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SEPTEMBER 11,  2018

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

THE FOOL – FROM DAILY MAIL:   The feud between President Donald Trump and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has been kept under wraps in recent months, but it exploded in a very big way on Tuesday.   That is when The Washington Post published an editorial by Scarborough with the headline 'Trump is harming the dream of America more than any foreign adversary ever could.'  Scarborough wrote in his piece about that 'the tragic lessons of that time are still lost on our leaders,' referring to both George W. Bush and Barack Obama as well as Trump.   He did single out Trump however in the headline and to close the piece, while suggesting that the president's supporters were complicit in his actions.  The first son was none to happy with this, and tweeted: 'Joe you owe an apology to the 3000+ families who lost loved ones on this tragic day. Injecting politics today is disgraceful and only shows how irrelevant and deranged you’ve become.'  The first son is right.  Scarborough's comments were way out of line.  He is a sideshow, with his sidekick Mika. 

YES TO THE ECONOMY – FROM CNBC:   U.S. small business optimism surged to a record in August as the tax cuts and deregulation efforts of President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress led to more sales, hiring and investment, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.  The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index jumped to 108.8 last month, the highest level ever recorded in the survey's 45-year history and a above the previous record of 108 in 1983, set during the second year of Ronald Reagan's presidency. The August figure was up from a 107.9 reading in July.   This will drive Democrats crazy, as they have utter contempt for small business.  Who are those people who work hard, serve the public on Main Street, and refuse to take the American flags out of their windows?

COLLINS TARGETED – FROM THE HILL:  Staffers for GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), viewed as a key swing vote in the Supreme Court fight, say they are receiving "vulgar" phone calls over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination.   Aides for the moderate senator, on social media and in multiple reports published on Tuesday evening, detailed calls and voicemails Collins's offices have been receiving as the battle over Kavanaugh kicks into high gear ahead of an end-of-the-month Senate vote.  "We've had some very abusive callers. ...We've had some very vulgar calls and sort of harassing the staff," Steve Abbot, Collins's chief of staff, told a Maine TV station.  Real class.  And they complain about Donald Trump.

September 11,  2018     Permalink
 

CALIFORNIA MIRACLE – AT 1:50 P.M. ET:  California, once a Republican state, has, in recent decades, been almost solidly Democratic.  Its Democratic Party is one of the most extreme in the country.  But have the extreme leftist policies of California gone too far, even for its voters?  A new poll in the governor's race shows the conservative Republican closing fast.  We stress that this is only one poll.  But, if accurate, it may show that the left is running into some headwinds in the Golden State.  From American Thinker:   

Confounding the political punditocracy, Republican gubernatorial candidate John Cox is rising rapidly in the polls, and is now so close to overtaking Democrat Gavin Newsom he's nearly within the margin of error of winning. That's what a new statewide poll from Probolsky Research, conducted Aug. 29-Sep. 2 among 900 likely voters found. According to the Sacramento Bee:

"If California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom was expecting an easy race for the governor’s mansion, a poll released Thursday didn’t carry much in the way of good news.

"While the statewide poll from Probolsky Research showed Newsom leading with 44 percent of respondents, his Republican opponent John Cox had 39 percent support; a further 17 percent of those polled were unsure whom they would support."

So all the pundit claims about Cox running in an unwinnable race, due to the Democrats' voter-registration advantage, seem to be falling apart.

Admittedly, these polls are sparse and I am not sure how good most of them are. But it does suggest there's a trend on, with Newsom not only slipping but Cox gaining, and that may well be because of Newsom's promise of free health care for illegals. And as insult to injury for Newsom, turns out the Hispanic vote is nearly evenly split in favor of Cox, which undoubtedly represents a rise for Cox from a constituency Newsom thought he had in the bag. Apparently, that didn't impress Latino voters the way Newsom thought it would, because, well, those voters, all of whom would be citizens, not illegals, are going to be the ones paying for it.

Cox, based on his website, hasn't said much about the health care issue, but he is focusing on issues that are important to Latino voters, rather than Latino (and other) illegals. Apparently, Cox sees two different groups of people among the citizens and non-citizens, while Newsom sees just skin color.

COMMENT:  It would be sweet to see California turned back to the Republicans.  Ah Ronnie.  Ah Arnold.  Where have you gone? 

It's till a long fight, with the odds against us.  But at least there's a Republican fighting for the governorship.  Here in New York, I don't even know who the Republican candidate is.

September 11, 2018       Permalink

A VERY CREEPY STORY – AT 12:52 P.M. ET:   About arrests of Bangadeshis illegally crossing the border into Texas.  My question is this:  Bangladesh is a desperately poor country in Asia.  How do these people get to Mexico and then get up to the U.S. border?  Frequent flyer points?  I'm sure John Kerry can supply an appropriately intellectual answer.  From Breitbart: 

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents continue to lead the nation in the apprehension of Bangladeshi nationals who illegally cross the border from Mexico into Texas. More than 100 were arrested in the past three weeks — totaling 622 this fiscal year.

On September 7, Laredo Sector agents apprehended a group of five illegal immigrants who crossed the Rio Grande River border with Mexico into the Santa Rita subdivision. The agents interviewed the group and learned that they came to the U.S. from Bangladesh, according to Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.

The Bangladeshis consisted of two juveniles and three adults, officials stated.
The latest arrests bring the total for Fiscal Year 2018 to 622. A few weeks ago, Breitbart Texas reported on the number of arrests at 520 after agents arrested more than 20 Bangladeshi nationals over a short period of days. Since that time, more than 100 Bangladeshis were arrested in the Laredo Sector alone.

The rate of apprehensions in the Laredo Sector has accelerated over the past few months, officials reported.

If the trend continues, there could be more than 700 arrested before the fiscal year ends in September.

The 622 Bangladeshis arrested in the Laredo Sector this fiscal year compares to the previous annual total of 181 (an increase of nearly 244 percent).

COMMENT:  And the people of Texas may elect a Democratic senator this year who has no problem with open borders.  Shame.

September 11, 2018       Permalink

TODAY – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  Today is the 17th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.  Americans are still commemorating the day.

But do they actually remember?  Consider the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.  That date became symbolic for an entire generation.  But think ahead 17 years from that day.  It would have been 1958.  World War II was long over, and we had actually fought another war, in Korea, in the interim.   Pearl Harbor was still commemorated in 1958, as it is today.  But, over time, the impact, sadly, fades.

But still, it is good to have commemorations, if only to teach the young that something very important happened on this day.  From AP: 

NEW YORK (AP) — Americans were commemorating 9/11 with somber tributes, volunteer projects and a new monument to victims Tuesday, after a year when two attacks demonstrated the enduring threat of terrorism in the nation's biggest city.

Margie Miller was among the thousands of 9/11 victims' relatives, survivors, rescuers and others who gathered on a misty Tuesday morning at the memorial plaza where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood. She came to the site from her home in suburban Baldwin, as she does 10 or so times a year, to remember her husband, Joel Miller. Only a few fragments of his remains were recovered.

"To me, he is here. This is my holy place," his widow said before the ceremony began a moment of silence and tolling bells at 8:46 a.m., the time when the trade center was hit by the first of two terrorist-piloted planes. Victims' relatives who had brought signs bearing photos of their loved ones wordlessly held them high.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence headed to the two other places where hijacked planes crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, in the deadliest terror attack on American soil.

The president and first lady Melania Trump flew to Pennsylvania to join an observance at the Sept. 11 memorial in a field near Shanksville, where a new "Tower of Voices" was dedicated Saturday. Pence is attending a ceremony at the Pentagon. Trump, a Republican and native New Yorker, took the occasion of last year's anniversary to issue a stern warning to extremists that "America cannot be intimidated."

Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks on 9/11, when international terrorism hit home in a way it previously hadn't for many Americans. Sept. 11 still shapes American policy, politics and everyday experiences in places from airports to office buildings, even if it's less of a constant presence in the public consciousness after 17 years.

A stark reminder came not long after last year's anniversary: A truck mowed down people, killing eight, on a bike path within a few blocks of the World Trade Center on Halloween.

COMMENT:  Terrorism is a method.  We have not yet "won" the war on terror, but we really don't know how many terror attacks have been prevented.  The terror groups know that they are constantly being confronted, and will be more vigorously confronted by this president than by the last one, who wanted to call terror attacks "man-made disasters."

September 11,  2018     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 10,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:30 P.M. ET:

ANTI-CHRISTIAN HORROR IN CHINA – FROM FOX:   The Chinese government is destroying crosses, burning bibles, closing churches and forcing Christian believers to sign papers renouncing their faith as the crackdown on religious congregations in Beijing and several provinces intensifies.  The suppression of religious freedoms comes as an official government campaign to “Sinicize” religion by demanding loyalty to the atheist Communist party and removing any potential challenge to the party’s power in the country.  “The international community should be alarmed and outraged for this blatant violation of freedom of religion and belief,” Bob Fu of China Aid, said.  The "international community" won't be alarmed and outraged until Christian churches and organizations in the West wake up and start screaming.  Their lack of militancy is thoroughly self-destructive.

DeSANTIS QUITS CONGRESS – FROM POLITICO.COM:   Rep. Ron DeSantis is resigning from his seat in Congress to focus on his race for Florida governor, his campaign confirmed Monday.  DeSantis is a three-term member of Congress representing the 6th District, a coastal seat just south of Jacksonville. He defeated Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the GOP gubernatorial primary two weeks ago and is now running against Democrat Andrew Gillum in the general election.  In the House and on Fox, DeSantis has taken on such a strident role defending President Donald Trump that Trump endorsed his gubernatorial campaign and has called the congressman one of his “absolute warriors.”  In his resignation letter to Speaker Paul Ryan, DeSantis said he did not want to continue receiving a salary because he will “likely miss the vast majority of our remaining session days.”  The contest in Florida is much closer than had been expected, with Dems, as usual, trying to paint DeSantis as a racist, the standard Democratic charge.

GRASSLEY MOVES TO ADVANCE KAVANAUGH – FROM MSN:    Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is moving to set up a Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, likely next week.  Grassley's office on Monday sent out an agenda for a business meeting the committee will have on Thursday. Kavanaugh's nomination is included as one of roughly two dozen judicial nominations that could get a vote.  The move means Kavanaugh's nomination could get a vote as soon as this week. But Democrats are expected to delay the vote until next week, meaning Kavanaugh's nomination will likely be taken up by the committee on Sept. 20.  Under committee rules, any one senator can delay a nomination by a week when it's on the agenda for the first time, as Kavanaugh's nomination will be on Thursday. Nominations are routinely held over for a week.  The judge did well in his confirmation hearings, and there is optimism among his supporters that he will be confirmed.

September 10, 2018       Permalink

STARR QUALITY – AT 2:50 P.M. ET:   Every now and then, someone comes forward to remind us of some of the less-than-adequate characters who have dominated Washington and even won our support.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Ken Starr, the Whitewater and Lewinsky affairs prosecutor whose probe led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, is breaking his 19 years of silence to finally dish on the former first family and their “legacy of contempt.”

In his explosive account of the five-year saga into multiple White House scandals, titled "Contempt, A memoir of the Clinton Investigation," Starr portrays Clinton as a “deeply flawed president who believed he was above the law.” But, he added, Clinton was lucky and escaped removal from office because of an “indulgent” public.

Hillary Clinton takes it harder, as Starr described the former first lady and 2016 presidential runner-up as a serial liar who was a “systematic enabler” of her husband’s years of extramarital affairs and cover ups to hide them.

And, he added, Hillary Clinton made up the charge that her husband was being attacked by a right wing conspiracy “to avert the nation’s gaze from her husband’s many crimes.”

As for Monica Lewinsky, he wrote, she was the sad face of the parade of Clinton victims. “She carries with her forever the living reality of the Clintons’ victim-strewn path to power, the most visible casualty of the Clintons' contempt,” wrote Starr.

COMMENT:  Question:  How many "news" programs in Washington will book Ken Starr as a guest?  I'm sure Fox will.  What about the others?  Will they ignore him, or will they book him just to ambush him? 

Read the whole piece.  Very substantive.  The Clinton machine is no doubt already in gear trying to shred the book.

September 10, 2018       Permalink

A GIANT DEPARTS – AT 12:18 P.M. ET:  CBS honcho Les Moonves is gone, a target of the "Me Too" movement.  It's important because Moonves, whether we like his choices in programs or not, has been one of the most effective executives in broadcast history.  From CBS: 

CBS Corporation announced on Sunday that chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves is departing the company, effective immediately. Moonves's exit comes hours after The New Yorker published accounts from six women with allegations of sexual assault or misconduct, following allegations by six other women in July.

A financial exit package for Moonves will be withheld pending the results of an ongoing investigation into the allegations against him. Moonves was eligible for as much as $180 million if fired without cause, according to an employment contract he signed in May 2017. Recent reports indicated a potential payout in the range of $100 million.

The company said in a statement that CBS and Moonves will donate $20 million to one or more organizations that support the #MeToo movement and equality for women in the workplace. The donation will be made immediately, the statement said, and deducted from any severance he ultimately receives.

Joseph Ianniello, the current Chief Operating Officer and deputy to Moonves, will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent leader.

Moonves, 68, has run CBS since 2006 and his exit marks a dramatic fall by one by the most powerful executives in Hollywood.

The allegations, reported by Ronan Farrow, include forced kissing, forced oral sex, unwanted advances and physical abuse. Some of the women say Moonves retaliated against them and that their careers suffered after they rebuffed his advances.

Moonves has denied the allegations against him. In a new statement to The New Yorker, Moonves acknowledged three of the encounters but said they were consensual. He did not tell The New Yorker which three he was acknowledging.

COMMENT:  Obviously, improper or threatening behavior must be punished, and there is no question that women have been subjected to that behavior.  However, I still feel uneasy about punishment without a true trial, and I feel uncomfortable about demands to make contributions to organizations or movements, however noble the cause.  It reminds me of Jesse Jackson-style shakedowns to buy racial peace.

There has to be a better way to address the very legitimate concerns of women without wrecking our sense of what constitutes justice for the accused. 

September 10, 2018       Permalink

THE PRESIDENT HOLDS – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  A week ago the president was as low as 44% in the Rasmussen daily tracker.  He then bounced back to 48%, and holds that number this morning.  From Rasmussen: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 48% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 33% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 43% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -10.

COMMENT:  The polling now becomes more serious,  The president has promised to go out on the campaign trail regularly.  Can he save the Republicans in the midterms?  Who knows?  The battle is just beginning.  Don't be surprised if the polls are all over the lot, especially in the first weeks. 

By the way, one thing to watch later this week is the New York gubernatorial primary, which takes place Thursday.  Incumbent semi-popular Governor Andrew Cuomo, who has presidential ambitions, is running against whackjob actress Cynthia Nixon for the Democratic nomination.  Nixon, to her credit, has run a hard, effective race.  All the pundits think Cuomo will win easily, but you never know.  New York State is one of the centers of the fringe left.  Socialism is in the air.  The mainstream media is praying for an upset.

September 10,  2018     Permalink