SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

TRUMP IN BRITAIN – FROM THE DAILY MAIL:   Donald Trump will address a crowd at a stadium when he comes to Britain later this year, it was reported last night.  Proceeds from tickets for the rally would go to UK war veterans, according to a plan said to be under discussion by a source close to the new US President.  The Brexit heartland of the Midlands is one contender to host the rock star-style event, while London and Cardiff have also been mentioned as possible locations. Terrific idea.  Trump has been barred from speaking to Parliament by a petty little officeholder who controls these things.  Speaking directly to the British people in a public forum is a great alternative, and very Trump. 

THE UNLOVED ONE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Don’t speak ill of the dead — unless you’re this Texas family.  After Leslie Ray Charping died at age 75, his family decided to run a brutally honest obituary eulogizing the “evil” late relative.  The family wrote that Charping “leaves behind two relieved children,” in addition to “countless other victims including an ex wife, relatives, friends, neighbors, doctors, nurses and random strangers.”  His death came at an age that was “29 years longer than expected and much longer than he deserved,” according to the obituary on the Carnes Funeral Home site.  “At a young age, Leslie quickly became a model example of bad parenting combined with mental illness and a complete commitment to drinking, drugs, womanizing and being generally offensive,” the obituary read.  I just had to include this.  I wish some Washington obituaries were as honest. 

THE FACTS COME OUT – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:    Since 9/11, 72 individuals from the seven mostly Muslim countries covered by President Trump's "extreme vetting" executive order have been convicted of terrorism, bolstering the administration's immigration ban.  According to a report out Saturday, at least 17 claimed to be refugees from those nations, three came in as "students," and 25 eventually became U.S. citizens.  The Center for Immigration Studies calculated the numbers of convicted terrorists from the Trump Seven: — Somalia: 20; — Yemen: 19; — Iraq: 19; — Syria: 7; — Iran: 4; — Libya: 2.  Nice to know that.  Changes everything, doesn't it?  Of course, the hard left will argue that those terrorists were wrongly convicted, and simply victims of oppression.  It's kind of the party line.

February 11, 2017