SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

TRUMP GAINS – FROM RASMUSSEN REPORTS:  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 53% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Forty-seven percent (47%) disapprove.  The latest figures include 37% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 36% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of +1. This rolling three-day survey now includes two nights following the president’s nationally televised speech to a joint session of Congress and shows a three-point improvement in his overall approval rating since then.  It's tough for this president because he faces the overwhelming hostility of the press.  But little by little he is gaining public respect.

HILLARY – FROM HEATSTREET:   In a rare appearance in public, Hillary Clinton visited Harvard University on Friday and made comments suggesting she may be disappointed with her aides and friends, saying she’d bring “no one” to a deserted island even if she could.  The former presidential candidate appeared at a private Harvard event with a small number of students and was later interviewed about her time as the Secretary of State. During the visit, Clinton was asked which three “non-relatives” she’d bring to a deserted island, according to people attending the event.  “No one,” Clinton replied, raising concerns of what’s left of her close relationship with Huma Abedin and other fellow travelers.  There is bitterness there, which is understandable.  But the fault for her defeat lies with the failure of her and her party to connect with the American people.

THIS IS TRULY NUTS – FROM FOX:   British actor Riz Ahmed issued a warning to the entertainment industry.  The actor said a lack of diversity in television and movies in the U.K. could cause people to "retreat to fringe narratives, to bubbles online and sometimes even off to Syria."  The actor, while addressing British Parliament, said the U.K. has failed to represent minorities on screen.  "If we fail to represent, we are in danger of losing people to extremism," Ahmed claimed.  The 34-year-old rose to fame in 2016 with major roles in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," "Jason Bourne" and HBO's "The Night Of." "If we don't step up and tell a representative story. .. we are going to start losing British teenagers to the story that the next chapter in their lives is written with ISIS in Syria," he told Parliament. "We are going to see the murder of more [members of Parliament] like Jo Cox because we've been mis-sold a story that is so narrow about who we are and who we should be."  So, let's see if I get this right.  One of the root causes of terrorism is bad casting in Hollywood?  Well, yeah, sure.  Hey, why not?  Why, if I don't see an American blogger at his Mac computer on my TV screen, I may just react by blowing up convenience stores.  Makes sense.

March 3, 2017