SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:58 P.M. ET: 

TASTELESS – President Obama, in his usual ham-handed way, has injected himself into the tragic murder of three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, suggesting that they may have been murdered over their faith.  But there is no evidence so far to support any such conclusion.  It's not wrong, of course, for a president to express regret over a crime, or to remind citizens that no American should be harmed because of race or religion.   This, however, is the same president who, last week, was lecturing Christians not to get on their "high horse" about terrorism, who refuses to use the term "Islamic terror," and who told us that the specific attack on a kosher delicatessen in Paris was a "random" act, suggesting it had nothing to do with anti-Semitism.   After giving the stiff arm to Christians and Jews in the same week, Obama's injection of himself into a crime story involving the murder of Muslims, even though no evidence has presented itself suggesting that this was an anti-Muslim crime, is in poor taste and reflects Obama's clear biases.

TRUTH TELLIN' ON JON STEWART – In the wake of Jon Stewart's announcement of his leaving The Daily Show, some facts are being presented on the true nature of the program.  From Newsbusters:  "NPR’s All Things Considered was surprisingly honest on Wednesday night about Jon Stewart’s departure from The Daily Show. Stewart was credited for 'influencing the way a generation of young people, especially liberals, view the news and politics.' Correspondent Don Gonyea admitted the president of the College Democrats 'sees Jon Stewart as being on her side' and cited research that shows Stewart’s audience is overwhelmingly liberal.  As if there's any doubt that Stewart skewers Republicans much more than Democrats, Amy Mitchell of the Pew Research Center told NPR about Stewart’s audience breakdown: 'More than 70 percent have political views that align with the liberal side of the spectrum. Only 7 percent have views that align with the conservative.'"  No surprises.  Funny guy, but he never knew much, and doesn't know what he doesn't know.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – From Fox:  "Hormone treatment for gender reassignment has been approved for Chelsea Manning, the former intelligence analyst convicted of espionage for sending classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.  Defense Department officials said Thursday that the hormone therapy was approved Feb. 5 by Col. Erica Nelson, commandant of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Manning is serving a 35-year sentence.  The treatment would enable the Army private formerly known as Bradley Manning to make the transition to a woman. Manning changed her legal name in April 2014."  I wonder if he also gets a Bloomingdale's charge card.

February 13, 2015