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

HE'S BAACK! – From Reuters:   BERLIN - A German actor who dressed up as Adolf Hitler and traveled through the country for four weeks chatting to smiling voters and stroking their pets for a film that opens this week says he was shocked by the warm welcome he received.  The film "Look Who's Back" is an adaptation of a satirical novel by Timur Vermes which has sold over a million copies. In it, Hitler wakes up in modern times, becomes a celebrity and enters politics again.  Vermes has said he wrote the book to lambast what he calls Germans' complacency about the Nazis and highlight his belief that Hitler would have a chance to succeed today, even though the modern German state is constructed to ensure that Nazi tyranny can never return.  The film's director and lead actor said that the time spent touring Germany, shooting footage that has been incorporated into the movie, had opened their eyes and that they had witnessed a shift to the right in attitudes.  The World War II generation is almost gone, and with them the lessons from that grim time.

CHARM CITY? – From Fox:   Baltimore's bloody summer ended with a barrage of bangs, as the rate of homicides and gun crimes continued to spike in the wake of the racially charged case of Freddie Gray, whose death in police custody left citizens angry and cops demoralized.  For September, homicides were up 39 percent and non-fatal shootings nearly doubled over the same month in 2014, continuing a disturbing trend that has gripped the Charm City since Gray's death in April and the rioting that followed. For the year, murders are up 52 percent and non-fatal shootings 80 percent over last year.  "We have highly motivated bad guys in Baltimore," Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith told FoxNews.com.  I wish the schools were that motivated.

TRUMP'S MOUTH – From Fox:   Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took a swipe at former President George W. Bush Tuesday night on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier,” saying he had been a “disaster” and entering the Iraq War was “one of the worst decisions ever made.”  In a sit-down interview with Baier, the front-running GOP candidate also said he thought eminent domain, the right of the government or a builder to take away property from its owner for compensation, was “wonderful.”  Trump, a billionaire real estate mogul, suggested property owners shouldn’t hold out in situations where a factory or other job-creation project is proposed and discredited the charge eminent domain meant the government simply grabbed Americans’ homes and other properties.  Frankly, I'm getting bored with Trump.  We know him well here in New York.  He's essentially a landlord.  But he doesn't understand that staring down Al Qaeda or ISIS isn't the same as staring down a battalion of interior decorators. 

October 6, 2015