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NOVEMBER 12,  2017

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

OUTRAGEOUS SUBVERSIVE IDEAS! – FROM FOX:   UK’s Cambridge University physical sciences professor came under fire this week from mental health campaigners and students after he suggested undergraduates will have to work hard and abstain from drinking to pass the course.  Eugene Terentjev draw the fury of students and mental health activists after sending out an email last week to first-year natural sciences undergraduates at Cambridge, telling them the course will be difficult and thus they should refrain from drinking and other social activities if they wish to succeed, according to an email leaked to student-run publication Varsity.  “Physical sciences is a VERY hard subject, which will require ALL of your attention and your FULL brain capacity (and for a large fraction of you, even that will not be quite enough),” Terentjev wrote to the students.  I don't know why oppressed students at Cambridge need put up with a fascist like this.  Who is he to question the culture of others? 

A TRUE NEWSPAPER LEGEND – FROM CNN:   Longtime gossip columnist Liz Smith, who started her column at the New York Daily News in 1976, has died, according to the newspaper. She was 94.  Known affectionately as the "the Grand Dame of Dish," Smith's legendary work included a chronicle of Donald and Ivana Trump's divorce, which made front-page news.  Smith's column, which was titled simply "Liz Smith," became a staple in the publication for a quarter century, and was syndicated in almost 70 newspapers.   She was the model of the "old time" newspaperwoman.  She did it with class and without ego, and she didn't believe she was an expert on everything. 

GREATNESS – FROM STARS AND STRIPES:  WASHINGTON — Rob Jones braved the cold weather on Veterans Day to complete his mission: running 31 marathons in 31 days.  After losing his legs to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2010, Jones has shown endurance that few can rival.  “I’m pretty sore, but overall I am feeling pretty good,” Jones told Stars and Stripes as the sun rose over the Lincoln Memorial.  Jones’ final run was on the National Mall in Washington, where he ran 26.2 miles to support his fellow veterans and raise money for charity.  Perhaps someone can explain to me his white privilege.

November 12,  2017     Permalink

MOORE LOSING IN ALABAMA? – AT 1:51 P.M. ET:  A new poll shows highly controversial Republican Senate candidate behind the Democrat in Alabama.  This normally is a safe Republican state.  From The Hill:

Democrat Doug Jones is leading Republican Roy Moore in Alabama's Senate race in the wake of explosive accusations of sexual misconduct against Moore, according to a new poll released Sunday.
Forty-six percent of likely voters polled said they would vote for Jones, while 42 percent said they would vote for Moore, according to the Louisiana-based JMC Analytics and Polling. 

The survey was conducted on Nov. 9 and Nov. 11, after The Washington Post reported that a woman said Moore had initiated a sexual encounter with her in 1979, when she was 14 years old and he was 32.

In RealClearPolitics's average of polls, Moore was leading by 6 points prior to the Post report. A Friday poll, the first following the scandal, found Moore and Jones tied.

Thirty-eight percent of voters surveyed in the Sunday poll said they were less likely to support Moore following the accusations, while 29 percent of voters said they were more likely to support him. 

COMMENT:  If truth be told, the national Republican party would like Moore to lose.  If he wins, he'd become a lightning rod in the Senate, and the party would have to at least nominally defend him, which it doesn't want to do.  A commentator said on Friday that the GOP would rather have 51 votes in the Senate without Moore than 52 with him, and I think that's accurate.

November 12, 2017       Permalink

SMART – AT 1:08 P.M. ET:   While some pundits soared into ecstasy about the Democratic victory in Tuesday's gubernatorial election in Virginia, more sober minds saw something else at work –  a new Democratic understanding of who actually votes.

The governor-elect of Virginia, Ralph Northam, is anything but a typical, "modern" Democrat.  He's a moderate who admits he voted for George W. Bush twice.  He is a physician with a military record, and came out against sanctuary cities.  In the Democratic primary he defeated a leftist opponent who'd been endorsed by Bernie Sanders.  Democrats should get sober over last Tuesday's Virginia result.

The Dems are waking up to reality.  From ABC News: 

Exactly one year before the 2018 midterm elections, one of Democrats' key strategies to retake the House is coming into focus. In a wide range of districts around the country, Democrats are placing their bets on military veterans.

"There's no doubt that veterans have unique qualifications and experiences that give them important credibility with Democrats, independents and Republican voters alike," Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman Tyler Law told ABC News.

Party officials acknowledge that when they were looking for strong recruits to replenish the Democratic party bench this year, their teams often sought candidates with military experience. But, they argue, veterans have also stepped up in droves and decided to run on their own since the presidential election last year.

The DCCC expects 30 or 40 of its candidates next year will be veterans, a major uptick from recent cycles.

COMMENT:  It's a good move if it's genuine.  But is it?  A very large segment of the Democratic Party is anti-defense, and is obsessed with identity politics – judging candidates by what ethnic group or gender they come from. 

Nominating veterans will work if the vets embrace traditional values and avoid the fringe left.  That may be difficult.  Remember that the Democratic Party used to be the national defense party, but its national-defense wing was crushed by new leftists, starting in the late sixties and early seventies. 

We'll see.

November 12, 2017       Permalink  

THE TAX BILL – AT 12:30 P.M. ET:  Nothing is more important domestically right now than the Republican tax bill, with differing versions making their way through the House and Senate.  The GOP must get this right, and get it done, if it wants to have any prospect of keeping control of both houses next year.  From Fox: 

Rep. Kevin Brady, the House’s top tax-code writer, on Sunday defended the chamber’s overhaul plan against criticism that many middle-class Americans will pay more and turn voters against the Republican Party, vowing relief for all Americans.

“Here is where I strongly disagree,” Brady, R-Texas, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, told "Fox News Sunday." “I believe there is tax relief all up and down the income level for families, regardless of what they earn.”

The lawmaker is defending the plan against criticism from congressional Democrats and two analyses, including one in The New York Times that concluded one-third of middle-class families will get a tax increase.  

“They’re describing an America that doesn’t exist -- one where the economy never grows and one where your paycheck stays stagnant no matter what happens,” Brady said about The Times analysis. “I strongly disagree.”  

Senate Democrats have also panned any GOP plan that will eliminate state and local tax deductions, warning that congressional Republicans representing suburban districts especially will face voter backlash for their support.

COMMENT:  I'm not an economist or a CPA, and I know it's common for the same tax proposal to be met with widely differing interpretations.   But lame, generalized statements won't cut it for the Republicans in Congress.  They must demonstrate, through specific examples, how their legislation will help everyone in the middle class.  If they can't show that, they're toast.

November 12,  2017     Permalink 

NOVEMBER 11,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET:

A LITTLE LIGHTNESS – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   President Donald Trump on Saturday said he was offended by North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un after official state media in Pyongyang referred to him as a 'lunatic old man.'  'Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?"' Trump tweeted on Saturday.  'Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!'  In a related tweet on Saturday, Trump praised China's president, Xi Jinping, for 'upping sanctions against North Korea.'  '[Xi] said he wants them to denuclearize,' Trump tweeted. 'Progress is being made.'  Well, the president does have a sense of humor.  He seems to be doing well on this trip, as he did on a trip to the Mideast early in his term.  You would never know it from the mainstream media.

AH, THE ROMANCE IS OVER – FROM AFP:   Sign of the times in Rome: the city's cash-strapped administration is eyeing up the coins tossed by tourists into the celebrated Trevi Fountain.  Previously swept up and handed over to Catholic charity Caritas, the coins, which can add up to as much as a million euros a year, will now be claimed by Mayor Virginia Raggi for projects to be decided by a city hall working group, according to reports in the local media on Friday.  Legend has it that anyone who lobs a piece of change into the nearly 300-year-old fountain while facing away from the Baroque masterpiece is guaranteed to return to the Eternal City.  The tradition is as strong as ever following the landmark's restoration two years ago and thousands flock there almost every day to see where Anita Ekberg took her famous dip in Federico Fellini's 1960 film, "La Dolce Vita".   This may give our tax writers some ideas.  Don't we have some fountains?

I'M SO RELIEVED –  FROM MEDIAITE:   Check your Cisgender Privilege and watch the closing doors, the New York subway and bus systems are now adopting gender neutral language in all their announcements to passengers, according to sources within the Metropolitan Transit Authority.  A bulletin sent to all transit workers orders transit staff to cease and desist any use of the offensive term “ladies and gentlemen” and begin utilizing non-gendered terms, including “passengers,” “riders” or “everyone.”  Recorded subway announcements that currently use the horribly offensive “ladies and gentlemen” will now be overridden by a live announcement from the train conductor utilizing the politically correct terms until new recordings can be installed. Of course, for most subway riders not listening so keenly so they can find any possible opportunity to be offended, the announcements will still sound the same… that is, completely and totally unintelligible.   I'm sure this will solve all of New York's problems.  I'm glad they found the cause.

November 11, 2017       Permalink

HOW OUT OF TOUCH CAN HOLLYWOOD GET? – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:   We've seen that question answered repeatedly by the kind of movies Hollywood makes.  And they never learn, do they?  From the Washington Times: 

Former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis will soon be portrayed on the big screen by actress Sandra Bullock.

The woman who won a Best Actress Oscar for “The Blind Side” in 2010 now plans to highlight the 2013 anti-abortion bill filibuster that made Ms. Davis — and her pink running shoes — a household name.

Not in any household I know.

Ms. Bullock will star in “Let Her Speak,” a retelling of the lawmaker’s 11 hours spent trying to stall legislative restrictions on abortions.

Eleven hours?  I have to take eleven hours of this?

Variety announced the project on Thursday, which will be produced by Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal through Escape.

Ms. Davis used her newfound notoriety after the filibuster to challenge Republican Greg Abbott in the 2014 Texas governor’s race.

COMMENT:  And got beaten to a pulp.   Does anyone even remember who Wendy Davis is?  No matter where you stand on the abortion issue, do you think America is waiting desperately for a movie about Wendy Davis?

One thing about the golden age of Hollywood – they knew their audience.  They knew their country.  Today, I'm not sure they even like their country.

November 11, 2017       Permalink

THE JUDGE DEFIANT – AT 11:35 A.M. ET:  Judge Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for the Senate in Alabama, is utterly defiant in the face of allegations that he molested young girls many years ago.  From CNN:

Washington (CNN)  Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore reiterated his denials Saturday against what he said were allegations of sexual misconduct, adding that "revelations" regarding the charges will surface over the coming days.

Moore, who was speaking at a Veterans Day event at the Mid-Alabama Republican Club in Birmingham, called the allegations surfaced in a Washington Post report "yet another attack on my character and reputation in a desperate attempt to stop my political campaign for the United States Senate."

"My opponent is 11 points behind ... This article is a prime example of fake news. An attempt to divert attention from the true issues that effect the country like health care, military readiness, tax reform or national debt," Moore said.

He added that the alleged incidents happened nearly 40 years ago and called them "very hurtful to me personally -- I have the highest regard for the protection of young children," before adding that he has never provided alcohol to a minor and has "not been guilty of sexual misconduct with anyone."

Moore added that there were ongoing "investigations" looking into the motivations behind the Post article, and promised "revelations" about the story to come in the next few days, though he did not provide further specifics.

COMMENT:  As readers know, I'm not a fan of the judge.  Neither are most national Republicans.  But he's entitled to be heard.  And so we will hear him out.  And we will hear his accusers.

The story is not over. 

November 11, 2017        Permalink

ANY NETWORK INTERESTED? – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:   This is a growing tragedy, but I don't see any of the chic, fashionable network news departments showing much interest.  From the Baltimore Sun: 

Calling violence in Baltimore “out of control,” Mayor Catherine Pugh ordered 30 agency heads to meet every morning at police headquarters, and to make crime reduction the top mission not only of police, but also of health workers, housing officials and public works crews.

The mayor ordered the directors of more than half of the city’s 55 departments to report to meetings daily at 8 a.m., when they will plan with Police Commissioner Kevin Davis where weeds should be cut, lead paint covered and drug houses boarded up and job applications can be handed out, among other tasks.

Pugh appeared at City Hall Thursday flanked by agency heads.

“Violence in the city is out of control,” she said. “I want every neighborhood to know I am extremely concerned and focused on reducing violence.”

Killings in the city have surged past 300 this year for a third year in a row. Violent crime is up 13 percent over last year, and reports of groups of youths attacking people apparently at random have dominated recent local news cycles.

Pugh said she was calling on businesses and philanthropies to help fund a $10 million expansion of the anti-violence Safe Streets program. And she extended night and weekend hours at six recreation centers to try to keep young people out of harm’s way.

“We must do everything we can,” Pugh said. “We’ve already hit 303 murders, which is totally unacceptable. … We know we can do better.”

COMMENT:  Will someone wake up CNN?  Remember when Baltimore was the center of press attention, when the issue was whether six cops were responsible for the death of a black guy riding in a police van?  Well, that's over, folks.  The cops were acquitted by a black judge, so who needs stories from Baltimore?  Right?  Black kids being murdered in the streets?  Not a story. 

What a disgrace. 

November 11,  2017     Permalink