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MAY 5,  2017

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

WORDS HAVE CONSEQUENCES – FROM VARIETY:   FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that his agency will be looking into complaints made against Stephen Colbert for what some labeled a homophobic joke about President Donald Trump.  “I have had a chance to see the clip now and so, as we get complaints — and we’ve gotten a number of them — we are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as it’s been set out by the Supreme Court and other courts and we’ll take the appropriate action,” Pai told Philadelphia’s Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.  “Traditionally, the agency has to decide, if it does find a violation, what the appropriate remedy should be,” he continued. “A fine, of some sort, is typically what we do.” Pai was appointed to the FCC in 2012 by President Barack Obama. He was elevated to the chairmanship of the commission by Trump in January.  They could always apply Mother's Law, and wash Colbert's mouth out with soap.

LITTLE IDIOTS – FROM THE FEDERALIST:    Even as Middlebury College administrators investigated students who were disruptive and violent against libertarian social scientist Charles Murray, the school’s student government expressed its sentiments that penalizing their behavior is unjust.  On Monday, the Middlebury administration announced it had disciplined 30 students so far for their actions during the Murray event...The student bill argued that arresting students who engage in violent and disruptive behavior would result in “psychological trauma for marginalized students.” That’s right, the student government essentially argued that people it deems “marginalized” should get a free pass on violence and disorderly conduct.  The students also associated arrests and criminal charges “with police violence and the carceral state, which law professor Michelle Alexander refers to as ‘the New Jim Crow.’”  And parents keep paying that tuition.  Are they more immature than their kids?

WOULD TAXPAYERS APPROVE THIS? – FROM FOX:   Sacramento became the latest city this week to go above and beyond ‘sanctuary’ policies by approving the use of taxpayer dollars to support the legal defense of illegal immigrants facing deportation.  The City Council voted unanimously Thursday night to draw $300,000 from the general fund to “provide urgent legal and support services to Sacramento families facing the immediate threat of separation due to deportation.”   The plan, backed by the mayor, fits a trend of local and state lawmakers taking similar action. As the Trump administration separately faces a court setback in its bid to cut off federal funds to sanctuary cities, those jurisdictions are only doubling down.  Earlier in the week, officials in Michigan's Washtenaw County gave initial approval to pay such legal bills with taxpayer funds.  Proposals to directly or indirectly pay for legal assistance to illegal immigrants have also gained approval in Providence, R.I.; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, Calif.; and Newark, N.J.  It seems to me that funds for legal defense for illegal immigrants should be provided by private foundations, not government agencies.  This strikes me as more politics than justice.

May 5, 2017       Permalink

THIS IS A REAL CRISIS – AT 11:52 A.M. ET:   The word is overused, but it applies here.  We have a virtual collapse of police morale across the country.  From the Washington Times: 

An unclassified FBI study on last year’s cop-killing spree found officers are “de-policing” amid concerns that anti-police defiance fueled in part by movements like Black Lives Matter has become the “new norm.”

“Departments — and individual officers — have increasingly made the decision to stop engaging in proactive policing,” said the report by the FBI Office of Partner Engagement obtained by The Washington Times.

The report, “Assailant Study — Mindsets and Behaviors,” said that the social-justice movement sparked by the 2014 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of an officer in Ferguson, Missouri, “made it socially acceptable to challenge and discredit the actions of law enforcement.”
FBI spokesman Matthew Bertron said the study was written in April.

“Nearly every police official interviewed agreed that for the first time, law enforcement not only felt that their national political leaders [publicly] stood against them, but also that the politicians’ words and actions signified that disrespect to law enforcement was acceptable in the aftermath of the Brown shooting,” the study said.

As a result, “Law enforcement officials believe that defiance and hostility displayed by assailants toward law enforcement appears to be the new norm.”

COMMENT:  We've seen soaring murder rates in some cities.  Most of the victims, and probably most of the perps, have been black.  I guess those black lives don't matter.

The innocent African-American is the most victimized by radical leftist organizations.  They're simply cannon fodder for the leftist machine.

May 5, 2017       Permalink

WAA...?   DOES FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA READ THE PAPERS? – AT 9:12 A.M. ET:   He seems to feel that the rules don't apply to him.  From AP:

PARIS — Barack Obama has waded into France’s presidential election, in support of Emmanuel Macron.

In a message posted on Macron’s Twitter account, the former US president said he was endorsing the centrist candidate “because of how important this election is.”

Macron is facing far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in Sunday’s runoff vote. Polls suggest Macron is well ahead.

Obama said: “I’m not planning to get involved in many elections now that I don’t have to run for office again, but the French election is very important to the future of France and the values that we care so much about.”

He continued: “I have admired the campaign that Emmanuel Macron has run. He has stood up for liberal values. He put forward the vision for the important role that France plays in Europe and around the world. And he has committed to a better future for French people. He appeals to people’s hopes, and not their fears.”

Obama ended his message with the words “En Marche” (Macron’s political movement) and “Vive La France.”

COMMENT:  Are we serious here?  Congress, egged on by his own party, is currently investigating Russian interference in the 2016 American presidential election, and Obama is interfering in the French election?  Doesn't this kinda muddle the message?  I sure think so.

Hillary, call Barack.  Tell him to go back to the beach.  In the immortal words of Don Rickles, give him a cookie.  He'll go away.  The man is out of it.

Of course, he was out of it for eight years.

May 5, 2017       Permalink

APRIL JOBS REPORT MIXED – AT 8:50 A.M. ET:  But the news is generally good.  From Business Insider: 

The US economy added 211,000 jobs in April, rebounding after an unexpectedly weak month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists had forecast that nonfarm payrolls rose by 190,000, according to Bloomberg.

The bounce in jobs growth confirmed that the slowdown in March was a weather-related aberration, said Tony Bedikian, head of global markets for Citizens Bank. 

"Businesses are certainly hiring and there's no sign that we see of any bump in the road in hiring trends," he told Business Insider. 

The gains in March were revised down by 19,000 jobs to 79,000.

And...

Wage growth slowed last month, with average hourly earnings increasing by 2.5% year-on-year, down from 2.6%. Labor-force participation also slipped, to 62.9% from 63%. The share of American civilians over 16 working or looking for a job has plunged since the recession. An August 2015 analysis by the President's Council of Economic Advisers suggests that about half of the drop comes from structural, demographic factors: the baby boomers, an immensely large cohort of Americans, are getting older and starting to retire.

COMMENT:  We're heading in the right direction.  Jobs are up.  There is actual wage growth.  If Trump can bring a serious number of manufacturing jobs back to America, we'll be even better.

Cause for cautious optimism.

May 5, 2017       Permalink

MAY 4,  2017

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

SHE'S AVAILABLE, AS ALWAYS – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:  Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is building a new political group meant to reengage in politics and help take part in the opposition to President Trump, and plans to call it 'Onward Together.'  The name is a play on Clinton's campaign theme, 'Stronger Together,' which was meant to rally the diverse coalition that brought President Obama to power and contrast with candidate Donald Trump's sometimes divisive rhetoric.  At the same time, Clinton is getting back into the lucrative business of appearing before associations and corporations for six-figure paychecks. 
That is a line of work that also has echoes of her failed campaign, as her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms helped spark opposition and fuel both the primary challenge from Bernie Sanders and her ultimate opponent, Trump.  I can't wait.  Some people don't know how to leave graciously.

REPORT FROM YALE – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Political clashes on American campuses have dominated headlines in recent months, fueled by violent student revolts and blatant rejection of conservative speakers at several major schools. When things get this emotionally charged, straightforward numbers can sometimes provide a startling reality check. A new survey of Yale University students reveals that 88 percent said their professors were liberal while 6 percent felt their instructors were politically moderate. Only 1 percent said the professors were conservative. Seven of 10 have fallen victim to “political bias in the classroom,” while a third said their professors expressed their personal social and political beliefs that were “completely unrelated” to the subject of the course.  The numbers are a cautionary tale for campuses where left-leaning academics flourish. Young scholars may not like a one-sided community.  It's time to start cutting federal aid to higher education, outside the sciences.  The American people don't have to finance a propaganda network.

SICKENING – FROM THE HILL:  Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) went after President Trump on Wednesday night, calling him a “disgusting, poor excuse of a man” and saying, “I want him impeached.”  Waters was speaking at a gala held by EMILY’s List, a PAC that aims to help elect female Democrats who support abortion rights. During her address, the frequent Trump critic railed against his policies, calling on young people to step up and resist.  “We must take our anger, our pain, our collective strength to right this wrong, to resist this tyranny and to save our democracy from a man whose immoral character and distorted thinking are an imminent threat to our nation,” she said. Waters called Trump a “disgusting, poor excuse of a man” and slammed his Cabinet as “ill-prepared, right-wing billionaires.”  Waters also called for Trump’s impeachment, after saying she didn’t like using the term.  This woman, sometimes called "Sister Maxine," is considered one of the major voices in the Democratic Party.  What a disgrace.

May 4, 2017       Permalink

NEW TERROR WARNING – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:  Day after day, new warnings are issued.  They are based on intelligence, and should be taken seriously.  From NBC News:

Truck owners and truck rental agencies in the U.S. must be "vigilant" about the increasing frequency of "ramming attacks" by terrorists using vehicles as killing machines, according to a new Transportation Security Administration report obtained exclusively by NBC News.

The unclassified report warns owners, operators and rental agencies to protect their vehicles from theft. Entitled "Vehicle ramming attacks: Threat landscape, indicators and counter measures," the report was sent Tuesday to local law enforcement agencies and private companies working with the Department of Homeland Security.

The report notes that in the past three years, at least 173 people have been killed and more than 700 wounded in 17 ramming attacks around the world. Of the 17 attacks, 13 resulted in fatalities. Five were carried out in France both before and after the Nice attack and four took place in Israel.

Nine of the 17 attackers were carried out in the past 10 months. One involved an Ohio State University student who drove his car into a crowd last November, then began slashing fellow students before campus police killed him. Eleven people were wounded.

COMMENT:  There are going to be more attacks.  The questions are where and when.  I would also expect attacks by ordinary passenger vehicles. 

Trucks can also be used as explosives-bearing vehicles, as we saw in the Oklahoma City bombing. 

It has just been announced that President Trump will visit Israel and Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip as president.  I would not be surprised if radical Islamist elements attempted one or more attacks while the president is in the Mideast.

May 4, 2017       Permalink

CRITICAL VOTE – AT 10:22 A.M. ET:  The House is expected to vote today on the GOP's new health-care plan.   The vote will be close, but the House leadership says it has the support it needs to see the bill through to victory.  From Reuters: 

WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives was set on Thursday for a cliffhanger vote to repeal Obamacare, as Republican leaders worked to deliver President Donald Trump a win for one of his top legislative priorities.

House Republican leaders have expressed confidence the bill would pass and several party moderates who previously objected to it got behind it on Wednesday, giving the effort new momentum.

Still, the vote was expected to be close. Even if the measure passes the House, it faces daunting odds in the Senate where Republicans hold a narrower majority.

Keen to score his first major legislative win since taking office in January, Trump threw his own political capital behind the bill, meeting lawmakers and calling them in an effort to cajole their support.

Trump, whose Republican party controls both the House and Senate, is seeking to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Aides said he worked the phones furiously.

An active and serious president, not afraid to get in the trenches and fight.  Compare please to the last gent.

Wavering moderate Republicans had worried that the legislation to overhaul President Barack Obama's 2010 signature healthcare law would leave too many people with pre-existing medical conditions unable to afford health coverage.

But the skeptical Republican lawmakers got behind the bill after meeting with Trump to float a compromise proposal that is still expected to face unanimous Democratic opposition.

The legislation's prospects brightened further after members of the Freedom Caucus, a faction of conservative lawmakers in the House who played a key role in derailing the original version of the bill last month, said they could go along with the compromise.

Millions more Americans got healthcare coverage under Obamacare, but Republicans have long attacked it, seeing it as government overreach and complaining it drives up costs.

COMMENT:  Republicans need a legislative victory on behalf of Trump.  The fact that the GOP in the House, after not being able to pass an earlier version of the bill, came back and tried again, is very commendable.  Some argued after that first defeat that they should have abandoned the issue, but they refused.  Give an A for effort. We're watching for today's vote.

May 4, 2017       Permalink

RETURN TO THE COLD WAR? – AT 9:25 A.M. ET:  There was action off Alaska this morning.  From Fox: 

Two Russian Bear bombers -- escorted for the first time by a pair of Su-35 "Flanker" fighter jets -- entered Alaska's Air Defense Zone early Thursday morning, U.S. officials told Fox News.

The Russian formation was intercepted by a pair of U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter jets that were already flying a patrol about 50 miles southwest of Chariot, Alaska.

It was the first time the U.S. Air Force has seen advanced Russian Su-35 fighter jets escort Russian Cold War-era bombers near Alaska.

The Russian fighter jets were unarmed and remained in international airspace, officials said.

Late last month, Russian bombers flew near Alaska over four consecutive days for the first time since 2014.

Thursday's episode comes one day after President Trump spoke over the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The White House said the conversation focused on crises in the Middle East and North Korea, with no mention of recent Russian provocations.

The conversation was described in a readout as "a very good one."

Trump in April said U.S. relations with Russia were at an "all-time low," and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also described the relationship between the countries as being at a "low point."

COMMENT:  Whether we want it or not, we seem to be in a new Cold War with Russia.  It appears that Putin wants it, to reassert both Russia's power and his perception of Russia's greatness.

The deployment of the Su-35, even unarmed, demonstrates that, despite the weakness of the Russian economy, Russia still has the capacity to develop and build the most modern weapons.

There is a tendency in some circles to belittle Russia and underestimate her capabilities.  We forget that the old Soviet Union fought World War II with a third-world economy, yet made mincemeat of Hitler's armies. And even countries with wobbly economies can direct the resources they have to defense, and those may be considerable resources.

May 4,  2017     Permalink