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OCTOBER 10,  2018

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

HOW JUICY – FROM AMERICAN ACTION NEWS:   John David Rice-Cameron – the son of Susan Rice – is a proud Trump supporter and president of the Stanford University College Republicans, who finds himself pressing charges against a liberal student who reportedly attacked him during a pro-Brett Kavanaugh rally.  Fox News reports:  "Rice-Cameron is the son of controversial Obama administration official Susan Rice, who is rumored to be considering a run against Susan Collins, R-Maine, following her support in the Senate for confirmation of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. But on the other side of the aisle on the Left Coast, her son is busy working to 'Make Stanford Great Again' as an outspoken supporter of President Trump and conservative values.  While one student was arrested for battery, other students were caught on camera ripping up College Republican signs supporting Kavanaugh at their 'Change My Mind' table.  'Nobody should be assaulted on campus, under any circumstances,' Rice-Cameron told the Stanford Daily.  A student was placed under a private-person arrest and issued a citation for battery in response to Rice-Cameron’s allegations, according to Stanford Department of Public Safety spokesman Bill Larson.  Susan Rice, call home. And don't tell us a video caused this.

UTTERLY DISGRACEFUL – FROM BREITBART:  CNN is being accused of racism after commentators Bakari Sellers and Tara Setmayer bashed rapper Kanye West over his support for Trump on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, going so far as to call him a “token negro.”  “Kanye West is what happens when negroes don’t read,” CNN commentator Bakari Sellers said, in reference to an old Chris Rock bit.  CNN’s Tara Setmayer went even further, calling Kanye West a “an attention whore like the president.”
“He’s all of a sudden now the model spokesperson—he’s the token Negro of the Trump Administration?” she also said.  Don Lemon laughed and giggled throughout the segment as the two commentators degraded Kanye West.  Don Lemon should be suspended, but won't be.  The others should be disinvited from appearing on CNN, but won't be.  How low does CNN intend to get?

SMUGGLING GOES LUXURY – FROM ABC 30:   U.S. and Mexican authorities uncovered an incomplete, solar-powered tunnel connecting the two countries in a remote area east of San Diego.  Border Patrol says the 600-foot long passage led into the small California town of Jacumba.  The tunnel had solar-powered lighting and a ventilation system.  It was also lined with a rail system that ran the entire length of the tunnel and had two sump pumps.  Mexican authorities discovered the tunnel back on September 19.  Officials have found many cross-border tunnels often incomplete.  They say the passages are often used to smuggle drugs from Mexico to the U.S.  I wonder if the train had a dining car.

October 10, 2018       Permalink

NO, MIKE, NO – AT 1:46 P.M. ET:  The only importance of this story is that it guarantees that the 2020 Democratic presidential primary will be overloaded with money.

Seems that zillionaire Mike Bloomberg, the former (and very capable) mayor of New York City has formally registered as a Democrat, and is apparently intending to throw his hat, or crown, into the ring in 2020.  Now, don't get me wrong.  Bloomberg is highly respected in New York, would never put up with the nutbags in the Democratic Party, and ran a fine administration here.  Trouble is, the Dems aren't exactly yearning for an old white guy, who'll be 78 in 2020.  If they wanted that package, they'd go with old, white, and more mean-spirited Joe Biden.  From NBC News: 

Michael Bloomberg announced Wednesday that he had re-registered as a Democrat, in a sign that the former New York City mayor could be seriously considering a presidential bid in 2020.

“At key points in U.S. history, one of the two parties has served as a bulwark against those who threaten our Constitution. Two years ago at the Democratic Convention, I warned of those threats,” Bloomberg announced in a post on Instagram that he also shared on Twitter.

“Today, I have re-registered as a Democrat — I had been a member for most of my life — because we need Democrats to provide the checks and balance our nation so badly needs,” he added.

Bloomberg had been a Democrat prior to his initial mayoral run in 2001, when he became, and was elected as, a Republican. He was re-elected in 2005 as a Republican, but then became an independent in 2007 and was re-elected to a third term in 2009 as an independent.

He spoke in support of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

COMMENT:  Well, it'll be interesting.  If Bloomberg actually jumps in, he'll be able to finance his own campaign.  But he is no left-wing firebrand, and I can't imagine him becoming one.  He'll get a polite reception, but the Dem convention will, as usual, be dominated the hard left, with more Palestinian flags than American. 

Mike, maybe you should read a book.

October 10,  2018     Permalink

AH, SATISFACTION – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:  Brett Kavanaugh not only started his career on the Supreme Court yesterday, but he received a bonus.  The Court gave him a compliment.  From Don Surber: 

Well, that was quick. Justice Brett Kavanaugh began his job today. They gave him Monday off for a paid holiday even though he was just starting the job.

Today, He heard a bunch of lawyers yak away. Boring.

But the court made news by what it didn't do. The court refused to hear an appeal of a D.C. Circuit ruling that -- shockingly -- limited what the Environmental Protection Agency can do.

Guess who wrote that opinion?

Of course, Kavanaugh wrote the D.C. Circuit ruling. If it were written by Gregory G. Katsas no one would care.

The justices turn down most appeals.

But this denial of an appeal was telling. In the opinion, Kavanaugh wrote, "However much we might sympathize or agree with EPA’s policy objectives, EPA may act only within the boundaries of its statutory authority."

And that is the real problem Democrats have with the five Republicans justices from Clarence Thomas through Kavanaugh. The five-man majority believe Congress should write the laws -- not the courts or the bureaucracy.

Gadzooks.

COMMENT:  Very well put.  And Justice Kavanaugh gets his first victory.  And the Republic is still standing. 

October 10, 2018       Permalink

OCTOBER 9,  2018

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

MANY PEOPLE ARE WORRIED – FROM FOX:   Following the bitterly partisan, acrimonious confirmation battle over Associate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., warned in an interview on Tuesday that heated political rhetoric has the potential to turn deadly.  "I fear that there's going to be an assassination," Paul told a Kentucky radio show. "I really worry that somebody is going to be killed, and that those who are ratcheting up the conversation ... they have to realize they bear some responsibility if this elevates to violence."  Paul's wife, Kelley, revealed in a Breitbart News interview on Friday that she sleeps with a "loaded gun by my bed," has updated her home's security system and has "deadbolts all around my house." Kelley also wrote an op-ed published by CNN in which she called on Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., to tone down his rhetoric; in June, Booker called on his supporters to  “get up in the face of congresspeople.”  I share this concern.  Remember that Republican lawmakers were fired on at a baseball field in Virginia.  It's not if, but when, if the heated rhetoric continues. 

BIAS?  WHAT BIAS?  – FROM MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER:  In four weeks, Americans go to the polls for the midterm elections that the news media are casting as a referendum on the Trump presidency. Over the summer, the broadcast networks have continued to pound Donald Trump and his team with the most hostile coverage of a President in TV news history — 92 percent negative, vs. just eight percent positive.  For this report, MRC analysts reviewed all 1,007 evening news stories (1,960 minutes of airtime) about the Trump administration on ABC, CBS and NBC from June 1 to September 30, tallying the coverage of each topic and all evaluative comments made by anchors, reporters and non-partisan sources (such as voters or experts).  The results show that, over the past four months, nearly two-thirds of evening news coverage of the Trump presidency has been focused on just five main topics: the Russia investigation; immigration policy; the Kavanaugh nomination; North Korea diplomacy; and U.S. relations with Russia. The networks’ coverage of all of these topics has been highly negative, while bright spots for the administration such as the booming economy received extremely little coverage (less than one percent of the four-month total).  This doesn't surprise me.  Journalism as we know it is fading away.  Or, maybe more accurately, it is committing suicide.

IN HOT WATER IN ALASKA – FROM DAILYWIRE.COM:   The Alaska Republican party has requested that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) submit any information she has that might dissuade them from reprimanding her for opposing Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.  As AP reports, “Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock says the committee could decide to issue a statement. Or he says it could withdraw support of Murkowski, encourage party officials to look for a replacement and ask that she not seek re-election as a Republican.”  Babcock noted that the Alaska GOP has, in the past, withdrawn support for other Republicans who caucused with Democrats.  After Murkowski voted against cloture last Friday, indicating she would vote against him in the senate vote for confirmation to the Supreme Court, Babcock said he was "surprised." He added, "It's significant enough that I'm going to convene the whole state central committee, which is about 80 grassroots volunteers around the state, and we'll start drafting what our response should be.”  Murkowski is less than loved among Alaska Republicans.  There is talk that former Governor Sarah Palin may run against her for the GOP Senate nomination in 2022, but that's a long way off.

October 9, 2018       Permalink

HIS FIRST DAY – AT 2:21 P.M. ET:   Justice Kavanaugh went to work this morning at the Supreme Court.  He was a full participant.  From Reuters: 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Moving beyond a ferocious confirmation battle that divided the country, Brett Kavanaugh got down to business as a U.S. Supreme Court justice on Tuesday and took an active role in arguments alongside his eight new colleagues on his first day on the job.

Kavanaugh asked several questions during lively oral arguments involving a federal sentencing law for repeat offenders, three days after being confirmed by the Republican-led Senate despite being accused of sexual assault. Appointed by President Donald Trump, Kavanaugh’s confirmation cemented a conservative majority on the court that could last for years.

He took his seat at the right end of the mahogany bench in the ornate courtroom, wearing traditional black robes like the other justices. Retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, the 82-year-old jurist who Kavanaugh replaced, was in the courtroom, as were members of the new justice’s family.

With police standing by, a handful of protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court building, holding signs saying “Shame” and “He sits on a throne of lies,” while chanting, “This isn’t over, we’re still here.” There were no disruptions by protesters during the oral arguments, with security tight in the courtroom.

COMMENT:  Ordinarily, one would say that Kavanaugh's ordeal is over, but I think the fanatics are very serious in their pledge to continue their fight over his confirmation.  They are promising to seek his impeachment, and, given the madness within the Democratic Party, they may actually try.

October 9, 2018       Permalink

PRESIDENT STILL HOLDING – AT 1:32 P.M. ET:  For the third reporting day running, the president is at 51%.  From Rasmussen: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 51% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 38% who Strongly Approve of the president is performing and 39% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -1.

The president’s approval rating has held steady at 51% since the end of last week, his highest level of approval since early March of last year, shortly after he first took office.

COMMENT:  The election is four weeks from today.  If the president continues with his relatively high standing, it could pull some Republicans over the victory line in close congressional districts. 

Four weeks, remember, is three lifetimes in politics.  I expect that the Dems will pull some late-minute surprise, to be dropped the weekend before the election.  That's their style.  I hope the president has his lawyers ready.

October 9, 2018       Permalink

11:22 A.M. ET:  Just watched the tape of President Trump and Ambassador Haley, announcing Haley's resignation.  It appears that there is nothing secret or sinister here.  Occasionally, things in Washington are exactly as they appear.  Nikki Haley simply wanted a change of pace.  No word on a successor.

10:50 A.M. ET:  The president's statement with Nikki Haley is being taped.  All we know from a pool reporter is that the president praised Haley, said that she'd told him six months ago that she might want to leave, and that she'd stay in constant contact with the administration.  There is a sense of bafflement.  She is the single most popular member of the administration, according to polls.  A substantial loss.

We've just heard on Fox that Haley said she would not be running for president in 2020, but would be supporting President Trump.

BULLETIN – AT 10:35 A.M. ET:  NIKKI HALEY RESIGNS AS UN AMBASSADOR.   PRESIDENT TO MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT IN A FEW MINUTES.  EVERYONE STUNNED.  STAND BY.