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

YOU MUST ACCEPT THE NEW ORDER – FROM FOX:  A Utah mother is concerned after finding out her child couldn’t reject a classmate’s invitation to dance at a Valentine’s Day school party because it would be against school rules.  Natalie Richard, whose daughter is in sixth grade at Kanesville Elementary School in Weber County, told Fox 13 Salt Lake City that she was shocked to hear her child tell her she couldn’t tell a fellow student “no” if he asked her to dance at the upcoming event.  Confused, Richard told her daughter that she was “misunderstanding” the situation, because “that’s not how it is.”  The daughter’s teacher, however, confirmed to Richard that, in fact, her daughter “has to say yes” and “has to accept” such a proposal.  It's all about kindness, you see.  Everyone must be included.  A girl must not say no.  Hmm, I wonder what kind of trouble that could lead to.

WILL CORKER UNCORK AGAIN? – FROM THE POLITICO:    Retiring Sen. Bob Corker is “listening” to Republicans urging him to run for reelection, according to a person close to him, a development that would quell anxiety among Republicans over losing a must-win seat to Democrats this fall.
The two-term Tennessee GOP senator decided to call it quits in September amid an on-again, off-again dispute with President Donald Trump that has eroded his standing with the party’s base. But now a faction of Republicans in Tennessee and Washington are worried that the favorite for the Republican Senate nomination, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), could lose the general election — and with it the Senate majority.  They want Corker to get back in to hold the seat and preserve waning foreign policy experience in the GOP. And there are signs that he is open to it, despite the steep climb a Republican primary might entail.
“While Corker is listening to the concerns that have been raised, he hasn’t made any commitments,” said the person close to Corker. Corker himself said on Monday he had no comment on the race.   Not my favorite guy, but if he has to run again to preserve the Republican seat, I'm all for it.

AMERICANS OPTIMISTIC – FROM BLOOMBERG:   Americans are more optimistic about wage growth than they have been in years. U.S. consumers anticipate earnings will rise 2.73 percent in the coming year, the most since data collection began in 2013, according to the results of a New York Fed survey released Monday and conducted last month. January was only the third month in the survey’s 56-month history in which expected wage growth topped expected consumer price inflation, which fell slightly, to 2.71 percent.   If Trump's policies can keep this going, we may be saved from a Democratic congressional takeover in November.  That is truly the meaning of salvation.

February 12,  2018