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MAY 2,  2017

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

KINDNESS TO SNOWFLAKES – FROM THE COLLEGE FIX:  Harvard Library is getting rid of a 50-cent daily charge for “regular loan items” that are overdue.  One of the justifications is that the change will be more “user-friendly.” What does that mean?  Steven Beardsley, associate director for access services administrative operations and special projects, told The Harvard Crimson:  "We have witnessed firsthand the stress that overdue fines can cause for students. Eliminating standard overdue fines and standardizing loan periods across Harvard’s libraries should help students focus on their scholarship, rather than worrying about renewing library books every 28 days in order to avoid fines."  That’s right. Harvard students are so fragile they can’t be bothered with either returning books on time or paying for the privilege of not returning them.  We must understand their trauma, their pain.  Just the term "fine" can terrorize a whole population. 

BETSY TRIUMPHS – FROM THE HILL:  Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will give the commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University, the historically black establishment said. 
DeVos will speak at the school’s commencement ceremony on May 10 on its campus in Daytona Beach, Fla.  “Much like Dr. Bethune, Founder of Bethune-Cookman University, Secretary DeVos deems the importance of opportunity and hope for students to receive an exceptional education experience,” the university said in a press release.   “Her mission to empower parents and students resonates with the history and legacy of Dr. Bethune.”  Good for Betsy and good for Bethune-Cookman, which is taking a risk by inviting a Trump Cabinet officer. 

I LOVE IT – FROM FOX:  Senior White House counselor Kellyanne Conway reacted to comments made Tuesday by Hillary Clinton that blamed FBI Director James Comey and Russian interference for aiding Republican rival Donald Trump’s ascension to the presidency.  Conway said in a Tweet to Clinton that "You Ignored WI, Called us deplorable/irredeemable, Had oodles of $$ & no message, Lost to a better candidate," signing it "From: Woman in the White House."  Speaking truth to almost power.

May 2, 2017        Permalink

THE REAL WORLD – AT 11:33 A.M. ET:   The State Department issues a warning to Americans.  From Reuters: 

The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert for Europe on Monday, saying U.S. citizens should be aware of a continued threat of terrorist attacks throughout the continent.

In the alert, the State Department cited recent incidents in France, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom and said Islamic State and al Qaeda "have the ability to plan and execute terrorist attacks in Europe."

The State Department's previous travel alert for Europe, issued ahead of the winter holiday season, expired in February. A State Department official said Monday's alert was not prompted by a specific threat, but rather recognition of the continuing risk of attacks especially ahead of the summer holidays. The alert expires on Sept. 1.

Malls, government facilities, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, airports and other locations are all possible targets for attacks, the State Department's alert said.

COMMENT:  We now seem to have individual attacks every week.  The pace of terror is quickening, and we have to expect a large attack, one possibly using explosives, sometime soon.  Up to now, we've been remarkably lucky.

May 2, 2017        Permalink 

ANOTHER NORTH KOREAN THREAT – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  North Korea continues its rapid development programs.  They've had a number of failures in missile tests, but we must assume they'll correct their mistakes and have deadly, operational ICBM's in the near future.  They appear to be working on sub-launched missiles as well.  From the Daily Mail: 

Satellite images have revealed how North Korea is preparing to trial its arsenal of submarine rockets amid fears of an impending nuclear test.

Pictures of the Nampo Naval shipyard on the country's west coast show dictator Kim Jong-un has 'imported' a new barge so his navy can carry out underwater test missile launches.

The 68ft barge is identical to another seen at the Sinpo South shipyard on the east coast which has been involved in up to six test launches since 2014.

And...

This morning Kim Jong-un accused the US of pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war after a pair of American bombers carried out training drills in the region.

The supersonic B-1B Lancers were deployed in a joint training exercise with the Japanese air forces.

North Korea said the bombers conducted 'a nuclear bomb dropping drill against major objects' in its territory at a time when US President Donald Trump and 'other U.S. warmongers are crying out for making a preemptive nuclear strike'.

'The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,' the North's official KCNA news agency said this morning.

The flight of the two bombers on Monday came as Trump said he was open to meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in the appropriate circumstances, even though Pyongyang suggested it would continue with its nuclear tests.

COMMENT:  President Trump is committed to shutting down the North Korean nuclear and missile programs.  So far, North Korea has given no hint that it is willing to shut them down. 

The president is offering diplomacy.  However, there is a high danger here of some kind of military clash, which might involve the shooting down of a North Korean test missile.  Right now, North Korea is the most dangerous place in the world.

May 2, 2017        Permalink

STRUGLING DEMS – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  There is much talk about the president's first 100 days, and much glee in the press over declaring those 100 a failure.   But what about the Dems?  Conservative columnist Marc A. Thiessen argues that they're the ones in more serious trouble.  From The Washington Post: 

The ones who need to expand their base are Democrats — the party that lost — and they utterly failed to so. According to the Post-ABC News poll, only 2 percent of Americans who voted for Trump regret their votes, while fully 96 percent say it was the right thing to do. In other words, after 100 days, Democrats made no inroads with these Obama-Trump voters. Quite the opposite, today just 28 percent of Americans say that the Democratic Party is in touch with the concerns of most Americans today — 10 points behind Trump.

Perhaps one reason is that Democrats have made clear their deep-seated contempt for the values of working-class, socially conservative Democrats who left their party in droves last year. On April 21, newly elected Democratic National Committee chairman Thomas Perez announced that pro-life candidates are no longer welcome in the Democratic Party: “Every Democrat, like every American, should support a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body and her health. That is not negotiable.” Hear that, Middle America? Get with the baby-killing program.

Democrats are completely focused on placating their frothing, left-wing, anti-Trump base — and the American heartland thinks these people are insane. They see women marching in anti-Trump rallies wearing “pussy” hats (and placing them on the heads of young children). They see left-wing mobs attacking Charles Murray at Middlebury College and trying to stop Ann Coulter from speaking at the University of California at Berkeley. They see “Bill Nye the Liberal Guy” — honorary co-chair of the March for Science — raising a question about whether people should be punished for having “extra kids.” (Which of their kids, they wonder, is the “extra” one?) They see a horrible feedback loop of left-wing intolerance for their beliefs and way of life.

And they see Democrats in Washington pandering to these people.

COMMENT:  A very good picture of today's Democratic Party – neurotic, radical, and out of control.   And without Barack Obama, who at least could attract votes.

But Democratic madness might actually succeed unless the Republicans can get their act together and start passing important, people-pleasing legislation.  No sign of that yet.

May 2,  2017     Permalink

MAY 1,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET:

MAJOR SHOW-BIZ NEWS – FROM THE GUARDIAN:  Michael Moore is set to star in a Broadway show aimed at taking down Donald Trump. The Oscar-winning film-maker will bring The Terms of My Surrender to the stage with help from Tony-winning director Michael Mayer. His credits include Spring Awakening and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.  “It’s a humorous play about a country that’s just elected a madman – I mean, there’s really no other way to put it,” he said in an interview with the New York Times. The promotional poster reads: “Can a Broadway show bring down a sitting president?”  I am writing this from Manhattan.  I am already in line.  I will sleep on the pavement to guarantee being here when the box office opens in the morning.  I cannot wait.  I hear it's another "South Pacific."

VULGAR – FROM RED ALERT POLITICS:   On Thursday April 20th, Ron Kuby, a leftist radio talk show host on “Curtis and Kuby,” said the women who were sexually harassed by Bill O’Reilly should not have been surprised by what happened to them because they created a culture that permitted his behavior.
“These women… on air… helped create and perpetuate and profit from the right wing Fox culture of hatred, homophobia misogyny, bigotry, racism,” Kuby said. “They helped make that happen and now they are shocked that they got eaten up by that? The same ugliness that they helped perpetuate day in and day out finally came for them.”  Kuby seems to be stating these women deserved to be sexually harassed by O’Reilly simply due to their political views. Because they are conservative women, Kuby has deemed them perpetuators of “hatred, homophobia misogyny, bigotry, racism” and therefore deserving of such mistreatment.  Nothing will happen to Kuby, and so-called "women's groups" will remain silent.  He's a leftist, and therefore immune.

YIKES – FROM LONDON'S TELEGRAPH:  Scientists have revealed a robotic drill that can cut the most sensitive brain surgery down from two hours to two and a half minutes.  The machine, developed at the University of Utah, is being hailed as a potential breakthrough in survival for brain patients as the reduced time they spend in surgery will drastically cut the chances of infection.  Researchers say it can make one type of complex cranial surgery 50 times faster than standard procedures.  What will the mothers of doctors have left to brag about?  Fast drilling?

May 1, 2017       Permalink

WHAT A SURPRISE! – AT 11:50 A.M. ET:   Baltimore is becoming desperate as the murder rate soars.  From CBS local: 

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore’s mayor is asking for help from the FBI, as the city struggles to contain a soaring murder rate. But will bringing in the feds stop the killings?

The mayor pulled no punches earlier this week when she said the murder rate is out of control. She wants to bring in the FBI to the city, but will it make a difference? Some people are skeptical of that.

Violence in Baltimore has reached a crisis level, with the number of killings shattering a 20-year high this early in the year, Baltimore’s mayor was blunt.

“I’m calling on all the assistance we can possibly get because I can’t imagine going into our summer months with our crime rate where it is today, what that’s going to look like by the end of the summer,” says Mayor Catherine Pugh.

WJZ has learned Mayor Pugh wants manpower and technology from the FBI.

“Murder is out of control,” says Pugh.

The mayor met with the special agent in charge of the Baltimore division of the FBI, but wouldn’t provide specifics. She says they’ll come out next week, and the FBI isn’t talking.

COMMENT:  Baltimore was recently famous for the Freddie Gray case, in which an African-American prisoner died during a ride in a police van.  Out-of-control prosecutors, seeking to appease irrational public anger, indicted six police officers in the case, none of whom was found guilty.

The Obama administration's answer to Baltimore's situation was not to provide greater resources to law enforcement, but rather to harass the Baltimore police.  They may not be perfect, far from it, but murder is not increasing because of some bad cops.  It may well be increasing because law enforcement officers are often reluctant to get involved in some cases out of fear that they'll be called racists, or worse.

Baltimore is another city where liberal policies and racial politics have failed. 

May 1, 2017       Permalink

TRUMP WARNS NORTH KOREA – AT 10:44 A.M. ET:  The president is building his international credibility.  North Korea should take his words very seriously.  From Fox: 

With the first 100 days in the rearview mirror, President Trump is entering the next phase of his administration vowing to confront the crisis with North Korea – saying in an interview that “we have to be prepared for the worst,” as Congress moves on a separate front to apply new sanctions. 

Trump told The Washington Examiner that he sees Kim Jong Un as "very threatening.”

"We have to be prepared to do what we have to do. We cannot allow this to go on,” Trump said.

In a separate interview, Trump declined to rule out military action. And his National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told “Fox News Sunday” that it’s “important for all of us to confront this regime.”

The Trump administration, Congress and the international community continue to consider multiple options, however, for cooling the tensions with North Korea, not the least of which is Trump’s bid to court China to exert pressure on Pyongyang. 

The North Korea situation stands as perhaps Trump’s most pressing international concern, even as he looks to notch legislative achievements in Washington on health care and tax reform -- two goals that eluded him during his first 100 days.

On Capitol Hill, the House plans to debate and vote on a new North Korea sanctions bill Monday night. The new push would target its shipping industry and those who employ North Korean slave labor abroad.

COMMENT:  We hope for a peaceful solution, but Trump has now drawn his own red line in the sand, or the mud, or wherever a red line is drawn in east Asia.  "We cannot allow this to go on," is pretty blunt.  Translated, the problem must be solved to our satisfaction, not kicked down the road.  Trump must pass this test.  He must show a result.

May 1,  2017     Permalink

ARE DEMS HEADING FOR DISASTER? – AT 10:15 A.M. ET:  With the media solidly on their side, with the Republican Congress divided on a host of issues, you'd think the Democrats would have a relatively easy path ahead.  But their party may well face catastrophe, even in the 2020 presidential election.  Historian Victor Davis Hanson explains that the Dems may not have learned the lessons of the past.  From RealClearPolitics: 

Will the 2020 end up like 1972 for Democrats?

So far, the similarities are eerie.

Hillary Clinton lost the election but won the popular vote over Trump. Had she campaigned more in the so-called "blue wall" states of the Rust Belt and Midwest, and not stupidly labeled a quarter of the country "irredeemable" and "deplorable," Clinton may have won in the Electoral College as well.

As in 1968, the future lesson from the lost 2016 election was for Democrats to appeal more to working classes -- and not to pander on polarizing hot-button cultural and social issues.

But it appears that Democrats may be on their way to another hard-left McGovern-style blowout.
Democrats are now even blaming Clinton for being too centrist rather than for running a terrible campaign. The newly elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez, is a polarizing far-left figure.

The highest-profile Democratic Party supporters are increasingly smug Hollywood actors, rich Wall Street and Silicon Valley elitists and embittered members of the media, along with careerist identity groups and assorted protest movements -- a fossilized 1972 echo chamber.

Democrats' politically correct messaging derides opponents as deplorable racists, sexists, bigots, xenophobes, homophobes, Islamophobes and nativists. That shrill invective only further turns off middle America. Being merely anti-Trump is no more a successful Democratic agenda than being anti-Nixon was in 1972.

COMMENT:  Very well said.  Bill Clinton understood that the Democratic Party, after being trashed by Ronald Reagan, was moving too far to the left.  He tried to correct the drift, and was rewarded with two presidential terms.

Barack Obama, elected by sheer force of personality in 2008, and by a biased press determined to make him president, saw no problem with a new leftward drift, and in fact encouraged it.  The American people rewarded his party with a loss of a thousand legislative seats during the Obama reign.

Now the party is spinning out of control.  Its base is truly crazy, like something out of China's Cultural Revolution.  The millennial generation is proving to be far more practical than Dems had thought.

The Republican future is far from guaranteed, and fate has a way of messing things up, but the Democrats are making it easier for the GOP.

May 1,  2017     Permalink