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MAY 27,  2017

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

BLUNDER – FROM GATEWAY PUNDIT:   After facing a huge backlash for pulling ads from Fox News’s Sean Hannity, USAA announced that it will also be pulling ads from liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s show.  Earlier this week, The Gateway Pundit reported USAA, an insurance, bank and financial services company that caters to active duty military, veterans and their families, is getting slammed by members after announcing on Twitter Wednesday night the company was withdrawing advertising on the Sean Hannity show in response to pressure from liberal activists trying to silence Hannity by cutting off his advertising base. It was not stated by USAA if they advertised on Hannity’s Fox News Channel show or his nationally syndicated radio show.  It was dumb of USAA to pull ads from a conservative show, but at least the mistake is being balanced by a similar withdrawal from super-lib Rachel Maddow.

A TRUMP SHAKEUP? – FROM CBS NEWS:   The White House is preparing a plan to restructure communications and possibly staffing for when President Trump returns from his overseas trip, CBS News has learned.  It's unclear when exactly these proposals will be presented to Mr. Trump, but this is likely to take place shortly after he returns to Washington from his first foreign trip as president.   Mr. Trump will be presented with proposals to set up messaging teams both inside and outside the White House to deal with rapid response on all fronts. These teams will also hone the messaging on the Russia investigation, CBS News' Steve Chaggaris reports.  Mr. Trump will also be presented with a proposal to restructure his communications team, including the press office. There have been rumors around Washington that press secretary Sean Spicer's job is in danger, but the White House has denied these rumors. In an interview with Fox News' Jeanine Pirro earlier this month, Mr. Trump said Spicer has been "doing a good job but he gets beat up."  It's time Trump took some action.  He's not getting the communications help he needs, particularly at a time when the media is so overwhelmingly left wing.  And Trump must seal the leaks coming from his own people.  Prosecutions may be necessary.  People should be invited to leave if they can't play by the rules.

CONGRATULATIONS, MR. WOUK:    Herman Wouk, author of "The Caine Mutiny," "Marjorie Morningstar," and a host of other novels and non-fiction works, turns 102 this weekend, and he's still writing.  For my generation, he has been one of the great storytellers.  "The Caine Mutiny," one of the best novels to come out of the Second World War, introduced the term "paranoid schizophrenia" to the national vocabulary.  Humphrey Bogart's portrayal of Captain Queeg in the movie adaptation remains a screen classic.  "Marjorie Morningstar," the great coming-of-age novel of my youth, is used in college English classes as an example of...a coming-of-age novel.  "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" were turned into a major television series.  I hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll have another Wouk novel.  The man is a young 102.

May 27, 2017        Permalink   

GONER – AT 1:58 P.M. ET:   We don't like to pile on, but Hillary Clinton is getting terrible reviews for her commencement speech yesterday at Wellesley, her alma mater.  She deserves them.  She sounded more like a patient on a psychiatrist's couch than a presidential candidate, former or future.  From Breitbart: 

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continued her “sore loser” tour on Friday, telling Wellesley seniors that they were graduating “at a time when there is a full-fledged assault on truth and reason,” and likening the Trump administration to “authoritarian regimes throughout history.”

History, evidently, is not Clinton’s best subject. She likened President Donald Trump to Richard Nixon, whom she said had been impeached. In fact, Nixon resigned.

After that glaring error — compounded by the fact that Clinton’s husband was only the second American president to be impeached — Clinton then went on to accuse the Trump administration of “defending themselves by talking about ‘alternative facts.'”

She then presented some more “alternative facts” of her own, calling Trump’s new budget “an attack of unimaginable cruelty on the most vulnerable among us” and “a trillion-dollar mathematical lie.”

She never explained what she meant — and she did not have to. Clinton was on friendly territory: her alma mater, a liberal arts college, a largely female audience.

But there was something more than politics in her remarks. There was a desire to settle scores.

She even mentioned “Pizzagate,” a conspiracy theory alleging that Clinton associates were running a pedophilia ring. And she dinged Trump for disputing “the size of crowds” at his inauguration.

It was a petty, petulant performance. Clinton dwelled on the past, on an occasion devoted to the future. In a bitterly divisive speech, she accused Trump of fomenting division. America had disappointed her, and so young Americans had to bear the burden.

She tried to conclude on an inspiring note: “[I]t’s often during the darkest times when you can do the most good,” she said.

It was a reminder of how much darker these times would have been had she won.

COMMENT:  The speech was delivered on Memorial Day weekend, but she never mentioned it.  Probably never occurred to her.  Who are those people with the funny helmets on?

May 27, 2017       Permalink

THE PRESIDENT DEPARTS – AT 12:36 P.M. ET:  President Trump is returning to the United States after his first presidential trip abroad.   He is properly ending his trip by addressing American troops.  From Fox: 

President Trump on Saturday in Italy thanked overseas U.S. troops, in concluding his trip through the Middle East and Europe in which NATO, radical Islamic terrorism and climate change emerged at key issues.

“I think we hit a homerun no matter where we went,” said at Naval Air Station Sigonella, in Sicily. “And now we’re getting on that very big plane and heading back to Washington. I can think of no better way to conclude our first foreign trip than to spend time with you. … We will always support you. And we will never, ever forget you.”

Trump also said he leaves amid new hope among nations on “eradicating the terrorism that plagues humanity.”

Earlier in the day, Trump declined to join six other world powers Italy in affirming the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

COMMENT:  The Mideast leg of the trip went spectacularly well.  And American negotiators have now returned to the Mideast to continue the work the president started.

In Europe Mr. Trump clearly ran into trouble.  Europeans despise him and still love Obama, even though Obama showed major disrespect for them.  He was just, ah, so trendy, so with it, so great for conversations on the cocktail circuit, so properly contemptuous of ordinary people.  What a guy! 

If anything, Trump's visit showed that Western Europe is growing in insignificance.  Many of its countries can't even reproduce their populations.  They will essentially fade away.  Many have come down with the socialist disease.  Their citizens live their lives "expecting" something from their government.  The thinking of Europe, to the extent that it exists, does not much influence us any longer.   

And 68 years after the founding of NATO, the alliance's commanding general is still an American.  They still depend on us, while sneering at us.

The Mideast leg was far more important.  The Europeans can be handled, as they dream of Elizabeth Warren as president.  Dream on.

May 27,  2017     Permalink

KELLY LAYS IT ON THE LINE –  AT 11:45 A.M. ET:  We feel it around us – the terrorists are extremely active, and are striking repeatedly.  Britain is practically an armed camp, following the recent Manchester attack.  From The Hill:  

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly on Friday said the terror threat is worse than most realize, saying some people would "never leave the house" if they knew the truth.  “I was telling [Fox host] Steve [Doocy] on the way in here, if he knew what I knew about terrorism, he’d never leave the house in the morning,” Kelly said on “Fox & Friends.”  He noted there were four major terror attacks in the last week — in England, Egypt, the Philippines and Indonesia — "by generally the same groups."  “It’s everywhere. It’s constant. It’s nonstop. The good news for us in America is we have amazing people protecting us every day. But it can happen here almost anytime.”  Masked gunmen opened fire on a group of Coptic Christians driving to a monastery in southern Egypt on Friday, killing 26 and injuring 25 more.

COMMENT:  We will only wake up when it actually happens.  That's almost in the nature of democracies, at least some democracies.  Other democracies never wake up.  They just start to die.  Paraphrasing Churchill, they feed the alligator with the hope they'll be eaten last.

A British election in less than two weeks will tell us which way the UK is heading.  The bad guys are moving up in the polls.

May 27, 2017       Permalink

MAY 26,  2017

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

NO INDEPENDENT COUNSEL? – FROM FOX:  Sen. Tim Kaine's youngest son was one of eight people charged in Minnesota Friday in relation to their alleged disruption of a rally supporting President Trump.
Linwood Kaine, 24, was charged with one gross misdemeanor count of obstructing the legal process and misdemeanor counts of fleeing on foot and concealing his identity in public.  A criminal complaint says Kaine and others changed into black clothing during the March 4 rally and entered the state Capitol. One group member threw a smoke bomb inside. The complaint says the 24-year-old Kaine was among those who ran away, and he initially resisted arrest.  His father, of course, was Hillary Clinton's vice-presidential candidate last fall.  We don't wish anyone ill.  This young man needs some guidance.

AND ANOTHER NOTABLE ARREST – FROM THE EAST BAY TIMES:   BERKELEY — A former Diablo Valley College professor was in custody Wednesday evening after his arrest Wednesday afternoon in Oakland, according to county records.  Eric Clanton, 28, was being held on $200,000 bail after he was booked into Berkeley City Jail Wednesday evening. He was arrested on suspicion of use of a firearm during a felony with an enhancement clause and assault with a non-firearm deadly weapon.  No date was immediately listed for upcoming arraignment hearings.  A former Diablo Valley College staff directory Web page said Clanton, who earned a bachelor’s degree at California State University, Bakersfield, and a master’s degree at San Francisco State in philosophy, worked at the school since 2015, teaching an “introduction to philosophy with a background in teaching ethics, critical thinking, and comparative philosophy East/West” with “primary research interests” of ethics and politics.  Yeah, he seems just the guy to teach about ethics and politics. 

VEGAS CONCERNED – FROM THE LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL:   Following this week’s Manchester bombings, and looking forward to Memorial Day weekend, Las Vegas police are stepping up patrols and surveillance on the Strip, downtown and at local community events in an effort to make the valley a “hardened target.”  “Las Vegas continues to be an event destination — one of the world’s greatest event destinations,” Darcy said. “We have to continue to maintain safety and (create) new ways to ensure the safety of the folks that are attending these events.”   There is a massive defense presence in Britain, less so in this country, but authorities throughout the Western world are clearly worried about new attacks.

May 26, 2017        Permalink

TRIBUTE TO TRUMP – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  From former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, who appreciates the president's triumph in the Mideast, in the New York Daily News: 

Unlike the last eight years under the Obama administration, when the commander-in-chief’s hesitancy to lead the world hobbled American action on too many fronts, there’s no doubt we now have a President who wants to fight and win this war. This kind of clarity of purpose is critical especially in the wake of the horrific killings like those that just took place in Manchester, England.
Trump’s assertiveness in repairing U.S. foreign policy, shoring up international resolve against terrorism, can rally the world to take strong action against the enemy.

One sour note in assessing the President’s trip came from Richard Clarke, who, writing in this newspaper, said Trump had abandoned American values and then speculated, contrary to what the Arab leaders actually said about Trump’s address, that they found the President’s call to “drive out” terrorists “sophomoric.”

Clarke’s take on the speech was a lonely outlier. In fact, it was a courageous speech in Riyadh — just as, in sum, it was a courageous trip to the holiest places in the three Abrahamic faiths.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Woolsey gets it right.  The president's trip was a victory, and an announcement that America is back.  The leftist press may hate that, but I don't think most Americans do.

Mr. Trump's approval rating is still problematical.  It runs from the low to mid forties.  That isn't disastrous, but the addition of another five points will change the political mood in Washington.  He's got to work on that by delivering, in the face of unprecedented establishment hostility and his own frequent gaffes.

May 26, 2017       Permalink

BRITAIN TERROR LATEST – AT 9:44 A.M. ET:   Apparently the Manchester bomber was part of a much larger operation.  The sweeps across Britain are extensive.  From The Telegraph: 

Counter-terror police investigating the Manchester Arena bombing have carried out fresh raids today, as security services brace for more attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan beginning tomorrow.

Islamic State has called on its followers to rise up in an “all-out war” on "infidels” in the West. Saturday marks the start of a 30-day period of fasting and reflection in the Islamic world, which has in recent years seen a large increase in terror attacks.

As detectives revealed the youngest man in custody over the Manchester attack is 18, early-hours searches were on Friday launched at a Manchester barbershop and a takeaway on Merseyside.

Officers who earlier raided terrorist Salman Abedi's home discovered a working bomb factory with a huge stash of explosive chemicals and other components.

It comes amid fears the attacker might have built a second device that is now in the hands of fellow jihadists.

Security sources now believe he assembled the bomb himself after learning his trade in Libya. But the amount of material in his home has led to fears that he could have built more than one device and and distributed them to other British-based extremists.

COMMENT:  At the same time, Britain is preparing to vote in a national election in two weeks.  As we reported here, the hard-left, pro-Islamist Labour Party is gaining rapidly in the polls, apparently because it promises more freebies than the governing Conservatives.  Conservatives, under Theresa May, are still ahead, however.  If Labour should win, Britain's stance against terror will collapse, and the country's alliance with the United States severely damaged.

New polls should be out in a few days.  They will tell us whether the Labour advance has stopped.  These are critical times.

May 26, 2017       Permalink

NEW TERROR AGAINST CHRISTIANS – AT 9:27 A.M. ET:  The attack in Egypt must be condemned quickly by President Trump, who will soon visit with the president of the country.  From Fox: 

A team of gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians south of Cairo Friday, killing at least 26 people, including children, and wounding 25 other people, Egyptian officials confirmed.
As many as 10 attackers stormed the bus dressed in military uniforms and wearing masks, according to witnesses. The victims were on their way to visit a monastery.

Only three children survived the attack, the Copts United news portal reported. Arab TV stations showed images of a badly damaged bus along a roadside, many of its windows shattered.

Ambulances parked around it as bodies lay on the ground, covered with black plastic sheets.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Egypt’s Coptic Christians have become the preferred target of the Islamic State in the region. Egypt's Copts, the Middle East's largest Christian community, have repeatedly cried out for help from discrimination, as well as outright attacks, at the hands of the country's majority Muslim population. Coptic Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt's 93 million people.

COMMENT:  Christians are probably the most endangered group in the Mideast right now, but you'd never know it from the response in the West.  Western politicians are too busy lecturing us about Islamophobia.

May 26,  2017    Permalink