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NOVEMBER 12,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:58 P.M. ET:

STACEY STILL GOING – FROM FOX:   A federal judge on Monday ruled in favor of Stacey Abrams’s campaign, stating that Georgia must count provisional ballots and delay the state's certification until the votes are tallied, her campaign said on Twitter.  Lauren Groh-Wargo, Abrams campaign manager, announced Judge Amy Totenberg's decision late Monday. WSBTV.com reported that the judge’s 56-page ruling could affect thousands of provisional ballots.  Brian Kemp, her Republican challenger, issued a statement a day earlier calling for Abrams to concede. Kemp has declared victory and said it is "mathematically impossible" for her campaign to force a runoff.  Abrams's campaign did not immediately respond to a phone call from Fox News late Monday night.  Abrams, 44, a Democrat, has maintained that she will not concede until every vote has been counted, and pointed to the 5,000 votes tallied over the weekend that favored her.  The judge is an Obama appointee and sister of ultra-liberal Washington reporter and feminist, Nina Totenberg.  The establishment comes through again.

ARIZONA LOST – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has won Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat, beating Republican Rep. Martha McSally.  The race between Sinema and McSally was one of the most closely watched in the nation. Sinema was declared the winner Monday as her lead grew insurmountable during Arizona’s lengthy vote-count.  Sinema is a former liberal activist who became a centrist member of Congress. Her win follows years of Democratic shutouts at the statewide level in Arizona and shows that the longtime Republican bastion is becoming a swing state.  McSally hammered Sinema over her former liberal stances and claimed she was pretending to be a centrist.  Sinema criticized McSally’s vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and kept her distance from national Democrats.  Sinema succeeds Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who opted not to run.   McSally was the better candidate by far, with her years of national military service.  But I must concede that Sinema ran a better campaign.  Whether it was an honest campaign, or a cover for her past extreme views, will be determined by what she does and says in the Senate.

ECONOMIC PROGRESS – FROM BREITBART:  Participation in the nation’s food stamp program has sunk to an all-time low, reaching its lowest level in nearly a decade, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  The most recent USDA data reveals that 38,845,997 Americans took part in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the federal government program responsible for administering food stamps, in August 2018.  The last time American participation in the food stamp program dipped this low was nine years ago, when 38,184,306 Americans received food stamps, according to the data.  The most up-to-date numbers also show enrollment in food stamps has declined for ten straight months.  Sane people believe that this shows economic progress.  More people are employed.  Liberals believe it shows that Donald Trump is personally withholding food from starving children and eating it himself.

November 12,  2018      Permalink

JEB IS BACK – AT 11:21 P.M. ET:  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush has gotten into the recount fray.  He was an excellent governor whose career was sidetracked by the emergency of Donald Trump.  I hope he gets back into public life.  From Fox:

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush added his voice to the growing number of Republicans calling for Brenda Snipes, the Broward supervisor of elections, to be removed from her post amid the controversy over the vote recount in Florida's pivotal races for governor and Senate.

“There is no question that Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes failed to comply with Florida law on multiple counts, undermining Floridians’ confidence in our electoral process,” Bush tweeted on Monday. “Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts.”

Along with Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has also suggested Snipes should be removed from office once the dust settles in the Florida races.

In Snipes’ Broward County, the recount was delayed for hours Sunday because of a problem with one of the tabulation machines. That prompted the Republican Party to accuse Snipes of "incompetence and gross mismanagement."

Broward officials faced further headaches after acknowledging the county mistakenly counted 22 absentee ballots that had been rejected. The problem seemed impossible to fix because dismissed ballots were mixed in with 205 legal ballots and Snipes said it would be unfair to throw out all the votes.

Gov. Rick Scott, the Republican candidate for Senate, filed suit against Snipes. He's seeking a court order for law enforcement agents to impound all voting machines, tallying devices and ballots "when not in use until such time as any recounts." The suit accused Snipes of repeatedly failing to account for the number of ballots left to be counted and failing to report results regularly as required by law.

COMMENT:  Florida is one of the most important states politically in our country.  It ranks fourth in population, and will eventually overtake New York to be third.  Republicans have little chance of turning the first state, California, red, and are finding increasing opposition in the second state, Texas.  The Republican Party must make Florida a firewall, and incompetent handling of elections will not make the job easier. Jeb is right.

November 12,  2018     Permalink

PREPARING? – AT 10:57 A.M. ET:  I like Rick Scott, the governor of Florida, and, pending the recount, the new Republican senator from Florida.  He's been a fine governor, and he fights.  Assuming he survives the recount, it's clear he intends to be a major figure.  And we wonder if the Senate will be his last stop.  One gets the feeling that this man has dreams.  From Fox:   

Florida Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott insisted Monday he “won the election” while accusing incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of trying to “steal” the race from him, amid chaotic recounts in the sunshine state’s Senate and gubernatorial races.

Over the weekend, Florida’s secretary of state Ken Detzner announced there would be recounts in both the Senate race and the governor’s race, noting that unofficial results in both races fell within the margin that by law triggers a recount. But Scott said he's confident his victory won't be overturned.

“I won the election,” Scott told “Fox & Friends” Monday. “I’m going to focus on getting to Washington and getting my agenda implemented.”

On Tuesday, Scott was projected the winner of the Senate race, but Nelson has refused to concede amid the recounts.

Scott, who is Florida’s outgoing Republican governor, filed two bombshell lawsuits against election officials in two Democratic strongholds in Florida—Broward County and Palm Beach County—flagging them for engaging in potentially “rampant fraud.”

“We won. We’re going to win the recount because it’s never been overturned before,” Scott said Monday. “I’m going to Washington as the next Florida senator.”

Scott added: “Bill Nelson is clearly a sore loser. He can’t stand the fact that he’s not going to be elected for, what, the first time in decades. He’s just here to steal the election.”

Meanwhile, Nelson's election lawyer, Marc Elias, said Monday that they would bring a new lawsuit this week to protect ballots that are denied due to "mail/post office delays."

COMMENT:  I think he has the potential to be a star.  And you can't have enough stars in a political party. He's only 65, young by today's standards.  Scott/Haley in 2024?

November 12, 2018       Permalink

A BIT OF SLIPPAGE – AT 10:40 A.M. ET:  The president has slipped some in the Rasmussen poll since the election:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 46% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-two percent (52%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 35% who Strongly Approve of the job Trump is doing and 44% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -9.

COMMENT:  Mr. Trump was at 50% in the week before the election, and has now dropped four points.  There is no logical explanation, but some of the coarseness he has shown in statements about the election may be playing a role.

On the other hand, he is still up in Obama territory, and Obama was re-elected in 2012. 

November 12,  2018     Permalink

NOVEMBER 11,  2018

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

MUST SHE? – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   Hillary Clinton will run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, according to a former adviser and a top Democrat in New York.  Mark Penn, a pollster and senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 1995-2008, and Andrew Stein, a former Manhattan Democratic party figure and New York City Council president, wrote Sunday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee would not let "two stunning defeats stand in the way of her claim to the White House."  "Mrs. Clinton has come unbound. She will not allow this humiliating loss at the hands of an amateur to end the story of her career," Penn and Stein wrote of President Trump, explaining how Clinton would re-package herself as a more liberal "Hillary Clinton 4.0." "You can expect her to run for president once again. Maybe not at first, when the legions of Senate Democrats make their announcements, but definitely by the time the primaries are in full swing."  I'm sure we all can't wait.

FLORIDA DISGRACE – FROM FOX:   The supervisor of elections in Florida's heavily Democratic Palm Beach County said Sunday that she did not believe her department would meet a Thursday deadline to complete recounts in the Sunshine State's historically tight gubernatorial and Senate races, threatening to further confuse an increasingly chaotic and politically fraught process.  The supervisor, Susan Bucher, told reporters that she did not expect to meet the deadline due to aging equipment. Florida Department of State spokeswoman Sarah Revell told Fox News that under state law, if a county does not submit their results by the deadline, then the results on file at the time take their place. Revell added that Florida's Secretary of State has no authority to grant extensions.  "Supervisors of Elections are independent officials and they are responsible for deciding when to upgrade or modernize their equipment," Revell added.  And on this level of competence the future of our Republic may well rely.

TALK ABOUT CREEPY – FROM FOX5NY:  NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - The world's first artificial intelligence news anchor made its debut during the World Internet Conference in China.  In a tweet announcing the start of a new era in broadcast news, Xinhua News Agency wrote: 'Xinhua's first English #AI anchor makes debut at the World Internet Conference that opens in Wuzhen, China Wednesday."
The tweet is accompanied with a video clip of the anchor who looks and sounds very human-like.
"Hello everyone. I am an English Artificial Intelligence Anchor. This is my very first day in Xinhua News Agency. My voice and appearance are modeled on Zhang Zhao, a real news anchor with Xinhua. The development of the media industry calls for continuous innovation and deep integration with the advanced international technologies. I will work tirelessly to keep you informed as texts will be typed into my system uninterrupted. I look forward to bringing you brand new news experiences."  It has a lot in common with CNN.  Neither has a brain.

November 11, 2018       Permalink

IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP – AT 12:50 P.M. ET:   Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata (USA, ret) has written a sharp statement of support for President Trump, who has been insulted several times in the last few days by President Macron of France.  From Fox:

President Trump was right to tweet an outraged response Saturday to remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron after Macron said in a radio interview that France and Europe need an army to defend against America, Russia and China.

By saying that “we have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America,” Macron naively paints America as a potential enemy. In so doing, he ignores the hundreds of thousands of American lives sacrificed on French and European soil to save the free world during World War I and World War II.

Landing in France Saturday to join leaders of other nations in ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, President Trump tweeted: “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!”

Macron could not have levied a greater insult at America and its veterans on this 100th anniversary of the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 to end World War I and, ironically, save Europe.

The French and U.S. presidents met Saturday and Macron tried to backpedal from his earlier comments, saying he had been misunderstood, and that what he really meant was the Europeans needed to spend more on their own defense and be less dependent on America to defend them, as President Trump has called on them to do.

Nonetheless, Macron’s diplomatic moonwalking does not alleviate his insult to American veterans. 

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Very well said.  It's not the first time a French leader has insulted the United States.  De Gaulle did it repeatedly.  We survived.

November 11,  2018     Permalink

TRUMP IN FRANCE – AT 11:55 A.M. ET:  World War I ended 100 years ago today, at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2018.  It was called "the war to end all wars," but of course it wasn't.  World War II would start in Europe only 21 years later.  Many who were born on that day in 1918 would fight in World War II, and some would die.

Today President Trump spoke at an American military cemetery outside Paris, and spoke well.  His words contrasted with the politicized speech of French President Macron, who had spoken earlier at a different location.  From Fox: 

At a rain-soaked and chilly observance of Armistice Day at the Suresnes American Cemetery outside Paris on Sunday, President Trump praised the "American and French patriots" of World War I, in a speech that sharply contrasted with the political tone of an earlier address by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Joined by senior military officials, members of Congress, and dozens of other world leaders, Trump began by introducing several veterans and noting that it was Veterans Day in America.

"Exactly 100 years ago today, on November 11, 1918, World War I came to an end," Trump said. "Thank God."

He urged Americans to remember the tens of thousands of Americans killed and wounded in the "grizzly horrors" of the war, including the "legendary Marines" known as the "Devil Dogs."

"Devil Dogs -- John Kelly knows that name very well, right John?" Trump said, looking toward his chief of staff, who served as a general in the Marine Corps.

Trump also presented a flag to American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) head Maj. Gen. William M. Matz, Jr., "as a symbol of our nation's gratitude" to the agency for "memorializing our fallen heroes."

"We're also joined by another very special guest: a 13-year-old boy from the United States," Trump said. "Matthew is in the eighth grade, and he worked and saved all of his money for two years to make this trip to France. He wanted to be here in person to honor the American heroes of World War I. Matthew, thank you -- you make us very proud. You're way ahead of your time, Matthew."

Macron had endorsed globalism and implied that Trump was unpatriotic in politically charged remarks just minutes earlier. 

COMMENT:  Trump, who can be coarse, as we all know, was elegant.  Macron acted like a buffoon.

November 11, 2018       Permalink