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JANUARY 5,  2018

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

I LOVE IT – FROM DAILY CALLER:    One of Hillary Clinton’s longest-serving, most-trusted political advisers is deeply worried that young voters will see more money in their bank accounts after the GOP tax cuts and therefore consider voting Republican.  Philippe Reines served as a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton for more than a decade in multiple roles in both her Senate and state department offices. He also advised Clinton in the lead up to her presidential campaign. Reines sat down with Washington interns to give his assessment of the political landscape after the 2016 election. Reines was asked by a young woman about the future of young voters in politics. The Clinton advisor first began by saying he didn’t know “how millennials think” and that it is “unclear what will get them going.”  Reines speculated that someone like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren would be good at tapping youth enthusiasm but went on to say he is fearful that Trump and GOP policies will begin to animate millennials, specifically when they see their taxes go down.   From his mouth to you know who's ears.

THE DISGRACE – FROM FOX:   One of the leading figures in the Democratic Party is taking heat on social media for proudly touting the violent far-left group, Antifa.   Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who serves as DNC deputy chair, tweeted a picture to promote a book called "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook."  The sentiment is not shared by other Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who condemned violent elements within Antifa, saying violent protesters should be arrested.  "You’re not talking about the far left of the Democratic Party — they’re not even Democrats," Pelosi told the Denver Post editorial board. "A lot of them are socialists or anarchists or whatever."  Ellison, who lost a close race last year to Tom Perez for leadership of the DNC, was skewered on Twitter for posting the photo.   On Fox Business Network, Democrat and author Doug Schoen said he wishes Ellison would "go away," but fears Ellison will do the opposite and run for Al Franken's Senate seat in Minnesota.   "He stands for everything I do not believe and I think is wrong about the Democratic Party," said Schoen.  Ellison, once an activist with the bigoted Nation of Islam, is a disgrace to the Democrats and should never have been made deputy chair.  But the party apparatus is today controlled by reckless people who have no problem with leftist fringe elements, including, apparently, violent ones. 

BUT IS HIS WARRANTY VALID? – FROM THE MIAMI HERALD:  Whoever set off the fireworks in Sawgrass Mills Sunday afternoon, sending people hiding in stock rooms and racing from the mall, planned more than malevolent fun, Sunrise police say.  They planned (successfully) to steal an $11,400 Rolex.
Surveillance video released by Sunrise police shows a man trying on the Rolex at the Sawgrass Mills Zales store on New Year’s Eve. When the fireworks go off outside the store in the mall, Zales workers scramble for cover deeper in the store while the “shopper” scrams from the store with the Rolex still on his wrist.  The in-store suspect is described as a white Hispanic male. The Rolex is described as model No. 1626 with a blue face. Sunrise police don’t have a description for the fireworks popper.  I would have chosen the silver face, but you can't have everything.  They'll probably nail this guy if he tries to sell the watch or have it serviced.  It has a serial number.

January 5,  2017     Permalink

A WOLFF IN WOLF'S CLOTHING – AT 12:40 P.M. ET:   It's all the rage, isn't it?  You can't turn on a "news" program without hearing a breathless report about the new Trump book, "Fire and Fury - Inside the Trump White House," by presumed journalist Michael Wolff.

Yawn.

I have no idea how accurate the yarns are.  I assume some of them are pretty close to the truth.  But the book is so relentlessly negative and hostile, it probably will destroy itself.

And we've been here so often.  Lincoln's first commanding general, called the president a "baboon."  The British ambassador called Theodore Roosevelt "a little boy."  Franklin D. Roosevelt was widely called "featherduster" because he was said to be an intellectual lightweight.  He was also called chronically dishonest.  Truman was the "little man from Missouri," who used obscenities around the White House.

Dwight Eisenhower, who came to the White House with probably the best background of any American president, was regularly denounced as a dullard, anti-intellectual, and almost illiterate. 

Barry Goldwater, the GOP presidential candidate in 1964, was called mentally unbalanced by a group of psychiatrists, who were later reprimanded by their professional association for their irresponsibility.

Ronald Reagan was called an "amiable dunce."  The man who ended the Cold War on our terms was also described, upon taking office, as a reckless militarist who would cause World War III.

George W. Bush was called most of the things that Trump is being called – stupid, privileged, shallow, unprepared, uncultured, and an illegitimate president. 

So, don't let the new book shake you.  Judge Trump by his accomplishments.  He is far from a perfect man, but if personal perfection were the standard, Winston Churchill would never have been prime minister of Great Britain.

January 5, 2018       Permalink

THE FUTURE OF IRAN – AT 11:38 A.M. ET:  It does appear that the protests are being suppressed by the gangster regime that runs Iran.  But what of the future?  From Fox: 

The deadly protests gripping Iran may not be the final battle between the Islamic republic's hard-line government and its fed-up populace, but it shows the mullahs are running out of time, according to an expert who helps advise Congress.

Tehran has moved swiftly against the most serious protests since 2009's "Green Movement," cutting off social media and mobilizing police and military forces to deal with spreading demonstrations.

But the demographics of the protests and the heavy-handed approach to them bode poorly for the brutal regime, according to Kenneth Katzman, a senior analyst of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Persian Gulf Affairs at the Congressional Research Service.

"[The demostrations have] morphed into basically a youth protest against the system writ large, and it all goes back to the clerics' monopoly on power," said Katzman, whose group provides research and analysis to Congress.

So far, at least 21 people have been killed and more than 450 arrested in widespread demonstrations.
Katzman, who recently published a study of the impact of sanctions relief on Iran's economy, acknowledged he was caught off-guard by the protests, which came at a time when the country's economy was improving in variety of ways.

COMMENT:   President Trump did the right thing by openly supporting the protesters, unlike our European "allies," who fudged every comment they made, the better to get more business contracts with Iran.  There is, I believe, a growing gulf between the U.S. and Western Europe.  Western Europe is decadent, cannot reproduce its population, and increasingly influenced by Muslim immigrants from the Mideast.  It is a continent of the past, and there are far more important countries and continents emerging.  Europe is good for museums and food.

January 5, 2018       Permalink

EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT, DEMOCRATS – AT 11:09 A.M. ET:  Now wait.  Wasn't it the Democratic Party that was the "party of the people"?  Yeah, I remember that, sometime back in the 1930s.  Uh, I get the feeling that it's a little different today.  The Dems, led by Barack Hussein Obama Jr, don't even like the people, at least those without Ivy League educations.

The Trump administration, whether we always love the president or not, is producing results the Dems can only dream of, if they dream at all.  From the Washington Examiner: 

The number of companies offering employee bonuses, pay hikes, and increases in benefits in reaction to President Trump’s December tax reform victory is now over 100, with thousands of workers impacted and charities too.

Less than a day after Americans for Tax Reform put out an initial list of 40, it jumped to 52 as more company plans poured in.

And by the end of today, ATR’s John Kartch told Secrets that the list will hit over 100. "Small businesses from across the country are sending me news of their tax-cut bonuses, wage hikes, and charitable donations. Many of these were only announced internally. There is a broad and deep tsunami building," added Kartch, ATR's vice president of communications.

Kartch is asking that firms who have decided to spread the anticipated wealth let him know. “Please help ATR expand this list – if you know of any companies missing below, please send to jkartch@atr.org),” he put in his blog post.

Grover Norquist, ATR's president, said the bonuses are nullifying Democratic attacks on the GOP tax package. He told Secrets, "Every announcement of another company raising wages, hiring, paying bonuses, investing in America is another nail in the coffin of the Democrat attacks on the Republican tax cut. This drip, drip, drip is added to the daily reports on stock market gains, the bigger checks in pay envelopes and the jump in your 401K and IRA."

COMMENT:  Read the whole story, for more details.  All good.

January 5,  2018     Permalink

JANUARY 4,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:32 P.M. ET: 

HILLARY IN TROUBLE AGAIN – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  WASHINGTON – The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into whether the Clinton Foundation conducted “pay-to-play” politics or other illegal activities during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, The Hill reported on Thursday, citing law enforcement officials and a witness.  The newspaper said FBI agents from Little Rock, Arkansas, where the foundation began, had taken the lead in the investigation and interviewed at least one witness in the past month. Law enforcement officials told The Hill that additional activities were expected in coming weeks.  The underlying question is how the Clintons have gotten so fabulously wealthy while holding government jobs.

NFL FLOPS – FROM FOX:   The National Football League's television ratings were down this season, leading some to question whether anthem protests had turned some fans off.  According to USA Today, the average audience across the four broadcasters of NFL games fell 10 percent in the 2017 regular season.
This follows an 8 percent drop across CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN last season, when former quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other players began kneeling for "The Star-Spangled Banner" before games.  Even with the lower viewership, NBC's "Sunday Night Football" is still expected to be the most-watched prime-time show of the year, while Sunday daytime and Monday night broadcasts continued to dominate rival programming.
Usually the regular season ends with a Sunday night matchup, but the league did not schedule one for last weekend, citing fans likely to be busy with New Year's Eve celebrations. Throughout the season, many observers noted the seas of empty seats at NFL stadiums, though Commissioner Roger Goodell said total attendance only fell by 1 percent.   Ratings are down, and enthusiasm is down.  Yes, of course, the "take a knee" protests had a negative impact.  People don't turn on a football game to see a political demonstration, especially one they disagree with.  I'm not sure the missing viewers, and attendees, will come back.  There is nothing to lure them back.

IS THIS WEIRD, OR WHAT? – FROM FOX:  In a war of words between heavyweight names in the national Democratic establishment, a Kennedy running for governor has slammed Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for his alleged complicity in a gentrification plan that critics say is forcing African-Americans and other minorities out of the country’s third-largest city. “I believe that black people are being pushed out of Chicago intentionally by a strategy that involves disinvestment in communities being implemented by the city administration,” said Chris Kennedy, who is running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination ahead of a March 20 primary...Kennedy, the son of late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, is hoping to appeal to African-American voters in a primary challenge against Chicago businessman J.B. Pritzker.  In other words, Rahm Emanuel isn't left-wing enough for him.  I don't know this Kennedy, but we really don't do dynasties very well in America. 

January 4, 2018       Permalink

THE SILENCE FROM IRAN – AT 1:18 P.M. ET:  It appears that the Iranian revolution may be dying.  We are hearing only sporadic reports of demonstrations.  The mainstream media does not seem to care.  A successful Iranian revolution would make Obama look bad, and that can't be permitted.  From BBC:   

They seem to be dying down despite unverified reports of small protests in a number of cities after nightfall on Wednesday.

The same day, the head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said "enemies" had been defeated and the Guards had only intervened in a "limited" way in three provinces.

Internet messaging services Telegram and Instagram remained blocked, as they have been since the protests began.

However, there were calls in parliament to remove some of the most unpopular measures from last month's budget, including welfare budget cuts and energy price rises, AFP news agency reports.

On Thursday, state television showed large pro-government rallies in Ardabil, Mashhad, Shiraz, Birjand and Isfahan.

COMMENT:   Other news agencies say they have reports of some protests in scattered places, but there is no verification. 

We're flying blind.  President Trump's messages have been excellent, placing the United States with the forces of freedom.  By contrast, the Europeans have done what the Europeans do – half-hearted backing for the protesters combined with cynical appeals to nonviolence.   You don't depend on Europe for support of democratic reforms.  Europe is interested in industrial contracts.

We're searching for more information.

January 4, 2018       Permalink

BOOM! – AT 12:44 P.M. ET:   The Trump economy roars.  From CNBC: 

Private sector job creation surged in December as a strong holiday shopping season pushed companies to hire more workers, according to a report Thursday from ADP and Moody's Analytics.
Companies hired 250,000 new workers to close out the year, well above Wall Street expectations of 190,000. The month was the best for job creation since March and topped the 185,000 in November, a number that was revised lower by 5,000.

The total brought 2017's private payroll growth as gauged by ADP and Moody's to 2.54 million, an average of 212,000 a month.

Job growth was broad-based, as professional and business services led the way with 72,000 new positions. The education and health services sector was next at 50,000 and trade, transportation and utilities contributed 45,000. Wall Street-related payrolls grew by 19,000.

The information services sector was the only one to lose jobs, reporting a drop of 4,000.

By size, businesses with between 50 and 499 employees added 100,000 jobs while small firms hired 94,000 and large companies contributed 56,000 to the total.

COMMENT:   We're on our way, and the Republicans may very well have a strong case to bring to the American people in this year's midterms. 

January 4,  2018     Permalink

TRUMP HOLDS – AT 11:29 A.M. ET:  The president is holding the gains he recently made in the Rasmussen poll, which is now the only daily tracking poll tracing presidential approval:

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Thursday shows that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-three percent (53%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 31% who Strongly Approve of the way the president is performing and 43% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -12.

This is Trump’s highest daily job approval index rating since June of last year.

Gallup has announced that it is ending its daily presidential tracking poll which means Rasmussen Reports is now the only survey firm still tracking presidential job approval on a daily basis.

And...

Love him or hate him, voters agree President Trump is charting the course for the country, and no one else is even close.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the Republican president sets the agenda in Washington, DC these days. The GOP-led Congress is in distant second, with 19% who think it's calling the shots. Thirteen percent (13%) say the national media is in charge. Only eight percent (8%) feel the Democratic opposition is setting the agenda. Nearly as many (7%) think it’s someone else, and 12% are undecided.

COMMENT:  Not bad for the president.  I want to see a major accomplishment push him over the 50% mark.  Rebuilding the infrastructure?

January 4,  2018    Permalink