of a possible fight over abortion.

Kennedy had been the fifth vote in a 1992 case reaffirming Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that established the right to abortion in 1973.

Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are viewed as two potential early swing votes on Trump's forthcoming nominee. Progressives already are urging voters to push the two senators to oppose a nominee deemed too conservative on abortion. 

COMMENT:  And other Republicans may balk on other issues.  When the confirmation vote is taken, it's quite possible that Democrats from red states will be needed to bring a new judge to the Court.  That is why McConnell will try to get a vote before the midterms, when the heat will be on red-state Democrats to side with President Trump, or lose their Senate seats.

This will be a bitter fight.  I fear that it may get rough, mean, and possibly generate some street violence.

June 28, 2018       Permalink

POLITICAL SUICIDE? – AT 12:33 P.M. ET:   There's an old line in politics:  If your opponent is committing suicide, don't get in his way. 

Is the Democratic Party committing suicide?  If current trends continue, with the far left of the party taking control, that may well be the case.  From Fox: 

Democratic lawmakers and candidates are increasingly seeking the elimination of Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of their suite of demands in D.C.'s heated border battle. 

The calls reflect not only the deepening divide between the two partisan poles on immigration -- with one side seeking a border wall, and the other looking to dismantle the lead enforcement agency -- but the growing influence of the progressive wing. 

More and more Democratic politicians have embraced such causes as 'Medicare for all' and a federal jobs guarantee. Now, they're getting behind the call to abolish ICE, with gusto.

Perhaps no 2018 moment better captured that growing influence than liberal primary challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's shocking victory Tuesday night over Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., a member of party leadership.

Ocasio-Cortez ran on all three of those platforms, and even protested outside an ICE center in Texas. 

COMMENT:  This is extremism defined.  The crazies also want free college tuition.  They never say how they'll pay for all this, but you may be sure that gutting the defense budget and dramatically increasing taxes will be the first steps.

If this country is dumb enough to go full Venezuela, you may well see an exodus of our most productive citizens, with America turned into the new Russia, essentially a third-world country with some muscle.  Believe it or not, there are many on the left who dream of that.

June 28, 2018       Permalink

TELLIN' IT STRAIGHT – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  In the House today, blunt words were spoken, and I think they were spoken on behalf of most Americans.  From Fox: 

Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy tore into Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday over the long-running Russia collusion probe -- telling the Justice Department at a public hearing to “finish it the hell up because this country is being torn apart.”

Gowdy’s excoriation marked a stunning moment at the already-tense House Judiciary Committee hearing, amid a months-long battle between congressional Republicans and the Department of Justice over its handling of both the Russia probe and Hillary Clinton email investigation.

At the hearing, Gowdy spoke to frustration over the protracted Russia investigation that Rosenstein oversees, suggesting that despite a host of charges against Trump-tied figures, the investigation has not found evidence of presidential wrongdoing. 

“We’ve seen the bias, we need to see the evidence,” Gowdy said. If you have evidence of wrongdoing by any member of the Trump campaign, present it to the damn grand jury. If you have evidence that this president acted inappropriately, present it to the American people.”

“Whatever you got, finish it the hell up, because this country is being torn apart,” he said. 

Rosenstein, meanwhile, was grilled repeatedly Thursday by House Republicans over everything from his department’s role in Trump campaign surveillance to the damning watchdog report on FBI conduct during the Clinton email probe. 

Republicans have cited the recent DOJ inspector general’s report which criticized the handling of the Clinton probe and revealed anti-Trump texts from FBI agent Peter Strzok and others. Republicans have also been hounding the DOJ to produce documents related to the Russia investigation -- requests they say have been stonewalled by the agency.

The top DOJ official, who oversees the special counsel’s Russia probe, sought to defuse tensions – vowing to hold wrongdoers accountable in the wake of the inspector general report and defending the response to congressional requests for documents related to the Russia investigation.

COMMENT:  These probes have poisoned an already poisonous Washington.  The president has been under investigation since the day he entered office.  It's relentless.  And nothing has turned up.

We elect a president to take care of the affairs of government.  We have an impeachment process if there is evidence of serious crime.  The framers, I suspect, never prescribed a government by investigation.

The Mueller probe must be wrapped up.  And then we should rethink the whole idea of these special counsels, who run free, spend tens of millions of dollars, and often come up with the news that some target threw a beer can into a dumpster and missed.

June 28,  2018     Permalink

JUNE 27,  2018

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

GOOD MAN, WITH SOME BAGGAGE – FROM FOX:  Bill Shine, a former co-president of Fox News, will take on a senior communications role for President Trump, Fox News confirmed Wednesday.  Shine's specific title is unclear, but it likely will be a deputy chief of staff-level position. Shine met with Trump to discuss the job Wednesday morning.  Sources tell Fox News that Shine has discussed a White House position with Trump on two other occasions, but both times the potential appointment fell through.  He's a very gifted man, and one of the major builders of Fox News.  However, the Dems will try to link him to the sexual harassment incidents at Fox, and indeed he was named in several lawsuits.  I believe he was seen as someone who looked the other way, rather than as a participant.  The Trump White House may feel that whatever blowback occurs as a result of Shine's appointment would come from people who'd never support Mr. Trump anyway.

TAKE THIS WARNING SERIOUSLY – FROM WND:   A writer for the popular progressive news website Splinter is warning supporters of President Trump that if they have a problem with the heckling of administration officials in public places, they haven’t seen anything yet.  “Do you think that being asked to leave a restaurant, or having your meal interrupted, or being called by the public is bad? My fascism-enabling friends, this is only the beginning,” writes Splinter senior writer Hamilton Nolan.  Pointing to history, he writes that the U.S. “had thousands of domestic bombings per year in the early 1970s.”  “This is what happens when citizens decide en masse that their political system is corrupt, racist, and unresponsive,” says Nolan.  “The people out of power have only just begun to flex their dissatisfaction. The day will come, sooner that you all think, when Trump administration officials will look back fondly on the time when all they had to worry about was getting hollered at at a Mexican restaurant.”   That's pretty chilling, but I wouldn't be surprised if part of the anti-Trump movement turns violent.  These people believe that democracy only exists when they win.

June 27, 2018       Permalink

BULLETIN:  JUSTICE KENNEDY RETIRING – AT 2:06 P.M. ET:   Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court.  From Fox: 

Justice Anthony Kennedy announced Wednesday that he is retiring, giving President Trump a critical opportunity to move the Supreme Court more solidly to the right in what promises to be an epic confirmation fight.

The 81-year-old senior associate justice informed the White House in a letter of his intention to step down from the high court after 30 years, effective July 31. Rumors of another vacancy have reverberated across Washington in recent months, and it comes a year after Kennedy's former law clerk Justice Neil Gorsuch, took over the seat occupied by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Arguably the most powerful member of the Supreme Court, Kennedy's moderate-conservative views often left him the "swing" -- or deciding -- vote in hot-button cases ranging from abortion to gay rights to political campaign spending.

A Supreme Court vacancy will likely become a key issue in a midterm congressional election year, when control of the Senate is at stake.

That body will consider Trump's latest high court nominee, requiring only a simple majority for confirmation. GOP leaders changed the rules when Gorsuch was being considered, to get rid of the 60-vote procedural filibuster threshold.

But Democrats are expected to try and transform the court opening into a broader political referendum on Trump's leadership, and the future of social issues like immigration, gun rights, and race.   

COMMENT:   A great opportunity for the president to solidify a conservative majority on the Court.  Whoever he nominates will be brutally attacked by the Democrats.  Expect major demonstrations.  But, ultimately, the president will prevail.

June 27, 2018       Permalink

SLIPPAGE – AT 1:12 P.M. ET:   At this point there can be no doubt that the president has been politically hurt by the immigration mess.  His administration's first response to the "family separation" issue, combined with some truly cute press reporting, did some real damage.  From Rasmussen: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-four percent (54%) disapprove.

With the debate over immigration policy continuing, the president’s overall job approval rating has fallen to its lowest level since late March.

COMMENT:  Other polls reflect the same drop.  And there is a new poll showing a sharp decline in the first lady's approval.

It is serious, and for the first time the White House may be understanding the power of a biased, Trump-hating media.  It has to have some effect.

We are also seeing individual state races either turning against Republican candidates, or showing erosion in their vote.

The election is a bit more than four months away.  You may be sure that the Democrats plan a hate-and-smear campaign.  I'm also concerned that Robert Mueller, the special counsel, will announce some "findings" right before the election.

The Republicans can lose Congress.  That's the bottom line, and a grim one.

June 27, 2018       Permalink

SOTUS SPEAKS AGAIN – AT 12:46 P.M. ET:  Another landmark decision has been handed down by the Supreme Court...it's another 5-4 ruling.   From Fox: 

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch tipped the scales on another landmark decision on Wednesday, joining the conservative majority for the 5-4 ruling against so-called "fair share" union fees.

It was the latest example of President Trump's nominee delivering a win for the administration's agenda and conservative causes, coming on the heels of the 5-4 ruling upholding Trump's "travel ban."

In the union case, Gorsuch's impact was strikingly evident.

Justices split 4-4 on the issue in a similar case following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. After Gorsuch was confirmed to fill the seat, he played it close to the vest during arguments in February -- offering no comments or questions from the bench during nearly 70 minutes of oral arguments.

But in the end, Gorsuch sided with a conservative majority ruling that state government workers cannot be forced to pay “fair share” fees to support collective bargaining and other union activities.

The decision, which dealt a blow to unions, said that a union’s contract negotiations over pay and benefits were inextricably linked with its broader political activities, and concluded workers had a limited constitutional right not to underwrite such “speech.”

COMMENT:  Once again we see the importance of the Supreme Court.  Supreme Court justices must be confirmed by the Senate, and thus who controls the Senate is of critical importance.  Republicans will be fighting this November to keep, and preferably expand, their two-seat majority in the Senate.  If the GOP loses the Senate, it is conceivable that no Supreme Court nominee could be confirmed.

June 27,  2018     Permalink