SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

JUNK – From CNBC:  "Moody's downgraded Chicago's credit rating down to junk level 'Ba1' from 'Baa2.'  The announcement, which the ratings agency released Tuesday afternoon, cited a recent Illinois court ruling voiding state pension reforms. Moody's said it saw a negative outlook for the city's credit.  Following that May court decision, Moody's said it believes that 'the city's options for curbing growth in its own unfunded pension liabilities have narrowed considerably.'"  This comes just before the official announcement that Obama's presidential library will be housed in Chicago.  So we'll have junk financing followed by junk history.

WHAT A SURPRISE – From Fox:  "As cap-and-gown season gets underway at American colleges and universities, graduates and their loved ones will be getting an earful from left-wing commencement speakers, according to a report.  Liberal speakers will outnumber conservatives by at least 6-to-1 at the nation's top 100 schools as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, according to conservative watchdog group Young America’s Foundation. Among the top 10 of the list--which includes schools such as Princeton, the University of Chicago and Duke--none is hosting conservative speakers.  'Our 2015 survey shows the conservative blackout on college campuses has only gotten worse,' Ron Robinson, president of Young America's Foundation, said in a statement to FoxNews.com. 'While conservatives won the national elections by a wide margin, campuses have doubled down on liberal speakers--with zero elected conservative officials scheduled to speak at our nation's top schools.'"  And for this the colleges charge $50,000 a year, and up. 

CONGRATS – From Fox:  "Richard Overton feels a 'little stiff' from time to time and he's cut out the whiskey but other than that, he feels pretty good.  Not bad for America's oldest living military veteran, who turned 109 on Monday.  'I get around pretty good, just get a little stiff. I'm doing all right, I guess,' Overton told FoxNews.com, as he waited at his Austin, Texas, home for a car to pick him up to take him to meet Gov. Greg Abbott.  'Gonna go see the governor,' he added. 'He wants to talk to me.'  The World War II veteran's friends and family tossed a birthday party for him last week, with as many as 100 people in attendance."  Great to have this man still with us.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH –   You probably saw Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York on TV in the last few days.  He's making his move to become a national "progressive" figure, trying to move Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party even further left.  But, uh, wasn't he elected to do a job?  New Yorkers seem to think so.  From the New York Post:  "He’s aiming to become a national spokesman for the left, but a new poll suggests Mayor de Blasio might want to pay more attention to the folks who elected him in New York City.  De Blasio received the lowest job approval ratings of his mayoral career in a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday, with 44 percent of voters giving him a thumbs up compared to 40 percent who thought he was doing a lousy job.  That was a 5 percent drop from January, when the mayor a 49 percent positive rating and 40 percent negative one.  And nearly half of those surveyed —46 percent — said the mayor’s jaunts around the country were distracting him from his duties at City Hall. Forty-two percent had no problem with the trips."  Crime is up in New York since de Blasio took office, and the crimes are becoming more brazen.  Same old liberal story.

May 12,  2015