SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:48 P.M. ET:

WISCONSIN POLL – The GOP Wisconsin primary is April 5th.  From Weekly Standard:   The poll, conducted March 20 to 22 by Emerson College, indicates that Kasich's presence in the race is taking more votes from Cruz than from Trump. Kasich's supporters view Cruz as more favorable than Trump by an 9-point margin—36 percent to 27 percent.  Some Kasich supporters may move to Cruz when they learn that Cruz is the only candidate who has a shot of beating Trump in Wisconsin's winner-take-all primary. It appears that many Kasich supporters who weren't firmly committed to the Ohio governor ended up voting for Cruz in Utah's primary yesterday.  Another sign that Cruz would win a two-man race against Trump is that an overwhelming majority of Wisconsin Republicans have a favorable view of Cruz, while Trump's overall favorability rating is negative.  Winning Wisconsin would be a major gain for Cruz, but many of the following primaries are in the northeast, currently seen as more favorable to Trump.  The Cruz goal is to prevent Trump from going to the convention with enough votes to win on the first ballot.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCHOLARSHIP – From the Washington Times:   An associate professor at the University of North Dakota called the police on two ROTC students carrying replica rifles on campus, saying the group’s practice drills are “highly inappropriate” and “irresponsible” in light of recent school shootings.  In a letter Sunday to the Grand Forks Herald, Heidi Czerwiec described the panic she felt when she looked up from her office computer to see “two figures in camo with guns” outside her window.  “My first thought is for my students’ and my safety: I grab my phone, crawl under my desk and call 911,” she wrote.  The threat, however, was two ROTC students carrying guns on their way to a routine training exercise, Campus Reform reported.  “I can barely talk — first, with fear, and then with rage when the dispatcher reports back that yes, in fact, I’ve probably just seen ROTC cadets, though they’re going to send an officer to check because no one has cleared it with them,” Ms. Czerwiec wrote.  I feel her pain.  For her it must have been like...like Vietnam, or Ferguson, Missouri, or a Donald Trump rally.  We must be sure this woman is given help, covered by Obamacare.

ADVENTURES IN NEW YORK GOVERNMENT – And a warning to the rest of the country.  This is what happens when liberalism has absolute control, in this case over transportation systems in the New York area.  From the New York Post:   Ever wonder how the Port Authority spends its take from soaring tolls? Promise not to jump off a PA bridge, then take a peek at some crazy new data on what the authority’s paying employees.  One PA cop, Joseph Macaluso, pulled down a whopping $348,095 last year. That’s right: $348,095 for a cop. A chief maintenance supervisor, Stephen Olmo, raked in $325,880, including $186,846 in overtime.  It sounds surreal. But data just released by the Empire Center show that the average PA employee got $100,253 last year, up from $97,673 in 2014.  An executive, Michael Francois, topped the list at $366,698. But three dozen employees took in $250,000 each, including 25 PA cops. And 170 PAPD officers pulled down $200,000-plus, again thanks to juicy OT.  And public transportation is still sub-par, though the prices are gold-plated.  Families that used to travel around the area casually now must ask if they want to go to grandma's house when the bridge toll costs $14.

March 23, 2016