SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

SCOTT SURGES – I can't say I'm surprised.  When voters get a good look at Scott Walker, they like him.  Or, at least enough like him to win elections.  From Bloomberg:  "Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is surging, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is an also-ran and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is dominating in a new poll of Iowans likely to vote in the nation's first presidential nominating contest.  The Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll, taken Monday through Thursday, shows Walker leading a wide-open Republican race with 15 percent, up from just 4 percent in the same poll in October. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was at 14 percent and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, stood at 10 percent.  Bush trailed with 8 percent and increasingly is viewed negatively by likely Republican caucus-goers. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in even worse shape, with support from just 4 percent. More troubling for Christie: He's viewed unfavorably by 54 percent, among the highest negative ratings in the potential field. At 9 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson pulls more support than either Bush or Christie."  It's very early, but, once Scott Walker jumped in and gave a major speech in Iowa, his race was off and running.  The man refuses to lose.

BLUNDER – From redalertpolitics.com:  "This is one of the worst cases of 'judging a book by its cover' that we’ve ever heard… When Wilmington, N.C. resident Mary Claire Caine went to the grocery store last Friday, she was excited to pull into one of the reserved 'Veteran Parking' spaces. As a veteran of the Air Force who served in Kuwait and on the flight line of the F-117 Nighthawk, it made her feel a sense of pride, local news station WECT reported. But when she walked back out to her car that day she found a nasty note taped to the side window.  It read, 'Maybe [you] can’t read the sign you parked in front of. This space is reserved for those who fought for America….not you. Thanks, Wounded Vet.'  Caine told WECT that she felt confused and certain that there was a mistake.  'For a split second I thought, "Am I a worthy enough veteran to park in this spot?" And, then I got very angry at myself for even considering that,' Caine recalled to the TV station....Since the incident went public Caine has received an outpouring of support from other veterans and community members, as well as an apology from the grocery store for their other patron’s behavior."

SO MUCH FOR THE FIRST AMENDMENT – From The Politico:  "Reporters covering the House Democrats' retreat in Philadelphia this week are having a much different experience than when they’re on their home turf on Capitol Hill.  Reporters are being escorted to and from the restroom and lobby and are being barred from entering the hotel outside of scheduled events, even if they've been invited by a member of Congress.  During Vice President Joe Biden’s remarks at the retreat Friday, reporters were required to have a staff member, usually a junior member of the press team, escort them when going to the bathroom or to the lobby. The filing center for reporters was at a separate hotel from where the retreat was taking place, so access was limited to members of Congress specifically made available to the press.  'It was a police state. It was absurd how heavy handed the capitol police and Democratic staff were in trying to control everywhere the press went,' New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters said in an interview...Peters said he was told by a staffer they were being escorted to prevent them from talking to members of Congress."  When the real left is in power, this is what happens.  Their belief in freedom is limited.

January 31,  2015