SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET: 

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   Alan Dershowitz recently tried to publish an opinion piece in The New York Times that President Trump likely did not attempt to obstruct justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey.  But Dershowitz told the Washington Examiner over the phone on Monday that the Times had "no response" to his submission.  The widely known legal commentator and cable news fixture said he remains a "liberal Hillary Clinton supporter," but said after reading an op-ed in the Times that argued Trump could be charged for criminal conduct in Comey's firing, he reached out in June to the paper to present an opposing view.  "I said that I thought the readers of the New York Times were entitled to hear or read the other side of the issue whether there were crimes committed," said Dershowitz, a professor emeritus of Harvard Law School. "And I really do think The New York Times does not want its readers to hear an alternative point of view on the issue of whether or not Trump administration is committing crimes."  Dershowitz said he attempted to reach the opinion page editor and deputy editor without success. He said he wants to "get out in the liberal media" but that his opinion is "not the narrative they're pushing."  Dershowitz is considered one of the most brilliant law professors of our time, but he's right – his opinion is not what the liberal media is pushing.  Unfortunately, that's all that counts these days.

BEYOND BELIEF – FROM FOX:  CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill has been defending his tweet that wished a "Happy 70th Birthday" to a convicted cop killer currently on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists.  Shakur, also known as Joanne Chesimard, the godmother of the late rapper Tupac Shakur, is suspected in a series of early 1970s incidents linked to black revolutionary groups in New York City -- including a bank robbery, grenade attack and the ambushing of police officers in Queens and Brooklyn.  She was convicted of shooting a New Jersey trooper to death in 1973, but she escaped prison and, in the early 1980s, fled to Cuba, where she was granted political asylum.  Hill should simply be dropped by CNN.  He has a perfect right to his sickening views, but CNN has a right to deny him a place at their network.  I doubt CNN will do anything at all.

OUR ELEVATED CULTURE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   Lifetime is taking the “Live PD” model a step further — by tracking dates in real time.  “Date Night Live,” premiering July 27 (10 p.m.-midnight), will follow couples in New York City, Atlanta, Dallas and San Diego as they go on dates, followed by cameras to capture all the action (or not) — live and unfiltered. The show comes from Big Fish Entertainment, which produces (sister network) A&E’s successful “Live PD,” in which cameras follow cops out in the field in real time.  “We couldn’t have done this, from a technical standpoint, without the amazing work they’ve done on ‘Live PD,’” says Liz Gateley, Lifetime’s EVP Head of Programming. “It really came from a brainstorm — how can we change up the format? You need to give viewers a reason to show up live now. Women watch a lot of sports and live events.”  I don't know which is worse, this show or our public schools.  Maybe watching the show will do less damage. 

July 18, 2017