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

MARCH MADNESS – From Fox:  "A black student organization at the University of California at Berkeley is demanding the university rename a building on campus after Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther, convicted cop killer and the first woman named to the FBI's Most-Wanted Terrorist List.  A jury convicted Shakur of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in 1979. She escaped prison and fled to Cuba. The FBI calls her a domestic terrorist. In 2013, the agency added her to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List, alongside several members of Al Qaeda, airline hijackers and bombers.  But to the Black Student Union at Berkeley, Shakur is an 'icon of resistance within oppressed communities (who) represents black resilience in the face of state-sanctioned violence.' They demanded the university rename Barrows Hall, named after former Chancellor David Barrows, 'Shakur Hall.' In 2013, Shakur declared her innocence and called her trial in 1979 a legal lynching by an all-white jury. Shakur, formerly known as Joann Chesimard, belonged to the Black Liberation Army at the time of the shooting.  'We want the renaming for someone -- Assata Shakur -- who we feel like represents us as black students,' said Black Student Union spokesman Cori McGowens. 'Black students on campus have a feeling of isolation, marginalization. We're at a crisis on campus.'"   It's a sad commentary, but don't blame only the students.  They were taught this.

MAJOR DEMOCRACY NEWS – From the Washington Times:  "The White House Thursday walked back President Obama’s comments in favor of mandatory voting in the U.S.  'The president was not making a specific policy prescription for the United States,' said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.  At a town-hall event in Cleveland on Wednesday, Mr. Obama described compulsory voting as 'a better strategy' in the short term than pushing for a Constitutional amendment to counter increased campaign spending in the U.S. since the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 'Citizens United' case.  'It would be transformative if everybody voted,' Mr. Obama said during a town-hall event in Cleveland. 'That would counteract [campaign] money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country.'  He mentioned Australia, which had mandatory voting and citizens can face a fine for not going to the polls, and said it was an example of the 'creative ways' needed to counter money in politics."  The president continues to embarrass us.  But electing him was the greatest embarrassment of all.  Citizens who do not wish to vote are making a democratic choice of their own.

ARTISTIC NEWS – From the New York Post:  "Hillary Rodham Clinton says her favorite TV show is an obscure Danish drama — about a fictional pol who becomes Denmark’s first female prime minister.
In a paid speech Thursday in Atlantic City, the likely Democratic presidential candidate said she can’t get enough of the Danish series 'Borgen,' despite its subtitles. 'I’ve just discovered this incredible series about a woman elected prime minister in Denmark, which is very realistic,' Clinton said, adding that it was recommended by a friend.  The issue came up when, among softball questions, moderator Jay Jacobs, the Nassau County Democratic chairman, asked if Clinton watches 'Homeland.' 'I’m a little behind, to be honest,' she said."  When she was first lady she was asked about her taste in music.  She declared that she liked some Brazilian rhythms.  Like the people in her court, she seems to have a problem with anything American.  Maybe that's why contributors from foreign dictatorships are so kind to her.

March 19, 2015