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SEPTEMBER 4,  2016

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

A POSSIBLE FUTURE CANDIDATE? – FROM TRUTH REVOLT:   In light of 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s outrageous accusation that the United States is a country that oppresses people of color, it's worth noting that NBA legend Charles Barkley gave an interview recently to a local Philadelphia radio station in which he stated that “unintelligent,” “brainwashed” African-Americans, not whites or cops, are the ones keeping successful blacks down.  As Blue Lives Matter reports, Barkley was posed a question on the radio show Afternoons with Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis about a rumor that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was being accused by his teammates of not being “black enough.” Barkley responded this way:  “Unfortunately, as I tell my white friends, we as black people, we’re never going to be successful, not because of you white people, but because of other black people. When you’re black, you have to deal with so much crap in your life from other black people. It’s a dirty, dark secret; I’m glad it’s coming out.” I'm sure Barkley will be warned about his "treason."  But of course he's not alone in his views.  It's pretty clear that problems within the black community play a disproportionate role in the black tragedy.

POOR HILLARY, SO CONFUSED – FROM TRUTH REVOLT:   On Friday, just before a long holiday weekend, the FBI released the notes from its interview with Hillary Clinton over her e-mail scandal. The revelations couldn’t be more problematic.  Even NBC News couldn’t defend Clinton: "Documents reveal that Clinton, who as secretary of State bypassed her State Department email and installed a private email server at her home in Chappaqua, New York, was not aware of the challenges, questions and problems that could result from a high level U.S. official sidestepping security and archival guidelines.  But they also show Clinton's lack of understanding or acknowledgement of basic standards that govern government officials, especially those with top security clearances. For instance, she was unaware of what a 'c,' short for classified, meant next to some paragraphs in notes and memos."   Why, she's just a little girl from Little Rock.  How could little ole her know?  If a Republican woman acted this way, she'd be called pre-feminist and hopeless.  But Hillary gets the Clinton family pass.

WHY ARE CHURCH GROUPS SO SILENT? – FROM FOX:    The Obama administration hit its goal this week of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees -- yet only a fraction of a percent are Christians, stoking criticism that officials are not doing enough to address their plight in the Middle East.  Of the 10,801 refugees accepted in fiscal 2016 from the war-torn country, 56 are Christians, or .5 percent.  A total of 10,722 were Muslims, and 17 were Yazidis.  The numbers are disproportionate to the Christian population in Syria, estimated last year by the U.S. government to make up roughly 10 percent of the population. Since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, it is estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million Christians have fled the country, while many have been targeted and slaughtered by the Islamic State.  The indifference to the genocide of Christians is sickening.  It reminds me of the indifference toward the Holocaust in World War II.  Where are the church groups?  Why aren't they screaming?

September 4,  2016     Permalink

DISGRACEFUL – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  Considering his slick style, it's easy to forget that Barack Obama is a Chicago machine politician who slings mud with the worst of them.  There is plenty to criticize in Donald Trump, but Obama goes over the top.  He was interviewed by one of his CNN sycophants, Fareed Zakeria.  From the Daily Mail:

President Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday that American voters will say 'no' to Donald Trump in the November election, in part because of anti-immigrant sentiments that recall a 19th Century nativist political party nicknamed the 'Know Nothings.'

Trump has embraced a hard-line policy against illegal immigration but has said he favors the legal entry of immigrants with job skills needed in U.S. industry.

Still, Obama blasted the Republican presidential nominee for promoting 'intolerance' and government policies 'that are contrary to our values, banning certain classes of people because of who they are or what they look like, what faith they practice.'

'We have to be pretty hard about saying no to that,' the president said. 'And I think that America will do that this time as well.'

Trump last year advocated a total ban on Muslims entering the United States, in reaction to a series of deadly Islamist terror attacks around the world.

Since then he has amended that proposal to focus on nation-specific immigration bans on terror-rife countries where it's impossible to vet incoming people.

Zakaria is among the most strident anti-Trump political hosts on cable television. During one broadcast last month he branded the GOP nominee 'a bulls*** artist' on live TV.

He asked Obama about 'the support that Donald Trump has' and 'where it comes from,' referring to white middle-class Americans 'who seem to have the most suspicion about you.'

Obama replied that there's a historical trend in America of citizens becoming less enthusiastic about new immigration the longer they are in the United States.

COMMENT:  Obama is really wormy.  At one time his comments would have been called "McCarthyism," questioning the patriotism, or, in this case, the decency, of anyone who disagrees.  But in the loving hands of Fareed Zakaria, Obama is untouched, unchallenged. 

He's also unemployed.  Four months and a few weeks from now, he's out.  Finally.

September 4, 2016       Permalink

THIS IS THE NEW YORK TIMES? – AT 11:48 A.M. ET:  The Times is devoted to the election of Hillary Clinton, perhaps worrying at times that she's too conservative.  And yet, the paper has just run a devastating piece on the style of the Clinton campaign.

At a private fund-raiser Tuesday night at a waterfront Hamptons estate, Hillary Clinton danced alongside Jimmy Buffett, Jon Bon Jovi and Paul McCartney, and joined in a singalong finale to “Hey Jude.”

“I stand between you and the apocalypse,” a confident Mrs. Clinton declared to laughs, exhibiting a flash of self-awareness and humor to a crowd that included Calvin Klein and Harvey Weinstein and for whom the prospect of a Donald J. Trump presidency is dire.

Mr. Trump has pointed to Mrs. Clinton’s noticeably scant schedule of campaign events this summer to suggest she has been hiding from the public. But Mrs. Clinton has been more than accessible to those who reside in some of the country’s most moneyed enclaves and are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to see her. In the last two weeks of August, Mrs. Clinton raked in roughly $50 million at 22 fund-raising events, averaging around $150,000 an hour, according to a New York Times tally.

And while Mrs. Clinton has faced criticism for her failure to hold a news conference for months, she has fielded hundreds of questions from the ultrarich in places like the Hamptons, Martha’s Vineyard, Beverly Hills and Silicon Valley.

“It’s the old adage, you go to where the money is,” said Jay S. Jacobs, a prominent New York Democrat.

Mrs. Clinton raised about $143 million in August, the campaign’s best month yet. At a single event on Tuesday in Sagaponack, N.Y., 10 people paid at least $250,000 to meet her, raising $2.5 million.

If Mr. Trump appears to be waging his campaign in rallies and network interviews, Mrs. Clinton’s second presidential bid seems to amount to a series of high-dollar fund-raisers with public appearances added to the schedule when they can be fit in. Last week, for example, she diverged just once from her packed fund-raising schedule to deliver a speech.

COMMENT:  Add that to our first post today, just below.  What is remarkable is that Hillary feels or exhibits no shame at all.  Most presidents at least have some concept of appearances.

When even The Times notices...

September 4, 2016       Permalink

THE CLINTON STYLE – AT 10:58 A.M. ET:  The formal election campaign starts in two days, with the oddsmakers still favoring Hillary Clinton.  Ah, just thinking of how she does things, the Clinton style, the Clinton manner, the Clinton greed.  From The American Mirror: 

Maybe the media should pose as children with a stacks of 27 $100 bills in little their outstretched hands so they, too, can have an audience with the queen.

The New York Times revealed in the 21st paragraph of a Saturday story that while it’s now been 23 days since Hillary Clinton last held a press conference, one group of nonvoters is getting to quiz her, given they have a wad of cash to hand over:

For a donation of $2,700, the children (under 16) of donors at an event last month at the Sag Harbor, N.Y., estate of the hedge fund magnate Adam Sender could ask Mrs. Clinton a question. A family photo with Mrs. Clinton cost $10,000, according to attendees.

The Times didn’t report what questions the children were allowed to ask, but they were likely more than anything the media’s been allowed to ask lately.

COMMENT:  It's either "pay to play" or "pay to ask."  But with the Clintons, the word "pay" always seems to be included. 

What an administration hers will be.  The Clintons have become multimillionaires selling access to the United States Government.  But you may be sure they're after that "B" word.  Just to be up there financially with Bill Gates.

You know, maybe Hillary should try to get Mexico to pay for that wall.  She can get cash out of a stone.

September 4,  2016     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 3,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

AND ANOTHER POLL SHOWS HILLARY DOWN – FROM IBD:   In a sharp turnaround in an already volatile election season, support for Hillary Clinton tumbled as Donald Trump made gains over the past month, leaving the race a virtual tie.  The latest IBD/TIPP Poll shows that Clinton is now ahead of Trump by just one percentage point, 44% to 43% among likely voters. Last month, Clinton had a seven-point lead over Trump — 46% to 39% -- among registered voters.  Clinton and Trump are tied at 39% each in a four-way matchup that includes Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, who gets 12% support, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who gets 3%.  As the election nears, IBD/TIPP is narrowing the horse-race results from registered to likely voters. This month's survey included a total of 934 respondents, 887 of whom were registered voters and 861 were deemed likely voters. The margin of error for the horse-race results is +/-3.4 percentage points. The IBD/TIPP Poll has been cited as the most accurate in the past three presidential elections.  Hillary is in serious trouble.  The formal campaign starts Tuesday, and she's being roundly criticized for sitting on her lead and trying to run out the clock.

AH, SOCIALISM – FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES:   CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolás Maduro was chased at a routine political event by a crowd of angry protesters banging on pots and yelling that they were hungry, just days after thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to call for his ouster, local news media reported on Saturday.  Scenes from the confrontation late Friday, which also appeared in videos uploaded to social media, captured the attention of Venezuelans, many of whom blame the unpopular president for the country’s food shortages.  In one video, Mr. Maduro tries to calm the pot-bangers by walking among them, only to be surrounded as the furious crowd yells obscenities.  Call Sean Penn.  Call Barack Obama.  They'll understand.  They'll help.

GREAT IDEA – FROM BRITAIN'S INDEPENDENT:    A café in Spain has begun charging its customers more for their coffees and pastries if they are rude when ordering.  Restaurant Blau Grifeu in Llanca charges rude customers €5 for their morning pick-me-up while those who behave more graciously pay just €3.  Saying 'please' and wishing the barista a good morning will get you a coffee for as little as €1.30.  Marisel Valencia Madrid, the owner of Restaurant Blau Grifeu, said the scheme is working and that customers are beginning to be more polite to her staff.  “People seem to be in a rush these days and forgetting to say 'please' when they ask for something,” she told the Times.  A very good idea.  Of course, we must make exceptions for cultures where rudeness and beheadings are accepted, and we must adapt.

September 3, 2016      Permalink

STATE OF OUR MILITARY – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  This is an important story – it can mean life or death for our service personnel – or for our country.   It symbolizes the state of our underfunded, run-down military, especially the state of military aviation.  Only Fox is emphasizing this critical situation:

Marine Maj. Sterling Norton, 36, was killed when his F/A-18 Hornet crashed on July 28 during a live-fire nighttime training accident in Southern California.

Less than a week later, another F/A-18 from the same squadron crashed outside Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev. The pilot ejected safely – but it was the squadron’s third F/A-18 crash since October - two of which were fatal.

The Marine Corps, in response, conducted a one-day safety stand-down.

But such accidents are becoming more frequent – amid concerns that insufficient training and an aging fleet hobbled by a shortage of spare parts are contributing factors. A Fox News investigation reveals that, overall, the entire U.S. military saw a 48 percent increase in non-combat aviation crashes in 2014 and 2015 compared with the two prior years, based on press reports.

“They are going up partly because they are not getting the training they should get. They're going up because maintenance is harder and harder to accomplish. They are going up because the airplanes are getting older and older,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, in an interview with Fox News.

Maj. Norton deployed in combat to Afghanistan in 2012. His commanding officer called him one of his best pilots. According to the Washington Post, a Marine who witnessed the crash said Norton’s jet “broke apart in midair” while in a dive preparing to fire weapons.

"I want to wait for the investigation report. However, these jets are too old and should not be flown anymore," Norton's mother, Mary Anne Vanderhoof, told Fox News.

On Capitol Hill in July, the head of Marine Corps aviation seemed to share her concern.

“I worry about my young aviators that aren't getting the number of hours they need to. And so it's the mishaps that loom over the bow that we don't see coming just now … Will they have the experience to keep that bad thing from happening?" said Lt. Gen. Jon "Dog" Davis.

COMMENT:  The Republicans in Congress probably share the blame, but the president is commander-in-chief, and he seems to feel no urgency about the state of our military.  He mocks the idea that we are weakening, but we are. 

We await comment from Commissar of the Army Hillary Clinton.

September 3, 2016       Permalink

RUMBLES FROM FRANCE – AT 12:10 P.M. ET:   Britain has now voted for "Brexit," to pull out of the European Union (Brexit - meaning "British exit").  The vote was a major international bombshell.  But now there are rumblings from France, where support for the EU has been waning.  If France goes, can the EU survive?  From The Hill: 

A French right-wing leader is promising a nationwide referendum on whether the country should leave or remain in the European Union if she gets elected.

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's anti-immigration National Front, on Saturday said she would hold an EU referendum if elected president next spring, according to The Associated Press.

Le Pen also denounced "mass immigration" and called Islamism "the new totalitarianism of the 21st century."

The United Kingdom held a similar referendum this summer, with the majority of voters voting to leave the EU. The country has not yet begun the process of the so-called Brexit.

COMMENT:  French politics are fluid right now, but we must take Le Pen seriously.  Her stock has been rising, and a promise to hold a EU referendum could make her more popular.  That promise could also lead other candidates for the presidency to make the same pledge, guaranteeing a referendum, British-style. 

A French vote to leave would probably kill the European Union and cause a mass upheaval in the organization of Europe.  Without France and Britain, what would be left of the EU? 

This is what elitist bureaucrats get when they ignore the feelings of the people they're supposed to be serving.

September 3, 2016       Permalink

THE BLUNT WORD – AT 11:08 A.M.  The FBI, in what is elegantly called a "document dump," released a great deal of information late yesterday about its investigation of Hillary Clinton.  A document dump late on a Friday, just before a holiday weekend, is meant to minimize attention to what is being released.

Didn't work all that well this time.  The more serious reporters are examining the FBI release.  There are gems there, if Trump can only exploit them.  From Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne at Fox: 

The 11-page FBI summary released Friday of Hillary Clinton's July 2 interview in the criminal email investigation shows bureau agents focused their questions to her on the 22 “Top Secret” emails considered too damaging to national security to make public.

These emails contained some of the U.S. government's most closely held secrets, known as Special Access Programs (SAP), as first reported by Fox News.

Though the summary is heavily redacted, it shows FBI agents asked Clinton about an Afghan national identified as "Salehi," who appeared in her emails, which included a discussion of a New York Times report about his alleged ties to the CIA. Clinton said she did not remember the email, had no reason to believe the discussion involved classified information, and had "no reason to doubt the judgment of the people working for her on the 'front lines.'"

The discussion of a foreign national working with the U.S. government raises security implications -- an executive order signed by President Obama said such unauthorized disclosures are “presumed to cause damage to the national security."

The Salehi email, and the discussion of a possible relationship with the U.S. government, was first reported by Fox News as an example of how human spying intelligence, known as humint, was contained in the Clinton emails. The sharing and discussion of such intelligence puts lives at risk.

COMMENT:  Putting lives at risk seems to be a Hillary Clinton specialty – witness her actions in and comments about Benghazi. 

The odd thing here is that Clinton has a reputation in Washington for taking national security seriously, unlike the president she worked for.  Maybe that reputation is ill-deserved.  It certainly has been damaged.

September 3,  2016     Permalink