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SEPTEMBER 25,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

TAX PLAN READY – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:  President Trump said Sunday night that his tax cut plan is completed and will result in “the largest tax cut in the history of our country.”  “We have a tax plan that is totally finalized,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “This is a plan for the middle class and for companies so they can bring back jobs.”  Republican House and Senate negotiators and the administration are expected to roll out the details of the tax relief plan this week, with Mr. Trump scheduled to travel to Indiana on Wednesday to promote it.  This is it.  If Trump and the GOP cannot pass a new tax plan, with a major tax cut for the middle class, we may see the launch of a new political party.  I think it's that serious. 

I'M SURE WE FEEL HER PAIN – FROM THE TELEGRAPH:    Chelsea Manning, a former American soldier jailed for leaking troves of classified information, said on Monday that she was banned from entering Canada due to criminal convictions in the United States.  Manning had tried to cross at the official border office at Lacolle, Quebec, on Friday.  On Monday, she posted a letter from Canadian immigration officials to her Twitter account that said she was not admitted because she was convicted of offences deemed equivalent to treason in Canada. "So, I guess Canada has permanently banned me? Denied entry b/c of convictions similar to "treason" offence," she wrote.   Yeah, Chelsea, rough break. But not as rough as the fear many Americans feel because you put their lives at risk.  Actions have consequences.

EVEN DALLAS TAKES A KNEE – FROM CONSERVATIVE TREEHOUSE:  The Dallas Cowboys, together with team owner Jerry Jones, take a collective knee at the start of the Monday Night Football game to display their unity with… well, something probably.  Stick a fork in the financial future of the NFL, it’s done; finished.  The only thing that was saving the NFL from full organizational collapse was the advent of Fantasy Football Leagues and the subsequent betting and fan-based league play therein.  Never underestimate the inability of any business organization to inoculate itself with idiot resistant policies once they enter the arena of identity politics.  It has always been thus.  In fairness, Jones did the knee thing before the national anthem.  The team did not disrupt the Star-Spangled Banner. 

September 25,  2017     Permalink

KOREAN HEAT – AT 1:15 P.M. ET:  As we debate football and knees, let's not forget the real world.  The North Koreans are talking, and boasting.  From CNN:   

Washington (CNN) North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on Monday accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country by tweeting over the weekend that North Korea "won't be around much longer."

"Last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer and declared a war on our country," Ri said, according to an official translation of his remarks to reporters in New York.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive counter measures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers at any time even when they are not yet inside the aerospace border of our country," Ri said.

A White House spokesman said Monday the Trump administration had no reaction to the comments.

The ongoing war of words between the two nations saw several new fiery salvos on Saturday, a day on which the US military, in a show of force, flew bombers in international airspace over waters east of North Korea.

COMMENT:  Trump is to be praised for bringing the North Korean threat front and center, rather than kicking it down the road, like his predecessors.  At the same time, I wish he would tone down some of his rhetoric.  He has to be careful not to play into North Korea's hands.

But I'd rather have Trump than Obama any day. 

September 25,  2017     Permalink

A GENTLEMAN OF THE GAME – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:  Some NFL players performed with particular grace yesterday.  From Scott Johnson at Powerline:   

The right to free speech is under serious threat in the United States — on campus and wherever else leftist opinion holds sway. Yet somehow the NFL players’ putative right to disrespect the national anthem has been turned into the crisis du jour. Yesterday the players’ putative right was transformed into a mass movement.

Indeed, the entire Pittsburgh Steelers team remained in the locker room during the anthem, with the exception of one player. The one player was Steelers offensive tackle Alejandro Villanueva.

At the Daily Caller Peter Hasson notes: “While the rest of his teammates remained in the locker room, Villanueva stood in the tunnel holding his helmet in his left hand and holding his right hand over his heart as the anthem played.”

Villanueva played college football at West Point. He served in the Army as a Ranger, turning in three tours in Afghanistan. He was awarded a Bronze Star for valor.

Turning up on the field and respecting the anthem in the traditional style, Villanueva defied the wishes of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Hasson adds in a separate report Tomlin’s statement in a post-game press conference that he was looking for “100 percent participation” in whatever course of action the team took during the national anthem.

Well, if I may say so, and if it is not presumptuous to say so, I stand with Villaneuva. Here is a man.

COMMENT:  And I stand with Scott Johnson and Powerline.

September 25, 2017       Permalink

FUMBLE – AT 10:32 A.M. ET:  NFL ratings were thrown for a loss yesterday, following the dustup over national anthem.  From deadline.com:

On a day full of criticisms from Donald Trump, political protests, linked arms, players taking a knee or not coming on the field during the National Anthem and renewed pleas for unity from the league NBC and the NFL took a hit last night on Sunday Night Football.

In metered market numbers, the primetime match-up between the 27-10 winning Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders snared an 11.6/20.

The worst SNF has performed this season so far, that’s an 8% dip from the early numbers of last week’s Atlanta Falcon’s 34-23 win over the Green Bay Packers. Gaining cheers and boos from fans at FedEx Field in Maryland last night, the third week of SNF for the 2017-2018 season declined 10% from early numbers of the comparable game of last year on September 25, 2016.

Last night’s SNF peaked with a 12.5/20 during the second quarter at 9 – 9:30 PM ET. Not that such a number can feel good to the NFL with ratings down double-digits this season so far after taking a similar tackle last year.

COMMENT:  I think it's bound to get worse.  Indeed, my hunch is that the ratings over the weekend may have been slightly inflated by the controversy surrounding the knee thing.  Controversy usually draws viewers.  With ratings down despite all the hoopla, the NFL may be looking forward to some real losses.

September 25, 2017        Permalink

SEPTEMBER 24,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:44 P.M. ET:   

VIEWERS AND PROTESTS – FROM THE WASHINGTON TIMES:   “Are football fans voting with their TVs?” asks a new Rasmussen Reports survey. “As the NFL struggles to explain this season’s downturn in viewer ratings, 34 percent of American adults say they are less likely to watch an NFL game because of the growing number of protests by players on the field,” the poll reports, noting that 12 percent say they are more likely to watch, while half say the protests have no effect on their viewing decisions.  “Interestingly, there’s little difference of opinion on the protests and NFL viewing habits among whites, blacks and other minority adults,” the poll said.  We'll have to see the ratings for the next couple of weeks.  The "knee" effect seems to occur largely in football.    If NFL ratings take a further dive, and ticket sales go into decline, it would be reasonable to attribute at least some of the trouble to the knee.

NO KNEES WANTED – FROM DAILYWIRE:   Multiple NASCAR team owners indicated Sunday they will not tolerate drivers or crew members who kneel during the national anthem as unpatriotic protests plague the beleaguered National Football League.  Former NASCAR champion and legend Richard Petty, who owns Richard Petty Motorsports, told the Associated Press that he would fire any member of his team who chooses to kneel during the national anthem.  “Anybody that don’t stand up for the anthem oughta be out of the country. Period. What got ’em where they’re at? The United States,” Petty said.  So, we have the NFL supporting the protests by its players, and NASCAR hoisting the stars and stripes.  I'll bet NASCAR's attendance increases.

NEW TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS – FROM DAILY MAIL:  The United States will prohibit entry of citizens from North Korea to the nation as part of a sweeping new travel ban that also slaps restrictions on Iran, Chad, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen and Somalia, the Trump administration said on Sunday.
The bans and restrictions do not have any time limits; in effect, they are indefinite.   The new restrictions, slated to go into effect on October 18, resulted from a review after President Donald Trump's original travel bans were challenged in court.  Trump tweeted Sunday: 'Making America safe is my number one priority. We will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet.'  The addition of North Korea and Venezuela broadens the restrictions from the original, mostly Muslim-majority list.  We have the right to protect ourselves.  These restrictions, pending better vetting, seem reasonable.

September 24, 2017       Permalink

GERMANY VOTES – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:   Germany goes to the polls today. Exit polls already project that Angela Merkel will remain as chancellor, but they also show large gains for a new, nationalist party, AfD, that has some people worrying about a return to the "old" Germany.  From BBC: 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term in federal elections, exit polls suggest.

Her conservative CDU/CSU alliance won 32.5% of the vote, remaining the largest party in Germany's parliament, according to the ARD poll.

Its outgoing coalition partner, the social democratic SPD, said it would go into opposition after winning 20%.

In a result which shocked many, the nationalist AfD was on track to win 13.5%, making it the third party.

Addressing supporters, Mrs Merkel said she had hoped for a "better result" and talked about "extraordinary challenges".

She would listen, she said, to the "concerns and anxieties" of AfD voters in order to win them back.

And...

AfD's performance, better than forecast in opinion polls, means the right-wing party will have seats in the Bundestag for the first time.

Prominent AfD figure Frauke Petry said on Twitter (in German) that Germany had experienced an incomparable "political earthquake".

COMMENT:  A coalition government will have to be formed, and it's very unlikely that AfD, which is largely a response to Germany's immigration problem, will be asked to join.  But 13.5% of the vote is considerable, meaning the new party will be heavily represented in parliament. 

Germany is a proportional-representation country.  It's a bad system because rarely does the victorious party have enough votes to form a government of its own.  There are now six major parties.  Our system, with all its faults, is more efficient. 

September 24, 2017       Permalink

FIGHTING ON – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  The White House believes that the Senate plan to repeal and replace Obamacare is not dead.   I guess it depends on what dead means.  Will the proverbial rabbit be pulled out of a hat?  From Fox: 

The White House tried Sunday to garner public support for the Senate’s upcoming vote on Republicans’ latest plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, with a top adviser to President Trump saying the pending legislation is still alive and that a “vast majority of Americans” will benefit.

“It’s not dead,” Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told “Fox News Sunday.” “Here we are, just days away from a final vote, and we’re trying to win over the support of the last couple of senators to get there.”

Like previous Senate efforts this year to repeal and replace ObamaCare, the latest measure, the Graham-Cassidy bill, appears a few votes shy of passage.

The GOP-controlled chamber has until Sept. 30 to pass the legislation with a simple, 51-vote majority, under so-called budget reconciliation procedures.

However, just 48 of the chamber’s 52 Republican senators appear to support the bill, which has no backing from Democrats.

“We need to make sure that we win over the last couple Republicans,” Short said. “That’s our path to victory.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Friday that he’ll vote no. And Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that she would have trouble envisioning a scenario in which she would “end up voting for the bill.”

Meanwhile, fellow Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, and Rand Paul, of Kentucky, appear undecided.  

“We hope we can earn his support,” Short said about Paul, whom Trump tried to persuade Saturday in a tweet.

COMMENT:  It will be tough, but, if the two votes are found, it will be a political revolution.  Success in the House should be relatively easy, and a new, state-based health system will be introduced.  It's not the ultimate answer, but it's better than what we have now.

September 24, 2017       Permalink

THE BATTLE HEATS UP – AT 11:28 A.M. ET:  The battle between the president and the National Football League over on-field protests is growing.  Basketball players are involved.  A baseball player went down on his knee.  Team owners, including Trump friend Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, are denouncing the president.

It wasn't a battle the president needed, and the hypocrisy is flowing.  Of course team owners are denouncing the president.  There's a racial overtone to the protests, and team owners must show at least some solidarity with black players...or else.  From Daily Mail: 

Scores of NFL players have started kneeling during the national anthem in defiance of President Donald Trump just hours after he urged fans to boycott the league in his growing feud with athletes.

Players from both the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars took a knee ahead of their game at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday.

Those who didn't kneel linked arms in a show of solidarity as the national anthem rang out through the stadium.

No players were kneeling during the playing of God Save The Queen - the British national anthem.  

Trump had earlier called for fans to boycott the NFL if players didn't stop 'disrespecting' the US by kneeling during the national anthem. 

Trump had earlier denounced the protests by NFL players and rescinded a White House invitation for NBA champion Stephen Curry in a two day rant that targeted top professional athletes and brought swift condemnation from league executives and star players alike on Saturday.

Early Sunday morning, Trump continued his Twitter tirade and called for an NFL boycott.

'If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!' Trump tweeted.

'...NFL attendance and ratings are WAY DOWN. Boring games yes, but many stay away because they love our country. League should back U.S.'

Jaguars owner Shad Khan joined his players on the field on Sunday and was spotted linking arms with them in a show of unity. Khan was among the owners who donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration.

COMMENT:  The president is right and the players are behaving like immature brats.  They "take a knee" while our national anthem is played.  There are men and women their age, in the armed forces, who aren't taking knees.  They're taking bullets.  The president might note that.

Let's see if Americans vote with their dollars.   I think many will.

A big deal is being made over the players'  "First Amendment rights."  It's a phantom.  We all, as citizens, have those rights on our own time.  But these players are working for private organizations, wearing the uniforms of those organizations.   Private organizations can make reasonable rules that may forbid political activity on company time.  Even private universities have no obligation to extend the protections of the Bill of Rights to their students.

September 24,  2017     Permalink