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NOVEMBER 28,  2017

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

DOWN AND DOWN – FROM BREITBART:   Just when some industry observers were beginning to think that it couldn’t get any worse for the NFL’s primetime ratings this year, it gets much, much worse.
The NFL served up the Texans and the Ravens on the week 12 edition of Monday Night Football, and NFL viewers seem to have resoundingly said, “No thank you.”  The MNF clash between Houston and Baltimore drew only a 6.0 in metered markets. That makes it the lowest rated MNF contest of the year for the NFL and ESPN. It also makes President Trump’s Tuesday morning Twitter shot at the league, incredibly well-timed and accurate:  The Week 12 debacle represents a 17 percent decline from last week’s edition of MNF, which saw a the Seahawks edge the Falcons 34-31.  Still, no one comes up with answers.  This is a sport in trouble, with no true leadership. 

TERRIFIC – FROM DAILY CALLER:   President Trump began a media firestorm Monday after referring to Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” at a ceremony honoring Navajo code talkers....One voice that has been missing in the debate has been that of the code talkers honored in the ceremony.  Reporter and writer Joshua Green met Thomas Begay, one of the code talkers honored Monday, on his way out of Washington, D.C. Green asked him about the event. Begay said he was “puzzled” about the comment but not offended.  Then Begay dropped a very non safe-space one liner:  “The Marines made us yell ‘Geronimo’ when we jumped out of planes and that didn’t offend me either.”  A good guy, who doesn't see every comment as an insult or a crisis.  The World War II generation owes much to the code talkers, who could communicate, using their language, over field radios in the Pacific, with the Japanese having no idea what was being said.  They have faced larger challenges than a president referring to a U.S. senator as Pocahontas.

A SAD SITUATION – FROM DAILY CALLER:  After welcoming almost 12,000 refugees to their region, three-quarters of Canadians living in the province of Ontario now say that Muslim immigrants hold fundamentally different values and a majority believe mainstream Islam promotes violence, according to a new survey to be released this week.  The survey was funded by the province and the city of Toronto as part of a joint educational campaign “to address xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments.”  While 60 percent of Ontarians say they initially supported the decision to import Syrian refugees, 75 percent now say Muslim immigrants hold fundamentally different values and a majority now say Islam’s mainstream doctrines promote violence. Only one-third of those in the region have a positive impression of the religion.  That is very sad, because so many Muslims just come for better lives.  But a reckless immigration policy that ignores the real problems within Muslim civilization, has led to a backlash.  The tragedy is that, instead of dealing with the cultural problems with Islam, the leftist establishment simply screams "Islamophobia!" and denounces well-meaning Canadians.  Does the left ever solve a problem?

November 28, 2017       Permalink

AUNTIE MAXINE, YOU HAVE COMPANY – AT 12:16 P.M. ET:   "Auntie" Maxine Waters – that's what her supporters call her – is one of the nuttier members of Congress, someone who called for Trump's impeachment on, oh, general grounds.  But Auntie is getting some serious competition.  From Breitbart: 

Omar Navarro, 28, the conservative Latino challenger to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), 78, has racked up a growing list of high-profile donors and advisers.

They include names like Roger Stone, who serves as Navarro’s campaign advisor; former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who calls him on a weekly basis; TV host Alex Jones; former Pussycat Doll Kaya Jones; former Presidential candidate Herman Cain; former Arizona Congressman Barry Goldwater, Jr.; singer and songwriter Joy Villa; “Swamp People” case member T-Roy Broussard; and American radio host Larry Elder, among others.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “a group of major GOP donors that spent millions on ads to elect President Trump also plans to take on the Los Angeles congresswoman in next year’s midterm election.”

Navarro is running in a majority Latino and African-American district in southern Los Angeles, where approximately 60 percent of registered voters are Democrats, as the Times notes. But that isn’t about to stop him.

“When I ran last year, I received 25 percent of the vote, which means I got 11 percent more than the registered Republicans in the region, which means I transcended and got Democrats and Independents to vote for me,” Navarro told Breitbart News. “I spent a total of $3,000 the last campaign. In comparison, I’ve so far raised $140,000 this campaign.”

Waters won the last election with over 70% of the vote.

COMMENT:  Obviously, a tough climb, especially in a year when Democrats are expected to make gains.  But I'd love to see Auntie sent home to Uncle, and let them live happily ever after.

November 28, 2017       Permalink

OH SHUT UP! – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton is performing a kind of public service – she's constantly demonstrating why we were wise not to put her in the Oval Office.   From the New York Post: 

Hillary Clinton used a conference in Beijing to blast both President Trump and the Chinese over their stance toward North Korea — saying it needs to soften up soon before things get out of hand and nuclear war breaks out.

Serving as the keynote speaker at Caijing Magazine’s three-day annual conference on Tuesday, the former secretary of state called on Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to avoid “bluster” and “personal taunts” when dealing with Pyongyang, according to Bloomberg.

She reportedly criticized the Trump administration for retreating from diplomacy in recent months and said she hoped that China wouldn’t follow suit.

While Clinton focused much of her sentiment on the US stance toward North Korea, she took most of her jabs at the Chinese — claiming they, too, were taking the wrong approach to the situation and making things worse with their “secret” military buildups.

“Beijing should remember that inaction is a choice as well,” Clinton said.

Like the Trump administration, the Chinese have chosen to avoid diplomatic talks with the North Koreans as tensions continue to escalate in the region.

COMMENT:  Disgraceful!  Trying to undercut the president of the United States while abroad.  That's a clear line that she crossed.

She might have noted that we've been negotiating with the Norks for 23 years, without any actual result.  They've simply gotten stronger, they have the atom bomb, and they are working on missiles to carry it.  Three cheers for diplomacy.

I suspect Hillary is simply trying to grovel to the left wing of her party, praying she can make another run in 2020. 

But if the lefties want an elder, they'll choose Bernie Sanders, which is the scariest thing I've written in a long time.

November 28, 2017       Permalink

TAX BILL NO SURE THING – AT 11:22 A.M. ET:  It's down to the wire in the Senate, where Republican leaders don't yet have the votes to pass the Senate GOP's version of the tax bill.  From Bloomberg: 

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet Tuesday with Senate Republicans in a crucial week for his presidency and his tax plan that could decide whether he ends his first year with a major legislative achievement.

Last-minute threats to the tax cuts that Trump has promised since early in his long-shot presidential campaign are looming among Senate Republicans. Concerns center on the taxation of partnerships, limited liabilities and other companies; on the overall cost of the tax bill itself; and on a familiar GOP stumbling block -- Obamacare.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah said Monday. “This is going to be a tough, tough time.”

Senate Republican leaders aren’t counting on any Democrats for a floor vote that could come Thursday or Friday -- but that means they can afford to lose only two members of their own party.

COMMENT:  It is possible that no bill will emerge from Congress this year.  That is not the ultimate crisis, but it is serious.  The president has made a promise, and he wants to keep it.

The Senate could come back after its holiday recess and try again. 

The real shame is on the Democratic side.  The Democrats will not even deal with the GOP on a tax bill.  Reasonable compromises would get a tax-reform package passed, but the Democratic Party is under the control of its left wing, which doesn't even believe in tax cuts.

And, once again, we ask where those "moderate" Democrats are.  As usual, after all their talk of moderation at election time, they're taking their orders from the nut wing, to avoid primary challenges.

November 28,  2017     Permalink

NOVEMBER 27,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

OH, HOW WE'LL MISS HIM – FROM DAILY CALLER:   Keith Olbermann, the anti-Trump video blogger, announced on Monday that he is retiring from political commentary.  The former MSNBC host made the announcement during the final episode of “The Resistance,” a political show sponsored by GQ that airs on Youtube.  “No illness, no scandal, no firing. Just, I’ve said what I’ve had to say. It was as obvious as I made it seem,” said Olbermann.  In the wind-up to his announcement, Olbermann claimed that it is all but inevitable that Trump will either be removed from office or resign from the White House. He asserted that the Republican be impeached over the Russia investigation or forced by Republicans to leave office.  America will not be the same without him.  Interpret that any way you wish.

A GOOD GUY – FROM FOX:   Actor Denzel Washington stressed the prison system was not to blame for crime in black communities, stressing the importance of properly raising children at home, during his tour promoting his new movie at an advanced screening last week.  “It starts in the home,” the two-time Oscar-winner told The Grio. “If the father is not in the home, the boy will find a father in the streets. I saw it in my generation and every generation before me, and every one since.”  “If the streets raise you, then the judge becomes your mother and prison becomes your home,” 62-year-old Washington added.  Well said, Denzel.  I hope the black establishment doesn't shut him down.

DUMB – FROM TIMES OF ISRAEL:  The New York Times on Monday responded to accusations that it was normalizing neo-Nazis in a Saturday article, saying it regretted the degree to which it caused offense.  A story published in the Gray Lady describing Dayton-area neo-Nazi Tony Hovater as “polite and low-key,” with “Midwestern manners [that] would please anyone’s mother,” kicked up an internet storm over the weekend, with even writer Richard Fausset admitting that his piece was lacking.  And no one at The Times noticed how offensive the piece was?  That's the remarkable thing here.

November 27, 2017       Permalink

DRIP DRIP DRIP – AT 8:48 P.M. ET:  The ratings are now all in for the NFL's Thanksgiving contests, and they are not good.   The league is experiencing a steady drip drip drip, thanks in part to its botched handling of protests by some players, who've shown disrespect for the national anthem by "taking a knee" as it's being performed.

League officials have let the protests get out of hand, and viewers clearly don't like what they're seeing.  In addition, the league's casual handling of injuries to football player,s and the clearly demonstrated dangers of the sport, has not gone down well with fans.  From the Washington Times:

For most, watching the NFL on Thanksgiving is the same as eating turkey on the holiday — you can’t go without it. This year, that might have changed.

NFL ratings were down on Thanksgiving, according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King and Pro Football Talk.

The early game, a matchup between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings, saw its ratings fall 12.3 percent compared to last year’s Lions-Vikings game. The number is also down 7.3 from the Eagles-Lions in 2015. But the Vikings-Lions still drew an 11.3 rating.

The next game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Chargers saw the biggest drop-off in one year. Cowboys-Chargers drew a 12.4 rating, but it was down nearly 20 percent from last year’s Redskins-Cowboys game.

Speaking of the Redskins, Sunday’s night snoozer with the New York Giants grabbed a 9.7 rating, down 10 percent — and nearly 34 percent from 2015.

Lower ratings have plagued the NFL all season long.

COMMENT:  This can't go on if the NFL expects to maintain its standing.  Football largely replaced baseball as the national pastime, but that process may now be moving in reverse.  Baseball is a relatively safe game, and its players have not decided to become politicians.

Another factor must be mentioned, although it is delicate.  Football is becoming the black game, and baseball is becoming the white game.  Some 70 percent of NFL players are African-American.  Meanwhile, black representation in baseball is declining.  Are non-blacks being driven away from football by racial division, symbolized by "taking a knee"?  I don't know, but we'll have to face that reality.

We may be watching the death of a professional sport?

November 27, 2017       Permalink

FRANKEN WOBBLY – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:  Senator Al Franken of Minnesota returns to work today, facing a series of series sexual harassment allegations.  He refuses to resign, but the people of his state are turning against him.  He's up for re-election in 2020, so he has time to repair the damage, if it can be repaired.  From The Hill: 

Just 22 percent of Minnesotans in a new survey say Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) should stay in office.
A KSTP/SurveyUSA poll finds in the wake of sexual harassment allegations against Franken, only 22 percent of Minnesotans think he should remain in his post, compared to 33 percent who say he should resign.

Another 36 percent think he should wait to see what comes from a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into his behavior.

Of Republicans surveyed, only 12 percent think Franken should remain in office, compared to 61 percent who say he should resign.

A larger percentage of the polled Democrats think Franken should stay, with 34 percent saying he should remain in office and 14 percent saying he should resign. Forty-six percent of Democrats think he should wait for the results of an ethics investigation.

Just 32 percent of respondents say Franken can be an "effective" senator if he remains in office.

Another 37 percent say he would be an "ineffective" senator and 32 percent aren't sure.

Franken's approval rating in Minnesota has also dropped. Thirty-six percent of respondents approve of the job Franken is doing, compared with 53 percent who approved of the Minnesota Democrat in November 2016.

COMMENT:   The hunt is on, and many are anticipating other charges against Washington bigs.  One effect of all this is to neutralize the Democratic Party's assertion that it is the party of women.  There's evidence a-building that plenty of high Democrats participated in, or covered up, sexual abuse in Congress over the years.

Some may have committed felonies.  There are serious, credible charges that Congressman John Conyers, who has just stepped aside temporarily as ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, used federal funds to pay off women who knew too much about him.

The walls of hypocrisy are crumbling. 

November 27, 2017       Permalink

MOMENTOUS WEEK – AT 11:38 A.M. ET:  It's holiday time, when things usually slow down in Washington, but not this year, and not this week.  The GOP Senate tax-cut bill is up for a vote.  If all goes well, it will pass, and the House and Senate will then meet to reconcile their two versions of tax reform, the two houses will pass that, the president will sign, and...if all goes well.  From AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump said Monday changes to the Republican tax bill are coming, as he looks to win over holdout GOP senators in an effort to pass the package by the end of the year.

In a morning tweet, the president said, "With just a few changes, some mathematical, the middle class and job producers can get even more in actual dollars and savings."

Trump is suggesting openness to making unspecified changes to the way millions of "pass-through" businesses are taxed, a sticking point for some lawmakers.

Trump and Republicans have set as a vital political goal passage of tax overhaul legislation by the end of the year. The House recently passed a $1.5 trillion bill. Senate GOP leaders hope to muscle their bill through this week. The package blends a sharp reduction in top corporate and business tax rates with more modest relief for individuals.

Trump was set to meet Monday afternoon with five members of the Senate Finance Committee who are on board with the GOP plan. He will travel to Capitol Hill Tuesday to personally lobby Republican senators.

COMMENT:  It's far from a done deal.  There are still enough Republican holdouts to sink the bill in the Senate.  And the president has made enemies where he should have made friends.  There will be heavy negotiating this week.  We should know within a week or so whether the Republican senators can unite and get the Senate version through a vote.

November 27,  2017     Permalink