SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

GREAT MOMENTS IN CHILD REARING – From CBS:  "OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – After the recent Black Lives Matter protests, there is a new brownie troop in Oakland. Instead of selling cookies, they are spreading a message.  On a Saturday afternoon in Oakland, a handful of 8 to 10 year old girls are gathered, in brown uniforms, giggling and eating cupcakes. They look like Girl Scouts, but it’s not just fun and games.
'White policeman are killing black young folks such as women, men and children,' one of the girls said.  Another girl said, 'Mike Brown. He was shot because he didn’t do nothing. Only the police officer shot him because of his skin color.'   These girls are called the 'Radical Brownies.'   And instead of learning sewing, they’re learning social justice.  Even their uniforms have a message.  'The beret, it’s a Black Panther/Brown Beret twist,' one of the Radical Brownies said."  I'd love to know the response of the national Girl Scout organization.  I'd also love to know if these girls sell cookies, and what they put in them.

PASSING – Bob Simon, the longtime CBS correspondent, who covered the Mideast extensively and was taken prisoner during the 1991 Gulf War, was killed tonight in a car accident in Manhattan.  Simon was riding in a livery cab when it sideswiped another car, went out of control and crashed.  I know the area well, and traffic doesn't move very quickly there.  Speed doesn't appear to have been a factor.  Simon was a mainstay of "60 Minutes."

THE TRUTH LEAKS OUT – From CNN:  "Washington (CNN) David Axelrod, President Barack Obama's former top political adviser, said the President appears to be having 'the time of his life right now' as he's enjoying his new-found freedom without the political constraints of an impending election.  'He's having the time of his life right now. I think he feels very much unrestrained in terms of speaking to all these issues,' Axelrod said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Wednesday.  Obama has indeed drawn notice for his newly relaxed and frank posture and comments, now that he's nearing the end of his presidency. During his State of the Union address, Obama tossed a couple of zingers at Republicans, the likes of which had been absent in previous years.  Axelrod also defended comments in his book that Obama misrepresented his position on gay marriage for political expediency, which Obama attempted to refute in an interview with BuzzFeed this week.  'This is not uncommon in history, great leaders often work in that way,' Axelrod said, 'He had a goal and he worked his way to that goal.'"  Translated into real English, Axelrod is saying that Obama consistently lied his way into office, and only now are we seeing who he is.  And, no, that isn't the way all political leaders work, or have worked.  Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan both risked a great deal politically to state what they actually believed.  Churchill was forced into the political wilderness in the 1930s, until proved right.  Reagan was laughed at in 1980, even by some in the Republican establishment.  They are both now seen by many (not all) as great men.

February 11, 2015