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

HILLARY SPEAKS – Her mouth moved and there were occasional sounds, but, other than that, Hillary Clinton's first major one-on-one TV interview barely came off.  From the Daily Beast:  Any Clinton supporters who hoped that a New Hillary would emerge from Tuesday’s televised grilling of the Democratic presidential frontrunner had to be brutally disillusioned.  The Hillary Clinton who showed up for her 19-minute back and forth with CNN political correspondent Brianna Keilar—touted as Clinton’s first one-on-one interview with a national reporter since she declared her candidacy three months ago—was the same Hillary Clinton the country has come to know over nearly a quarter century on the American political scene.  Advertised by her associates as warm and funny in private, she came across as guarded, quibbling, and pokerfaced under the TV lights.  She even trotted out the old right-wing conspiracy narrative to explain her woes.  But don't underestimate her.  Media support plus the ability to drag millions of frightened low-information voters to the polls may still result in her taking the oath.  I'm biting my tongue.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SYRIA – From The Hill:   Stunning lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday revealed that the Pentagon is only training 60 Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  While the program was designed to train thousands of fighters to take on the Islamic group, Carter said only a few dozen recruits have made it through the screening process.  “This number is much smaller than we’d hoped for at this point, partly because of the vetting standards,” Carter said.  Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee expressed shock at the sluggish start for the program, which Congress reluctantly approved last fall at the behest of the administration.  “I’ve got to tell you, after four years, Mr. Secretary, that’s not a very impressive number,” Armed Services Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) told Carter.  At least Carter was honest.  He's a good man in an impossible job, and working for an indifferent president, which is a generous description of Barack Obama.

OUR TECHNOLOGICAL FUTURE – From London's Telegraph:   Last week, MegaBots, an American engineering company, challenged Japan's Suidobashi Heavy Industry to a duel.  The battle would pitch the 12,000 lbs (850-stone) MegaBots Mark II against Suidobashi's Kuratas, which weighs 9,000 lbs.  Now, Suidobashi has responded, saying it accepts the challenge - on one condition.  Kogor Kurata, Suidobashi's founder and chief executive, posted a response on YouTube, saying his robot would fight, as long as the fight was hand-to-hand.  "Just building something huge and sticking guns on it. It's... super American," he said.  "We can’t let another country win this. Giant robots are Japanese culture. But you know, we really need… Melee combat."  Seems excessive to me.  If they wanted real robots, at a low cost, they could have just gotten the liberal justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.

MEGYN ROMPS – From the Hollywood Reporter:   Megyn Kelly is on a roll. Fresh off of a rare month atop the cable news ratings heap, the Fox News Channel host is extending her hot streak into July.  The first week of July saw The Kelly File win among the adults 25-54 demographic, averaging 458,000 viewers in the advertiser-favored group over No. 2 The O'Reilly Factor's 431,000.  Bill O'Reilly's 8 p.m. telecast is perennially No. 1 across cable news, but Kelly scored a monthly win in June — only her second month atop the heap since her 2013 move to primetime.  O'Reilly still topped the cable news race with total viewers, netting 2.5 million, but Kelly is gaining ground there too. Her No. 2 status was by a margin of little more than 200,000 viewers, averaging 2.2 million for the week.  She is becoming a major star, based on superb ability and, of course, that great look.  The question is whether Fox News will be able to keep her.  She'd be worth a fortune to any network.

July 7,  2015