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MAY 9,  2017

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

COMEY OUT – The president has fired James B. Comey from his post as director of the FBI.  I watched with amusement tonight as so-called "journalists" and "experts" gave us their profound analysis of the dismissal.  One journalist called it a dark day.  We were warned that this is a Constitutional crisis, maybe greater than the Civil War, surely on a par with Watergate.  I suggest you ignore everything you see and read.  Go rest.  Sleep for a while.  Watch old Ronald Reagan movies.  Nobody knows anything about this.  If it's the first attempt by TRUMP (!!!!) to destroy American democracy, we'll know soon enough.  I don't really think it is.

MAJOR ROMANCE NEWS – FROM MARKETWATCH.COM:  Some people inquire about a potential mate’s age or how many previous partners they’ve had. Others are more interested in another number.  Some 42% of adults say knowing someone’s credit score would affect their willingness to date that person, according to a survey released on Wednesday of 1,000 adults by personal finance website Bankrate.com. That’s up from nearly 40% last year. Women were nearly three times as likely to consider credit score a major influence on a potential partner compared to men (20% versus 7%). Younger daters are not as concerned about these three digits: 45% of older millennials, defined here as those aged 27 to 36, said that knowing someone’s credit score would only have a minor impact on their desire to date.   So, pay your credit-card bills.  It's good romantic advice.

THIS JUST IN – FROM BREITBART:   Former President Barack Obama warned the world that more people on the planet were eating meat, causing a dramatic rise in climate emissions.  “As people want to increase meat consumption, that in turn is spiking the growth of greenhouse emissions coming out of the agricultural sector,” Obama said, pointing to countries that were consuming more meat.  The former president shared his views about the growing threat during a conversation about food with his former chef Sam Kass at a food innovation summit in Milan.  “People aren’t as familiar with the impact of cows and methane,” Obama said, adding that “as people want to increase more meat consumption, that in turn is spiking the growth of greenhouse emissions coming out of the agricultural sectors.”  Killer hamburgers!  Killer steaks!  And to think that we worry about North Korea.

May 9, 2017       Permalink

THE DYING CITY – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  The anguish of Chicago gets worse, not better.  The question must insistently be asked:  At what point do we recognize that the city cannot be governed, that its people are in mortal danger?  At what point do we think about the unthinkable, that it's time to consider sending in federal troops to patrol the streets and see to it that Chicago's children will come home safely?  From Fox:   

The Chicago Police Department warned its officers Monday about gangs armed with high-powered weapons, after three people were shot to death over the weekend and two cops were targeted in an ambush last week.

Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman, said three people who were killed in shootings Sunday were all members of the same street gang. Two of them died while attending a memorial for the earlier victim.

A shooting in the early morning hours on Sunday left one man dead, and the two others were killed and eight people were injured in a spray of more than two dozen shots from two guns while attending a makeshift memorial for him. Police said they believe the victims were all shot by members of a rival street gang in the same neighborhood on Chicago's southwest side – Brighton Park.

Police increased patrols after the morning shooting of 26-year-old Daniel Cordova, who was found dead between parked cars in the Brighton Park neighborhood. The other shooting happened about a block away. The names of the other victims were not immediately released.

Given the very real possibility that the gang war has not played itself out, the department has saturated the same area with officers and tactical teams, Guglielmi said. It also has issued a warning about gunmen with weapons powerful enough to pierce bullet-proof vests.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said Monday that a reputed gang member sprayed a police van with more than two dozen rounds from an assault rifle after mistaking the vehicle and plainclothes officers inside for rival gang members. Authorities arrested the alleged driver in the ambush, Angel Gomez, but not the shooter. The shooting occurred in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.

COMMENT:  No city is perfect, but we generally don't see this kind of warfare in New York.  It's because two mayors, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg, put public safety at the top of their lists, and didn't take the advice of self-serving "minority leaders," who always found excuses for the criminal class.

Chicago is becoming the new Detroit.  And Barack Obama, who comes from Chicago and will have his presidential library there, doesn't seem to care.

May 9, 2017       Permalink

KOREAN MYSTERY – AT 8:14 A.M. ET:   What's on those artificial islands that North Korea has been building?  From Fox: 

North Korea is at it again. Or rather, it is continuing what it started five years ago.

Artificial islands have been discovered surrounding Sohae Satellite Launching Station, a missile development and testing site roughly 70 miles northwest of Pyongyang. Satellite images suggest the islands are home to military installations and have been under development for at least five years.

While their purpose is unknown, suspicions are high that the islands could be used to launch missiles.

Those speculations are not far off the mark, according to Gordon Chang, author of “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World.”

“North Korea is never up to any good,” Chang said in an emailed statement to Fox News. “The new facilities, whatever their purpose, will be used for evil deeds, mischief, or troublemaking of some sort.”

“My sense is that the facilities on the new islands will be used for missile launches of some kind, especially because they are near Sohae.”

North Korea could just be following in its neighbor China’s footsteps. In recent years, China has reportedly been stocking its disputed man-made islands with missiles.

COMMENT:  Others disagree with the analysis and see no visible danger from the islands.  But I doubt if North Korea would build artificial islands near a launching station as vacation getaways. 

The situation with North Korea is frightening.  It has one of the most irrational and militant regimes in the world, and it not only builds weapons of mass destruction, it exports them.

I suspect Trump is waiting for another North Korean nuclear or missile test before making a decisive move.  He has promised to solve this problem, not simply kick the can down the road.

May 9, 2017       Permalink

CHARLES IS SO RIGHT – AT 8:05 A.M. ET:  Former President Obama accepted the "Profiles in Courage" award from the Kennedy family a few nights ago, prompting one to wonder what courage he ever displayed. 

Charles Krauthammer noticed something else.  From Mediaite: 

Former President Barack Obama spoke last night about the importance of political “courage” in his first public remarks following the health care vote in the House last week. Charles Krauthammer – not a big Donald Trump fan – tonight said Obama expressed a level of condescension that served as a good reminder of why we should be grateful he’s out of office.

“It’s been a full 100 days,” Krauthammer observed, “but it was nice to be reminded of why we should be grateful as a nation he is gone.”

He said the “complete moral condescension” Obama showed last night in talking about opponents as cowards and building himself up as the one holding the “courageous position” is nonsense.

Krauthammer said this was a recurring element throughout Obama’s eight years and concluded, “Good riddance, Mr. President.”

COMMENT:  You can see the video of Obama in the linked story.  He and his Democratic crowd never learn anything.  They believe themselves to be superior in every way, and they make clear their feelings.  When they get together, they're insufferable. 

I guess the Kennedys had to give Obama the award since Caroline served under him as ambassador to Japan.  But Obama seems out of place whenever true courage, or character, is discussed.  A more fitting recipient would be the leader of the Navy SEALS, or a similar figure.   But I'm not sure they have much standing among today's liberals.

May 9,  2017     Permalink

MAY 8,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:16 P.M. ET: 

OH PLEASE! – FROM AP:  Neither Bill Clinton nor James Patterson has ever tried something like this before.  The former president and the best-selling novelist are collaborating on a thriller, "The President is Missing," to come out June 2018 as an unusual joint release from rival publishers — Alfred A. Knopf and Little, Brown and Co. In a statement Monday provided to The Associated Press, the publishers called the book "a unique amalgam of intrigue, suspense and behind-the-scenes global drama from the highest corridors of power. It will be informed by details that only a president can know."  Knopf has long been Clinton's publisher, and Patterson has been with Little, Brown for decades. "The President is Missing" is the first work of fiction by Clinton, whose best-known book is the million-selling "My Life." For Patterson, it's the chance to team up with a friend who knows as well as anyone about life in the White House.  Actually, it's a good idea.  Clinton can instruct Patterson on how you get away with a lot of very bad stuff, including lying under oath.  I can't wait.

HUGE – FROM BLOOMBERG:  Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is buying Tribune Media Co. for about $3.9 billion, a deal made possible after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission voted last month to ease a limit on TV-station ownership in the U.S.  Sinclair will pay $43.50 a share to gain Tribune TV stations in big media markets like New York, Chicago and Miami, strengthening its hand in negotiations with pay-TV distributors and major broadcast networks like 21st Century Fox Inc.  The marriage of Sinclair and Tribune, two of the largest local TV station owners in the U.S., creates a U.S. broadcasting behemoth to face down online competitors vying for a piece of the local advertising pie.  We've watched Sinclair become a major factor in broadcasting.  One of their on-air stars is the great Sharyl Attkisson, the former CBS reporter who refused to go along with the mainstream media's party line, and now reports independently.  We hope this move boosts her.

NEW SCARE IN FRANCE – FROM AP:  Police poured into Paris' Gare du Nord station late Monday, evacuating passengers from platforms and sealing off the area for several hours in a new security scare to hit the French capital.  Paris police spokeswoman Johanna Primevert told The Associated Press that the operation was aimed at "removing doubt" and ended with no arrests, but she would not say what prompted it. A station employee said the operation focused on a train from Valenciennes in northern France.  The busy station is the terminus of a large suburban and national rail network as well as Eurostar trains from London.
France is under a state of emergency imposed after a series of Islamic extremist attacks. The operation came the day after a tense and closely watched presidential election that was won by independent Emmanuel Macron, who has said one of his top priorities will be ensuring France's security.  Police started pouring into the station just after 11 p.m. and asked where the train from Valenciennes was, according to a station employee, who was not authorized to be publicly named. Station staff directed officers to platform 10, where they were quickly joined by more and more police. Within minutes, authorities began evacuating the entire station, the employee said.  France is on edge, and will remain so.  For whatever reason, it is a main focus of terrorist attacks, as it was in the 1980s.

May 8, 2017       Permalink

BACK TO COURT – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  The president's travel ban directive, frozen by unfriendly court decisions, is going back to court.  From Fox: 

President Trump's revision of his controversial executive order imposing a travel and refugee ban on certain countries will get an important legal test on Monday, when a federal appeals court in Virginia weighs whether the administration overstepped its authority.

At issue is whether the ban violates the Religion Clause of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and 14th Amendments, and the ban on nationality discrimination in the issuance of immigrant visas contained in a 65-year-old congressional law.

The case will be a major test of presidential power, especially in the area of immigration.
The White House frames the issue as a temporary move involving national security. A coalition of groups in opposition call the order blatant religious discrimination, since the six countries involved have mostly Muslim populations: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Nearly all of the 15 full-time judges on the Richmond-based 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals are expected to hear the case in a public oral argument, a move to expedite the issue eventually to the Supreme Court in coming months for final review. Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, a conservative on bench, is expected to recuse since his son-in-law will be arguing the case for the Trump Justice Department. A majority of the active bench were nominated by Democratic presidents.

COMMENT:  No way to predict this.  Trump's orders have been blocked by the San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit, the darling circuit of the liberals.  Fourth Circuit, despite the number of Democratic appointees, should be more reasonable.  We should get some sense of the Court's leanings by the questions the judges ask.

May 8, 2017       Permalink

SMALL BUSINESS VS. OBAMACARE – AT 9:38 A.M. ET:   The Dems never much liked small- business people.  You know, not big enough to make major campaign contributions, entrepreneurial, independent, champions of free enterprise.  Yuch!  Who needs people like that?  Deplorables!

Yeah, but we have a lot of fantastic small-business people in America.  They are the rock of our local economies, the people we know.  And they don't like Obamacare.  Their opposition is a powerful political force in the current health-care debate.  From CNBC:   

Across America many small-business owners are cheering at the GOP win on repealing and replacing Obamacare. After years of debate, the House voted Thursday to repeal key parts of the Affordable Care Act and replace them with new provisions that change the way the federal government funds purchases of individual health plans and Medicaid.

Health care has become an ongoing source of pain for many small-business owners. It was the top issue owners wanted Trump to address in a survey of 700 owners and prospective buyers in late February by BizBuy Sell, a marketplace for small businesses.

Among respondents, 60 percent favored an ACA repeal. The major reason: spiraling health insurance premiums — often a result of insurance companies fleeing the marketplace.

It is a trend affecting business owners in all states. Ross Coulter, 49, and his wife, who run a two-person public relations firm in Dallas, have been hunting for a new health insurance plan after Humana notified them it was discontinuing their current one. They had no immediate plans to slow their search after the House vote. They are looking for an affordable replacement by July 1 for the high-deductible plan, for which premiums are $900 a month for the couple and their three children.

COMMENT:  We need more stories like this from the media to show the disaster that Obamacare is.  Really, it's a scam. 

The House-passed Republican health bill now goes to the Senate, where it will be sliced up and rewarmed.  Negotiations with the House will then take place.  The GOP is on the line.  It must come up with a final bill that will pass both houses.  Trump will sign.

May 8, 2017       Permalink

THE BATTLE LINES ARE BEING DRAWN – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  Obama is back, and is now honored by the Kennedys.  There is method to the madness.  From the New York Post: 

BOSTON — Former President Barack Obama returned to the spotlight Sunday to accept an award for political courage from the John F. Kennedy family, days after House Republicans won passage of a bill dismantling much of his signature health care law.

The Democrat has made few public appearances since leaving office in January, and has avoided mention of his Republican successor in the White House, even as President Donald Trump has criticized the previous administration numerous times while moving to undo many of Obama’s initiatives.

Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama arrived at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum for a dinner and ceremony to accept the annual Profile in Courage award, named for a 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Kennedy that profiled eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled though unpopular positions.

Among the long line of guests who made their way down the red carpet into the library for the event Sunday night were members of the Kennedy family, members of Congress, former Obama staffers and celebrities including former late-night talk show host David Letterman.

COMMENT:  Oh, another one who's back, and already planning political activities, is Hillary Clinton.  There is no love lost between the Clintons and the Obamas, or between the Clintons and the Kennedys.  Recall that it was Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Obama in the 2008 presidential primaries that put Obama firmly on the road to defeating Clinton for the nomination.  It was a deep wound, for President Clinton tried to pattern himself after Jack Kennedy. 

There are rumors that Caroline Kennedy, just back from an Obama-appointed stint as ambassador to Japan, might try to run for office in New York.  There are rumors that Hillary will make another White House run, and that daughter Chelsea might try to find a receptive congressional district, also in New York.  The Kennedys have unveiled Caroline's son, Jack, President Kennedy's non-look-alike grandson, presumably also headed for politics.  The legend of the Hatfields and the McCoys comes to mind.   The Kennedys vs. the Clintons, with Obama giving weight to the former.

A good novel, soon to be a Ken Burns documentary.

May 8,  2017     Permalink