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NOVEMBER 5,  2017

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

WHAT COUNTRY DO THEY REPRESENT? – FROM PJ MEDIA:  In multiple embassies around the world, particularly those staffed entirely by career Foreign Service officers, no portrait of President Trump or Vice-President Pence has been hung. Up until last week, the swamp had an excuse – there was no official portrait and the swamp refused to go to the trouble to find unofficial ones.  But it’s not just the entrances to embassies where it seems the 2016 election never happened. All throughout the government, Obama-holdovers rabidly opposed to President Trump and his policies still hold positions of extraordinary power. The swamp is alive and well.  Consider the National Security Council where Fernando Cutz is enabling Trump’s most mortal enemies – George Soros and the globalist Left – to threaten to topple the pro-American government of one of America’s closest allies, Guatemala.  Cutz is the director of South American policy at the National Security Council. He is a graduate of the Clinton School of Public Service, managed Obama’s cozying up to the Communists in Cuba, was on the Obama National Security Council staff in the “global engagement” office, and is a committed swamp creature of the foreign service genus.  This is poor management on the administration's part.  Drain the swamp.  The swamp dwellers can always get jobs with Castro.

GOOD GUY – FROM CBS SPORTS:   Saturday night, former Dodgers announcer and Hall of Famer Vin Scully was at the Pasadena Civic Center for an event called "An Evening With Vin Scully."  At some point during the event, Scully was asked about the NFL's national anthem protests, in which players have taken a knee during the anthem to protest police brutality and racism. Scully said he "will never watch another NFL game" because of the protests.  "I have only one personal thought, really. And I am so disappointed. And I used to love, during the fall and winter, to watch the NFL on Sunday. And it's not that I'm some great patriot. I was in the Navy for a year -- didn't go anywhere, didn't do anything. But I have overwhelming respect and admiration for anyone who puts on a uniform and goes to war. So the only thing I can do in my little way is not to preach. I will never watch another NFL game."   I remember Vin from the days of my youth in Brooklyn, when he first joined the Brooklyn Dodgers broadcast team.  Always a class act, and a good citizen.

INTELLECTUALS – FROM CONSERVATIVE REVIEW:  The stupid. It hurts. Less than a week after a jihadi drove a rented truck through a crowd of people in a terrorist attack, the lefties at BuzzFeed have come up with a solution. No, it’s not extreme vetting, or ferreting out radical Islamists hell-bent on jihad. No … BuzzFeed wants to ban cars from big cities.   I'm not at all shocked.  The left is anti-auto because...well, because.  It's part of the ideology.  Cars bad.  Subways good.  Cars bad.  Bikes good.  Cars bad.  Private fuel-guzzling jets...real good. 

November 5, 2017       Permalink

GOODBYE TO THE DRIVERS – AT 1:33 P.M. ET:  I'm hearing this discussed frequently.  "Driver" is one of the most common occupations in the United States.  But for how long?  And at whose cost?From NBC: 

Drive just about anywhere these days and you’re likely to spot the signs that have been popping up on the back of big semi-trucks plying the nation’s freeways:  “Help Wanted.”

At a time when a booming economy has led to record freight shipments, the trucking industry is struggling with a severe shortfall of drivers.

And long-haulers aren’t alone. Delivery services, cab companies, even ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft are struggling to find the drivers they need to keep their freight and passengers moving. Ironically, this shortage could wind up turning into a glut in the not-too-distance future that will see a huge disruption in the American workforce.

The shortage of drivers is “a huge inducement for the development of autonomous and fully driverless trucks (and other vehicles),” said David Cole, director-emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While “it isn’t going to happen overnight,” robotic vehicles will soon begin to displace professional drivers in numbers that will be “certainly in the millions.”

And...

One year ago this week a truck rolled into history as it traveled from a Colorado brewing plant to a warehouse 120 miles away carrying 45,000 cans of Budweiser beer. The early morning run was done using a truck developed by a start-up called Otto, now an Uber subsidiary. Though there was a specialist seated in the truck’s sleeper berth to monitor things along the way, there was no driver behind the wheel.

The ultimate goal for many freight-haulers is to take humans out of the truck entirely. Proponents cite a wide range of advantages, including reductions in traffic congestion and a significant improvement in highway safety.

COMMENT:  The safety aspect is key.  If it can be shown that driverless trucks are actually safer than human-controlled trucks, the future becomes absolutely clear, and a profession may well vanish.

November 5, 2017       Permalink  

THE ACTIVE PRESIDENT – AT 12:45 P.M. ET:  While the mainstream media will not emphasize it, Trump is one of the most active presidents in memory, especially in foreign policy.  And he is being taken seriously by foreign countries.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

TOKYO—President Donald Trump said he expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin when the two world leaders cross paths in Southeast Asia.

“It’s expected we’ll meet with Putin, yeah,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One before landing in the Japanese capital. “We want Putin’s help on North Korea, and we’ll be meeting with a lot of different leaders.”

The U.S. president is embarking on his first official trip to Asia, which begins Sunday with meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The trip ends with multinational conferences in Vietnam and the Philippines that Mr. Putin is also expected to attend.

During the flight to Tokyo from Honolulu, Mr. Trump said pressure on North Korea was his priority, and he also wanted to take steps to narrow U.S. trade deficits in Asia...

...On Air Force One, Mr. Trump pushed back on suggestions that he was at a disadvantage heading into Beijing later this week, where Chinese President Xi Jinping is coming off a successful Party Congress that has made him one of the most powerful leaders in his nation’s modern history.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s poll ratings are sagging, his former campaign manager has been indicted on a charge of tax evasion, and he has no major legislative victories.

Still, Mr. Trump projected an air of confidence aboard the presidential aircraft.

“Excuse me, so am I,” Mr. Trump said when told about Mr. Xi’s success. “Highest stock market in history, lowest unemployment in 17 years, a military that’s rapidly rebuilding, ISIS is virtually defeated in the Middle East. We are coming off some of the strongest numbers we’ve ever had, and he knows that and he respects that and he’s a friend of mine.”

COMMENT:  Mr. Trump's trip to the Mideast at the start of his administration was highly successful.  We hope the trip he's on now will top that.  But you won't hear it on CNN.

November 5, 2017       Permalink

THE FIGHT EXPANDS – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  Niger, where this country recently lost soldiers in an ambush, is now allowing us to deploy combat drones.  This represents the expansion of our fight against militant Islam in Africa.  From Bloomberg: 

Niger permitted the U.S. to use armed drones in the fight against Islamist militants in the West African nation, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Defense Minister Kalla Moutari.

Drone strikes will be a “decisive and key response” to highly armed combatants in the Sahel region, Moutari was quoted as saying on state-owned radio. The U.S. currently deploys unmanned surveillance craft in Niger, which has previously been reluctant to allow the use of armed drones.

While Niger doesn’t have known jihadist groups in its territory, it’s increasingly affected by the spread of Islamist militancy in West Africa. Four U.S. troops and five Nigerian soldiers died on Oct. 4 when their convoy in the Tillabery region was ambushed. 

Last month’s attack highlighted U.S. military involvement in Niger, where it has as many as 800 troops and is building a drone and airbase in the northern city of Agadez.

COMMENT:  At least the Trump administration is taking this seriously.  The Obamans kicked the can down the road, where it ran into all the other cans it had kicked down the road.

November 5,  2017     Permalink

NOVEMBER 4,  2017

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

IRAN MOVES AHEAD – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST:   Intelligence services from the Netherlands are raising a red flag over Iran's use of Dutch technology to accelerate its lethal weapons program.  Iran, along with Syria and Pakistan, may have obtained technology that can be applied to military programs that can cause widespread destruction, intelligence services in the Netherlands said late last mont  Dutch technology was used in programs of weapons of mass destruction and means of delivery in Iran, Pakistan or Syria,” wrote the Dutch ministers of defense, foreign affairs and foreign trade in a letter sent to the lower house of parliament in the last week of October.  Don't worry about it.  John Kerry is on the case.  He'll not only ask the Iranians to stop using Western technology to build weapons of mass destruction, he'll actually say, "Pretty please."  Admire the man's toughness.

I'M SO SAD OVER ALLL THIS STRIFE – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  Dozens of members of Hillary Clinton's campaign reacted Saturday to former DNC head Donna Brazile's bombshell allegations and insights concerning the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic primary during the 2016 campaign.  The latest reveal from Brazile, courtesy of a preview of her upcoming memoir published by the Washington Post, accused the Clinton camp of treating her like a "slave," expressed concerns about Russian interference, also detailed her consideration of replacing Clinton with then-Vice President Joe Biden as the party's presidential nominee after a health scare. The news Saturday followed another big claim revealed in Brazile's memoir, as reported by Politico this week, that Clinton struck a deal with the DNC that looked like an "unethical" takeover.  "We were shocked to learn the news that Donna Brazile actively considered overturning the will of the Democratic voters by attempting to replace Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine as the Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees," the open letter began. "It is particularly troubling and puzzling that she would seemingly buy into false Russian-fueled propaganda, spread by both the Russians and our opponent, about our candidate’s health."  The party of Obama is an unhappy place, but he's making out like a bandit.

PROVOCATION – FROM CNN:   Yemeni rebels on Saturday targeted an airport in Saudi Arabia's capital with a ballistic missile, according to Yemen's Houthi-controlled Defense Ministry.  But the missile was intercepted over northeast Riyadh, the Saudi Ministry of Defense said in a statement carried on government-backed Al-Arabiya television.  Yemen's Defense Ministry said the missile attack "shook the Saudi capital" and the operation was successful. The attack was conducted using a Yemeni-made, long-range missile called the Burqan 2H, it said.  We very rarely hear of Saudi Arabia in combat.  The country is modernizing, and moving closer (slowly) to the West, even to Israel.  Considered a major oil supplier, combat in Saudi Arabia is a serious thing.  We could get sucked in easily.

November 4, 2017       Permalink

AMERICANS COOL TO TAX BILL – AT 2:29 P.M. ET:   This is bad, and it must be reversed by a major national Republican campaign.  Polling shows that most Americans are currently opposed to the Republican tax bill emerging from the House.

Bad poll numbers will give power to the opposition.  They may persuade some Republican fence sitters, in both House and Senate, to oppose their party's bill.  It's not uncommon for a money bill to arouse early opposition because so many inaccurate stories about what's in the bill are out there.  Nevertheless, turning public opinion around must be a major GOP priority.  From Daily Mail: 

Most Americans have given a thumbs down to President Donald Trump's tax plan saying it would mostly benefit the wealthy. 

According to a new ABC News/Washington poll, 60 percent say the plan favors the rich – including six in 10 of the wealthy themselves.

The sampling of 1,005 adults showed that Americans oppose the tax plan by a 17-point margin.

Overall, 55 percent of American adults don't support the plan and 33 percent do support it. The remaining 17 percent are undecided.

One of the overarching criticisms of the new plan is that it would benefit the rich, with 60 percent of those polled agreeing. Just 13 percent think it favors the middle class, two percent say it favors the poor, and 17 percent say all groups are treated equally. 

Even among those with incomes of $100,000 or more, 61 percent think the plan chiefly will benefit the wealthy.

Support for the Trump plan peaks at 75 percent among Republicans and those who approve of his job performance overall in the poll, produced for ABC by Langer Reseacher Associates. 

COMMENT:  The bill will go through revisions, of course, and that in itself may increase its popularity.   But the president himself must lead the charge to explain the bill, even if it takes a national tour, reminiscent of Harry Truman's 1948 whistlestop campaign, to do it successfully.  This is the top legislative priority.  If the GOP cannot get tax relief passed and signed, it has nothing to offer the American people and should be defeated in next year's midterms.

November 4, 2017       Permalink

VIRGINIA LATEST – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:   Tuesday's Virginia gubernatorial election is turning out to be this year's hot ticket.  Democrats, already in control of the governor's mansion, would love to hold it.  They are looking for a victory...somewhere.  Republicans smell blood.  If they can flip the governor's chair, it will be seen as a major triumph in the age of Trump.  And Democrats will be making appointments with their shrinks.

The latest polls show a down-to-the-wire race between Republican Ed Gillespie and Democrat Ralph Northam:

Roanoke College poll:  Northam 47, Gillespie 47.

The Polling Company:  Northam 43, Gillespie 46.

Rasmussen:  Northam 45, Gillespie 45. 

COMMENT:  Two ties, one slight Republican lead.  That is close.  This race will depend on turnout.  From what's being reported, Dems are not terribly enthusiastic, but Republicans are.  That's good.  That's what we want to hear.

The election is three days away.

November 4,  2017     Permalink

WHAT IS NEWS? – AT 12:24 P.M. ET:  The president and first lady visited the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor yesterday.  It was a moving visit, carried live on Fox.  CNN didn't carry it at all.  It was busy doing a pseudo-sociological analysis of the president's family history.  How exciting. 

I wish all American school children could have seen the president's and first lady's visit to the Arizona.  They would have learned something about this nation's history, and the sacrifices that are part of their history.  I am always impressed by the way Melanie Trump carries herself.  She has become an outstanding and gracious first lady, but gets no respect at all from the anti-Trump press.

In Japan, Ivanka Trump, who could have spent her entire life going to cocktail parties, gave a superb speech on the treatment of women in the workplace.  If she had been a Democrat, it would have been on every page one.  But the speech was largely ignored.  The press just can't handle a presidential daughter with a brain...if her father is a Republican.

In one of the most important political stories of the year, major Dem operative Donna Brazile revealed a few days ago that last year's Democratic presidential nomination race was rigged by the Clinton campaign to make sure no one else came close to Hillary.  Clearly, a first-class scandal.  But the story wasn't covered by any of the big-three TV networks.  One wonders what their definition of news is.  It certainly isn't the definition I learned in journalism. 

And, by the way, have you noticed the way the words "liberal" and "progressive" are being used interchangeably?  They are actually not the same thing, and have very different histories.  But there's no guidance from the journalists who give us our political news.

It's very wrong.  The country is not being served.

November 4,  2017     Permalink