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SEPTEMBER 29,  2016

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

RASMUSSEN SEES DEAD HEAT – FROM RASMUSSEN REPORTS:   Following Monday night’s debate, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are running virtually even in Rasmussen Reports’ first daily White House Watch survey.  Our latest national telephone and online survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Clinton with 42% support to Trump’s 41%. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson earns seven percent (7%) of the vote, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein holds steady at two percent (2%). Three percent (3%) still like some other candidate, and five percent (5%) remain undecided. Trump had been moving ahead over the two previous weeks and held a 44% to 39% lead over Clinton last week at this time. It was the first time he had been ahead since mid-July.  Bottom line, the debate was costly to Trump.  He'll have to do better next time.  If he does, the history of debates shows that he can catch up.

ELECTION DANGER – FROM UPI.COM:   WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- As many as 10 state election databases have been hacked, not only the two previously reported in Illinois and Arizona, according to a report by CBS News.  The hacks come as officials in the Justice Department and Homeland Security warn state and local officials of the threat posed by hackers seeking access to the nation's election database.  The CBS report did not identify exactly how many states have been hacked, nor which ones. But according to multiple anonymous national security officials, as many as 10 have experienced some sort of hack.  This is chilling.  Elections are the heart of our democracy.  Yet, there seems to be a strange lack of interest in the story.   See our related post at 8:24 a.m.

EUROPE'S SLOW-MOTION SUICIDE – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   A ruling by European human rights judges has forced police to warn gangsters that their lives might be in danger - at vast expense to taxpayers.  An ex-justice minister last night revealed how senior officers are having to spend time and money issuing the villains and drug lords with 'threat to life notices'.  This is despite the fact they are putting themselves in peril through their own actions and it is diverting resources away from protecting 'innocent, law-abiding citizens'.  The European Court of Human Rights has decided that not passing on intelligence that another gangster wants to hurt them infringes their right to life.  Soon the Court of Human Rights will probably order reparations for gangsters to compensate them for loss of reputation.

September 29, 2016       Permalink

WALLS, EUROPEAN STYLE – AT 8:55 A.M. ET: Donald Trump talks about walls.  Europe builds them.  The European refugee crisis grows, and Europeans want solutions.  From the Washington Post:

CALAIS, France — So far, Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the Mexican border is all talk. Last week, France and Britain actually began building one along theirs.

Construction started here on a roughly mile-long concrete barrier intended to separate a sprawling migrant camp from the tunnels that offer passage to Britain, the latest attempt in what has become a global effort to throw physical barriers in the way of historic streams of human migration.

From a razor-wire-topped border fence in Hungary to the sealed border of Macedonia and Greece to Trump’s proposed wall , polarized societies across the world are finding that they can unite around keeping others at bay.

The “Great Wall of Calais,” as the project is informally known, is considerably shorter than Trump’s proposed partition of the United States and Mexico, but its message is much the same: keep out. The concrete wall, which will rise to 13 feet, extends a fence near the sprawling Calais migrant camp known as the “Jungle,” where more than 7,000 migrants have been stranded as they seek to enter Britain by all means possible. The concrete will be specially formulated to make it difficult to scale.

The camp here has become one of the most visible symbols of Europe’s migration crisis: a squalid no man’s land nestled between London and Paris, two of Europe’s wealthiest cities. The victorious British campaign to leave the European Union was partly fueled by concerns over immigration, while candidates for France’s presidential elections next year are already competing over being tough on migrant flows. Opponents of French President François Hollande have tried to turn the camp into a symbol of his weakness.

“It’s something scary, this resignation, this lack of authority,” France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy said while visiting Calais last week. Sarkozy’s campaign to recapture the presidency has pulled anti-immigrant rhetoric from the surging far-right National Front party, which has vowed to reestablish controls at France’s borders.

COMMENT:  Coming soon to a border near you, if the Democrats get their way.

September 29, 2016       Permalink

NOTHING TO SEE, NOTHING TO SEE – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:  All these little legalities, like citizenship.  All these technicalities, like honest voting.  Aren't you frustrated by the busybodies who care about these things?  Why don't they just let everyone vote as soon as they leave the maternity ward? 

Oh, remember the guy who shot up the mall in western Washington a few weeks ago, killing five people?  From K5, NBC Local:

The Cascade Mall shooting suspect, Arcan Cetin, may face an additional investigation related to his voting record and citizenship status.

Federal sources confirm to KING 5 that Cetin was not a U.S. citizen, meaning legally he cannot vote. However, state records show Cetin registered to vote in 2014 and participated in three election cycles, including the May presidential primary.

Cetin, who immigrated to the United States from Turkey as a child, is considered a permanent resident or green card holder. While a permanent resident can apply for U.S. citizenship after a certain period of time, sources tell KING his status had not changed from green card holder to U.S. citizen.

While voters must attest to citizenship upon registering online or registering to vote at the Department of Licensing Office, Washington state doesn't require proof of citizenship. Therefore elections officials say the state's elections system operates, more or less, under an honor system.

"We don’t have a provision in state law that allows us either county elections officials or the Secretary of State's office to verify someone’s citizenship," explained Secretary of State Kim Wyman. "So, we’re in this place where we want to make sure we’re maintaining people’s confidence in the elections and the integrity of the process, but also that we’re giving this individual, like we would any voter, his due process. We’re moving forward, and that investigation is really coming out of the investigation from the shootings."

The penalty for voting as a non U.S. citizen could result in five years of prison time or a $10,000, according to Secretary of State's Office.

COMMENT:  Repeat after me:  There is no voter fraud in our elections.  And people who say there is are racist, colonialist, misogynist pigs.  Got that?

September 29, 2016       Permalink

THE CONTINUING FARCE – AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  As we run our election campaign, Congress continues to inquire into the strange FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton and her band of merry aides.  It is weird, and disturbing.  We may well elect a president whose main claim might actually be, "I got away with it."  From the New York Post: 

It’s bad enough that FBI Director James Comey agreed to pass out immunity deals like candy to material witnesses and potential targets of his investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s illegal private e-mail server.

But now we learn that some of them were immunized despite lying to Comey’s investigators.

In the latest bombshell from Congress’ probe into what’s looking more and more like an FBI whitewash (or coverup) of criminal behavior by the Democratic nominee and her aides, the Denver-based tech who destroyed subpoenaed e-mails from Clinton’s server allegedly lied to FBI agents after he got an immunity deal.

That’s normally a felony. As a federal prosecutor, Comey tossed Martha Stewart in jail for it and helped convict Scooter Libby for it as well. Yet the key Clinton witness still maintained his protection from criminal prosecution.

With Comey’s blessing, Obama prosecutors cut the deal with the e-mail administrator, Paul Combetta, in 2015 in exchange for his full cooperation and honest testimony. But the House Judiciary Committee revealed Wednesday that he falsely told agents in a Feb. 18 interview that he had no knowledge that e-mails he bleached from the server were under congressional orders to be preserved as evidence.

COMMENT:  I can't wait for this election year to be over.  Then we can plan for the next one.  What a cast of characters we have this year. 

The image of the FBI has been damaged, and Director Comey, well regarded in Washington, has been damaged as well.  When the Clintons touch you, this is what happens.

September 29,  2016     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 28,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:32 P.M. ET: 

NO KIDDING – FROM DAILY CALLER:   FBI director James Comey on Wednesday said that an FBI agent who operated a private email system similar to Hillary Clinton’s would be “in big trouble” at the bureau.  Comey was responding in a House Judiciary Committee hearing to an allegation from Ohio Rep. Steve Chabot that the decision to not charge Clinton with mishandling classified information showed a “double standard.”  Comey said that he disagreed with that characterization. But he added that she would not get off scot-free. “If we were to recommend she be prosecuted that would be a double-standard,” Comey said. “Because Mary and Joe at the FBI or some other place, if they did this, they would not be prosecuted.”  But they would be punished, Comey said.  Hillary is being punished by being put in the Oval Office.  Now that's a double standard.  Comey is fast losing prestige.

SERVES THEM RIGHT – FROM BREITBART:   For the third consecutive week, ratings for the National Football League (NFL) have plummeted, as players continue anti-American protests during the playing of the national anthem. This week’s drop-off also coincided with the Monday broadcast of the first presidential debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton.  Ratings for Sunday Night Football featuring the Chicago Bears and Dallas Cowboys scored a 12.9 Nielsen rating, down from the game’s 13.7 rating last week. Week two, in turn, was down from week one’s 13.9 rating, according to Sports Business Daily. Ratings also dropped more than they did during week three a year ago for the slate of midday regional games, falling by 18 percent.  Maybe the league will wake up and realize that political demonstrations during football games are not popular with fans, and do not have to be permitted.  The players are on someone else's property and on someone else's time.

DEMS BORED – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   Uninspired by their choice for president, Democrats who "will definitely vote" in the fall election are at a 16-year low, according to a new survey.  Just 65 percent of Democrats plan to vote in the election, and it's just 47 percent among all voters aged 18-34, a trend that has the party worried about the lack of enthusiasm for Hillary Rodham Clinton...Republicans hold an 11-point advantage in those planning to vote, 76 percent to 65 percent, but the GOP vote is also at a 16-year low, but by three points compared to nine for the Democrats.  Not exactly a great advertisement for American democracy.  The parties will have to do much better in 2020, and they can begin with their nominating systems.  Repair work required. 

September 28,  2016     Permalink

UNINSPIRING – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  Even if Hillary Clinton is elected, and the odds are slightly in her favor,  her inability to inspire the American public, and the belief that she's dishonest, will weigh her down immediately.  Indeed, she'd enter office with the least amount of enthusiasm behind her of any modern president.  From the Politico:

MIAMI — To kill Donald Trump's chances of capturing the White House, Hillary Clinton needs to win Florida. And to do that, she needs a big minority turnout.

But Democrats are beginning to worry that too many African-American voters are uninspired by Clinton’s candidacy, leading her campaign to hit the panic button this week and launch an all-out blitz to juice-up voter enthusiasm.

Bill Clinton, once nicknamed the “first black president,” embarks on a North Florida bus tour Friday in an attempt to draw African-American crowds. At the same time, Clinton herself will host events in Broward and St. Lucie counties, which have black populations higher than the statewide average.

That follows the events of this past weekend, when black mothers who have lost children to gun violence hosted a Clinton organizing event in Jacksonville and a voter-registration drive in Opa-Locka, a majority black city near Miami. The group, Mothers of the Movement, includes Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, whose 2012 shooting death near Orlando became a flashpoint for racial division and gun violence.

Coming soon: President Barack Obama, who’s expected to campaign here at least twice before Election Day. First Lady Michelle Obama — more popular than her husband — will likely visit Florida as well, in addition to the ad she cut for Clinton that’s currently airing on Florida radio.

"Hillary Clinton's campaign is in panic mode. Full panic mode," said Leslie Wimes, a South Florida-based president of the Democratic African-American Women Caucus.

COMMENT:  What a miserable election year.  I have a feeling that, the minute the election is decided, the parties will start planning for 2020.  There has to be a better movie out there.

September 28, 2016       Permalink

TILTING TO HILLARY – AT 10:44 A.M. ET:   The first "scientific" post-debate polls are starting to come out.   One that showed a slight lead for Trump before the debate now shows a slight lead for Clinton.  From The Hill: 

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton saw a small bump following the first presidential debate, a new poll released early Wednesday shows.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll finds Clinton with 41 percent support among likely voters nationally and GOP nominee Donald Trump with 38 percent in a four-way matchup.

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson gets 8 percent support in that poll, while Jill Stein of the Green Party has 4 percent.

Before the debate, Trump had a 1-point lead in the same poll.

Nearly half of those surveyed also viewed Clinton as the winner of Monday night's debate.

Forty-nine percent said Clinton won, while 26 percent said Trump won. Eighteen percent of Republicans said Clinton won.

Of those surveyed, 72 percent watched the debate, and 55 percent of those viewers watched the entire thing, the poll finds.

Half of those polled said they would watch the debate again.

Forty-two percent said debate moderator Lester Holt was impartial. Another 27 percent said he was more favorable to Clinton, and 2 percent said he favored Trump.

COMMENT:  The consensus clearly is that Clinton won the debate, and I'm sure the Trump people know it.  Whether they can correct Trump's mistakes in time for the second debate is the big question.  The "old" Trump seems to be returning, and, while that will strengthen his base, it won't bring in the independents and minorities he needs for victory.

September 28, 2016       Permalink

ANOTHER OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING – AT 9:42 A.M. ET:  There's been another fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer.  The protests have begun.  From CNN:

El Cajon, California (CNN) A black man has died after police shot him in El Cajon, California, sparking protests in the suburb northeast of San Diego.

On Tuesday afternoon, El Cajon police responded to a 911 call regarding an African-American man in his 30s who reportedly was behaving "erratically" behind a restaurant at the Broadway Village Shopping Center, Lt. Rob Ransweiler said.

According to the call, the man was "not acting like himself" and had been walking in traffic in a manner that endangered himself and motorists, police Chief Jeff Davis said.

"When (officers) contacted him, he failed to comply with the directives that he was given," Ransweiler said.

Instead, Davis said the man kept his hands concealed in his pockets while pacing back and forth. As a second officer prepared a Taser, the man "rapidly drew an object," placed both hands on it "like you would be holding a firearm" and stood in a "shooting stance," according to police.

In response, one officer fired his gun at the man, while a second officer discharged his Taser, Davis said. It's not clear if the man was armed. According to Davis, investigators did not find a firearm at the scene of the shooting. Investigators did not say what object was found -- or if it was a weapon.

And...

In response to the shooting, CNN affiliate KUSI-TV said that about 200 people gathered Tuesday night near the scene in El Cajon, about 15 miles outside San Diego.

After El Cajon police held a news conference, protesters surrounded the entrance of the headquarters, carrying signs calling for an end to police brutality, KUSI reported. The crowd started to dwindle shortly after the news briefing.

COMMENT:  Once again, it is important to wait for the facts to come out, although I'm sure that will be too much of a requirement for CNN and like-minded "news" organizations. 

One thing I'd like to see discussed is the role of the Taser in these events.  Too many people think of the Taser as some kind of magic device that can prevent the need to use lethal force.  It is not.  It is a very uncertain device that only works part of the time.   It's useful in trying to stop an erratic subject who is no serious threat to the police.  It is not reliable as an ultimate self-defense weapon.

September 28,  2016     Permalink