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MAY 28,  2018

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

I LOVE IT – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  John David Rice-Cameron can trace his conservative roots to his middle school years. Back then, his father would often have talk radio on during rides home from school or tennis practice.  “Sometimes my dad would listen to Rush Limbaugh and he would kind of argue with him,” recalls Rice-Cameron, 20, a sophomore at Stanford University. “I just found myself agreeing with basically everything Rush Limbaugh was saying.”  Rice-Cameron’s parents are Democrats. His mother, Susan Rice, served in the Obama administration, first as U.N. ambassador, then as National Security Advisor.  Is this kid allowed back home?  How do the parents explain him to the Washington cocktail circuit?  It's so hard to hide a family disgrace.

THE BACKLASH BEGINS – FROM DW.COM:   The plan announced on Monday by the Chancellor in Vienna would bar all foreigners from claiming the main benefit payment for five years.  "The fundamental rule we will introduce is that German will become the key to accessing the full minimum benefit," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told a news conference. "That means that whoever has insufficient language skills will not be able to claim the full minimum benefit."  Kurz said that most people on the minimum welfare payment were in Vienna. Roughly half of them were foreign citizens, he said, something he described as "frightening."  This is what happens when immigration policies are set by Western liberals infatuated with their own goodness and virtue.  Steps like this are inevitable until Europe establishes sane, thoughtful immigration reforms.

DISGRACEFUL, BUT COMMON – FROM TODD STARNES:   What was supposed to be a celebration of a four-year collegiate journey for conservative writer and activist Kassy Dillon, was soured by a group of hecklers who booed her at the Mount Holyoke College commencement earlier this month.  Dillon was a guest on the Todd Starnes Radio Show – describing how a group of 15-20 students proceeded to boo her as she stepped forward to receive her diploma.  “It’s a very small school, so most of the students knew what my political ideology was, and so during graduation, as I’m watching all the commencement speakers, there’s students already kinda heckling me, and just saying rude things to me” Dillon said.  Dillon said that she was “not expecting to get booed,” but by doing so, the students “kinda proved what I’ve been saying for four years, that civil discourse is not going well on college campuses, and that’s because the left and the right aren’t communicating because the left has demonized everyone one the right.”  Students who behave that way should have the awarding of their diploma delayed.  It is time for the cowardly "educators" to impose a standard of behavior.

May 28,  2018     Permalink

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PARTY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE? – AT 11:28 P.M. ET:   There was a time when the Democratic Party was strong on national defense.  John F. Kennedy's inaugural address was symbolic of his party in that era.

But what's happened since?  Well, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, Field Marshal of the United States and the Rest of the Universe Barack Obama, and General of the Armies Nancy Pelosi. 

Now we come to Keith Ellison, deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, who uses Memorial Day to post another patriotic gesture.  From The Hill: 

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) said that he will boycott NFL games this upcoming season over the league's new policy requiring players to stand during the national anthem.

“Friends who know me, know that I love football. But I won’t be watching this NFL season because of the unfair cowardly and idiotic kneeling ban,” the progressive lawmaker tweeted on Sunday, adding the hashtag “Boycott NFL.”

The NFL last week approved a new policy requiring that players on the field stand during the anthem. Players will also be allowed to stay in their locker rooms during the anthem, but any players who protest during the “Star Spangled Banner” will face a penalty.

COMMENT:  The new league policy is fine, and doesn't interfere with anyone's "rights."  There is no Constitutional right to stage a political demonstration on someone else's time, on someone else's field, in someone else's uniform and on someone else's team.

The NFL is a private organization.  No one is forced to join it.  Like any other private organization, or company, employers have a right to impose reasonable standards of behavior.  If the players wish to engage in politics, or make political speeches, they have a perfect right to do so on their own time and in another space.

It would have been far more useful if Ellison had come up with some creative suggestions for players to help their communities, but that's not the way of the modern "progressive."

May 28,  2018     Permalink

SEND IN THE CLOWNS – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:   As we commemorate Memorial Day, we recall that many of our battle deaths occurred in Europe, as a result of failed, inept European foreign policies.  We came to the rescue, at great cost.

Our "allies" are at it again, meeting with the arch-terrorist regime that runs Iran, trying to preserve the Iran nuclear deal, from which America has wisely withdrawn.  Lots of trade with Iran, the highest goal apparently, is involved.  As usual, our "allies" seem prepared to appease the enemy for a short-term goal.  From the Algemeiner:   

As EU foreign ministers convened in Brussels on Monday to try and keep alive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the Tehran regime’s deputy foreign minister warned that the country’s ballistic missile program — a key factor behind the US decision to reinstate punishing sanctions earlier this month — was a “red line” that could not be crossed in negotiations.

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Vienna on Sunday that while European parties to the deal, in particular the French government, wanted to address the missile program, Iran was “not willing to discuss such matters.”

French President Emmanuel Macron was reported to have raised the missile issue during a May 9 telephone conversation with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, in the context of a broader appeal to Tehran to stick with the agreement despite the US withdrawal.

Araghchi was in the Austrian capital for  first “joint commission” meeting  between Iran and the other signatories of the 2015 deal — China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany — since President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that the US was pulling out of  the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the technical name for the deal, and would instead impose sanctions on Tehran.

One anonymous Iranian official who spoke to the AFP news agency said that as far as the Iranians were concerned, the deal was already in “intensive care.” Iran has threatened to resume more intensive uranium enrichment activities if the deal collapses.

Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, described the atmosphere at the Vienna talks as “good” as she arrived for Monday’s discussions in Brussels with the bloc’s foreign ministers.

“Our work first and foremost is to preserve the nuclear deal with Iran,” she said.

COMMENT:  That's the problem.  The Europeans always go in begging.  The Iranians need this deal far more than the West does.  Make them earn it.  They'll get off the dime with missiles if they feel the weight of the United States, and know that the Europeans will eventually side with the Americans.

Mogherini is a European leftist.   Expect her to try to give away Montana.

May 28, 2018       Permalink

ON MEMORIAL DAY – AT 12:52 P.M. ET:  A sacrifice on Memorial Day.  From Fox: 

Rescuers are searching for a 39-year-old National Guard member Monday who was reported missing a day after he was swept away by fast-moving floodwaters in Maryland’s Ellicott City while attempting to rescue people during devastating floods, family and officials said.

Eddison Hermond, of Severn, was reported missing around 12:30 a.m. Monday, hours after sudden, violent floodwaters destroyed businesses, submerged vehicles and left some flipped and in pieces, Howard Co. Exec Allan Kittleman said. Friends and relatives on Facebook said Hermond, a National Guard member, was rescuing people after 4 p.m. Sunday when he was swept away by floodwaters, FOX45 Baltimore reported. 

Hermond was last seen in the La Palapa area near Lot D on Main Street around 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Howard County Police Department said. Hermond was described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall and 160 pounds.

"He has not been located despite ongoing searches of the area," police said. 

COMMENT:  Our armed forces do many things, and most of them are dangerous.  We hope that Eddison Hermond is found alive, but the picture is grim.

May 28,  2018    Permalink

MAY 27,  2018

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

SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT – FROM GATEWAY PUNDIT:  Are you a guilty, rich white liberal with a kush government job getting paid to shuffle around papers in some useless bureau for $90,000 a year and harbors internalized racism? Well now you can absolve your white guilt with the new Reparations Happy Hour. That’s right, the aforementioned guilty white liberals can show up to a bar in Portland, Oregon and give away free money to black folks so they can booze it up. I’m sure these white liberals feel a lot better about themselves with that burden of whiteness off their shoulders now.   I'm flying out tonight.  I'm tired of feeling privileged.

THE FANTASY CORNER – FROM BREITBART:   Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) would not rule out challenging President Donald Trump in a 2020 Republican presidential primary.  Flake took the same position on a potential presidential bid back in December when asked.  Flake said, “It’s not in my plans, but I have not ruled anything out. I do hope that somebody runs on the Republican side other than the president — if nothing else than simply to remind Republicans what conservatism is and what Republicans have traditionally stood for.”  The man has the right last name. 

WHOSE LIVES MATTER? – FROM BREITBART:   Chicago’s Memorial Day weekend got a brutal start with 23 people shot and four killed from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening. And there are still two more days of the long holiday weekend to go.  Officials hastened to note that the numbers for the first hours of the three-day holiday weekend are on par with last year’s bloodletting, Chicago’s WGN TV reported.  Note the deep interest on the political left and at the major news outlets.  The victims of this horror don't seem to rate very highly among the fashionable commentators.

May 27, 2018       Permalink 

A WORD ABOUT TRUTH – AT 4:21 P.M. ET:  It's good to see an Obama official take on another Obama official.  From Daily Caller: 

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden called out James Clapper on Sunday for claiming to know that Russians decided the 2016 election.

Clapper wrote in his new book that he has “no doubt” Russian meddling swung the election in favor of Trump, but during a Friday night CNN interview he all but admitted he has no evidence for the claim.

Hayden told Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week” that it is “unknowable” how much Russians influenced the election and he knocked the former director of national intelligence for claiming otherwise.

“I agree that the Russians affected the election but how much they affected is not just unknown, it is unknowable and so we should stop talking about it,” Hayden asserted. “Donald Trump is the president.”

“You invite folks like us on your show because we’re the fact witnesses, not because we have opinions,” he added.

COMMENT:  I suspect the Russians have been meddling in our elections since about 1920.  I'm not sure they ever changed a vote.   I wish the establishment press would move on to real issues, especially as its own record in exposing Russian wrongdoing is not exactly something to boast about.

May 27, 2018       Permalink

GERMANY PAYS THE PRICE – AT 2:15 P.M. ET:  No European country has moved closer to Iran than Germany.  Berlin has been making a mint in trade with the world's largest sponsor of terrorism.  Now it is starting to pay the price.  Its once-flourishing trade with Saudi Arabia, an enemy of Iran, is falling apart.  From Don Surber: 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is deeply offended by Chancellor Merkel's support of the terrorist-exporting state of Iran, Der Spiegel reported. The Saudis are not doing business with Germany.

That is not all.

"Riyadh withdrew its ambassador from Germany and he still hasn't returned," Der Spiegel reported.

Germany's Saudi exports topped $7 billion last year.

"Some 800 German companies are active in the country, and 200 have offices in Saudi Arabia with a total of 40,000 employees," Der Spiegel reported.

Old Europe's embrace of Iran has consequences. I believe the anti-Semitism inherent in socialism has much to do with this enabling of Iranist terrorism through Hamas and the like.

At any rate, the new leadership in Saudi Arabia, which supports Israel, will have none of this.

Which side are we on?

U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grennell tweeted on May 8, "As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately."

Germans can trade with Iran or Saudi Arabia, but they no longer can do both.

COMMENT:   Germany has acted very badly in the last few years, and has treated President Trump with contempt.  Germany led European nations in whining over Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, fearing that their commercial transactions might be disrupted.  It's always about the money.

Now Germany, which has also accepted an enormous stream of refugees from the Mideast, must decide whether to go with the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel on Iran policy, or with Iran itself, where many German companies have set up shop.  Don't be so sure of the outcome.  If the trade with Iran is larger than the trade with Saudi Arabia, which is likely, Germany might well have its second capital in Tehran. 

May 27, 2018       Permalink 

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL NEWS – AT 1:26 P.M. ET:  An American team is now on the Korean peninsula, planning for the possible upcoming summit between Rocket Man and President Trump.  From Yonhap (South Korea): 

SEOUL, May 27 (Yonhap) -- A group of U.S. officials crossed the inter-Korean border to North Korea on Sunday for talks to prepare for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong-un, a report said.

Sung Kim, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea and ex-nuclear negotiator, led the U.S. team for working-level talks with North Korea, The Washington Post reported.

The former ambassador crossed the border to meet with Choe Son-hui, North Korea's vice foreign minister, who prompted Trump on Thursday to announce the cancellation of a summit with Kim scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, the report said.

The U.S. team also included Allison Hooker, director for Korea on the White House National Security Council, and Randall Schriver, the assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.

The move came one day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North's leader held a surprise second summit on the northern side of Panmunjom, the second meeting in a month.

At the summit, Kim reaffirmed his willingness to denuclearize and hold a summit with Trump, Moon said Sunday.

Trump said Saturday that he is still considering meeting with Kim on June 12 as originally planned.

COMMENT:  All the uncertainty, moans the press.  Why can't Trump keep a neat and orderly calendar, like Obama?  Why can't he just surrender in advance, like Obama?  Things would be so easy, and we can report from the hotel.

But Trump is Trump.  His withdrawal from the summit earlier in the week clearly scared the daylights out of the Norks, prompting the sudden meeting between the North and South Korean leaders.  Now everyone is putting the pieces back together...with the Norks clearly warned that the U.S. has a president who is tough, not easily predictable, and one who will defend his country.  The Norks want this summit.  Their lives may depend on it.

May 27,  2018     Permalink