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JULY 8,  2017

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

GOOD FOR HIM – FROM AMERICAN MIRROR:  Donald Trump is making America exceptional once again.  It’s coming in small, yet proud ways, as evidenced at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.  As leaders were gathering for a photo op, most were sporting a G20 pin on their lapel.  Not Trump. He was wearing an American flag.  A little thing, but it's important to us.  The G20 is not a fraternity, and you don't have to wear your pledge pin.  The American flag is better.

SOMETIMES IT'S JUST OVER – FROM THE HILL:   Hillary Clinton wants to play a role in next year’s midterm elections. It’s just not clear yet what that role will be.   Clinton has already launched a PAC aimed at helping congressional Democratic candidates in 2018, signaling the former first lady, senator and secretary of State is ready to help her party with fundraising.   She also is looking at the House districts she won in last year’s presidential contest against Donald Trump as part of an autopsy of her failed campaign, according to two sources who have spoken to the former Secretary of State.  Sometimes it's wise to just get off the stage.  The Democratic Party is in a bad place, and doesn't appear to be in any mood to welcome Clinton back.    

AUNTIE MAXINE SPEAKS – FROM THE HILL:  Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has decided to take “the gloves off” to encourage others to see President Trump's the way she does, the House Democrat said in a New York Times profile published on Friday.   “Trump was just so outrageous, so disrespectful, such a bully and dangerous for this country, I decided, ‘You know what? I’m taking the gloves off and I’m going to step out,’” Waters told the Times, explaining her bombastic rhetoric toward the president. She has called for his impeachment.  “I was going to not only challenge him but encourage others to see him for what he is: basically a bully, an egotistical maniac, a liar and someone who did not need to be president,” she continued.  Most people think she took the gloves off years ago.  But maybe these are new gloves.  Her constituents might remind her of why she was sent to Congress.

July 8, 2017       Permalink

SARAH THE COMBATANT – AT 1:16 P.M. ET:  Sarah Palin is suing The New York Times for defamation.  Good for her.  The case involves a statement by the Times that the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was partly provoked by an ad Palin had run targeting Giffords for political defeat.

The Times later apologized for the statement, but Palin feels the damage had been done.  From the New York Post:   

Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times should be tossed because the paper made “an honest mistake” when it said she incited a 2011 shooting that severely wounded Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords and killed six people, a lawyer for the Gray Lady said on Friday.

“There was an honest mistake in posting the editorial,” lawyer David Schultz told Manhattan federal Judge Jed Rakoff.

Last week, Palin sued the Times over a June 14th editorial that stated there was a “direct” link between one of Palin’s PAC ads and the shooting by Jared Lee Loughner.

But there’s no evidence he ever saw the ad, which placed Gifford’s district in stylized crosshairs. The Times issued a correction.

On Friday, Palin’s lawyers argued that the Times knew the story was false.

“It was literally acknowledged the same day in another story in their paper,” said Kenneth Turkel.

COMMENT:  We'll be watching this closely.  It's a tough road for a public figure to sue a newspaper, especially once the paper has apologized.  But at least we'll see a newspaper challenged.

July 8,  2017     Permalink

DONALD THE DIPLOMAT – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  There is no question that the president, who can often get in his own way, is emerging as a major international diplomat.  Remember, the liberal press crowd laughed at Reagan as well.  From Fox:   

President Trump, at the start of his meeting Saturday in Germany with Chinese President Xi Jinping, called the Asian nation a “great trading partner” and said the increasing North Korea nuclear threat will eventually be resolved “one way or the other.”

The much-anticipated meeting is one of several Trump and top administration officials are having Saturday with world leaders at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. But it is considered perhaps the most critical.

China is North Korea’s largest trading partner, which gives the country considerable influence over Pyongyang and its growing threat, which includes developing a nuclear warhead and launching long-range missiles to transport them.

Trump said putting an end to North Korea’s nuclear missile testing “may take longer than I'd like, it may take longer that you'd like. But there will be success in the end one way or the other."
“Something has to be done,” the president also said.

COMMENT:  Trump is now laying down a marker.  He widely criticized Barack Obama for drawing a red line in Syria, then doing nothing when it was crossed.  Trump cannot repeat that performance.  He either takes down the North Korean nuclear program or subjects himself to well-deserved ridicule.  He knows the risk he is taking. 

July 8, 2017        Permalink

THE PHONIES – AT 11:46 A.M. ET:  Ivanka Trump is a remarkably poised and accomplished 35-year-old who could have spent her life going to parties.  Instead, she has built a successful business and involved herself in public issues like women's empowerment.  This has enraged some people, who believe that only certified women in liberal administrations should be permitted out in public.  From Daily Mail:

Ivanka Trump turned heads on Saturday at the G20 summit by temporarily taking a seat at the big-kids' table when her father, President Donald Trump, stepped out for a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

A White House official told DailyMail.com that the younger Trump's fill-in role was nothing out of the ordinary. 

UK Prime Minister Theresa May was seen leaving the G20 meeting room at one point, a source with knowledge of the summit's goings-on said, and her place was briefly taken by an aide. 

But when the 35-year-old former fashion executive sat at the table with Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Angela Merkel and Theresa May, Trump's enemies pounced.

A White House official told DailyMail.com that the younger Trump's fill-in role was nothing out of the ordinary. 

UK Prime Minister Theresa May was seen leaving the G20 meeting room at one point, a source with knowledge of the summit's goings-on said, and her place was briefly taken by an aide. 

But when the 35-year-old former fashion executive sat at the table with Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Angela Merkel and Theresa May, Trump's enemies pounced.

Historian Anne Applebaum tweeted a complaint, denouncing 'an unelected, unqualified, unprepared New York socialite' being seen as 'the best person to represent American national interests.'

That is not a description of Ivanka Trump.  Note the silence of the "women's" movement.

Brian Klass, an Oxford scholar who once served as deputy campaign manager for a Democratic governor of Minnesota, tweeted that she was representing the U.S. as an 'unelected, unqualified daughter-in-chief.'

'This kind of thing happens all the time. In dictatorships,' added self-described women's rights activist Amy Siskind.

I wonder what the "activist" would say if Hillary were president and had Chelsea Clinton sit at the table.  We all know, don't we?

And Charles Blow, the liberal New York Times columnist, wrote flatly: 'Why the hell is Ivanka Trump sitting in for daddy at G20 meetings?! What are her qualifications? Who voted for her?'

COMMENT:  I'm confused.  I thought highly intelligent women had a place at the table.  Didn't Eleanor Roosevelt serve as her husband's eyes and ears?  Didn't Hillary Clinton give policy advice when her husband was president?  And hey, Jimmy Carter said he spoke to his daughter, Amy, about nuclear weapons.

I guess it depends what party you're from.  The hypocrisy flows.

I hope to see Ivanka at the table in the future. 

July 8,  2017     Permalink

JULY 7,  2017

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

GOOD FOR MELANIA – FROM FOX:  As Melania Trump settles into her new role as first lady, a Fox News Poll shows a jump in her popularity.   Fifty-one percent of voters view Melania Trump favorably.  That’s up 14 points since December and up 16 points from the first time the Fox News Poll asked about her last summer.  At that time, 35 percent viewed the wife of the controversial candidate favorably and 40 percent unfavorably (August 2016).  Twenty-four percent couldn’t rate her.  Today, 28 percent view her negatively, while one in five are unable to rate her (20 percent).   She's doing a fine job.  She carries herself with dignity, and her foreign accent underlines our immigrant experience.  I hope the mainstream media gives her the credit that is due.

POLL SUPPORTS TRUMP ON IMMIGRATION – FROM THE POLITICO:   A clear majority of voters support President Donald Trump’s travel ban on visitors from six predominantly Muslim countries, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.  Polling on the travel restrictions has varied wildly since the Trump administration unveiled the first executive order on travel in late January. But after months of litigation and controversy, 6-in-10 voters back the ban — and the survey suggests the actual policy may be more popular when separated from the president.   I would not be surprised if Trump himself starts rising in the polls.  That would especially be true if got a tax-cut through Congress.

SEARS IS FADING – FROM REUTERS:   Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O) is closing eight of its namesake department stores and 35 Kmart locations to cut costs and square footage in an effort to return to profitability, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Lampert said on Friday.  The store closings are in addition to 150 the company announced in January. Once the largest U.S. retailer, Sears has struggled with years of losses and declining sales as shoppers have shifted from the mall to the web. The company said in February it would cut costs this year by at least $1 billion.  What a sad story.  Sears is one of those iconic names, and I don't think it's fading simply because of online buying. 

July 7,  2017     Permalink

BULLETIN – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  Last night we reported that private information services pegged last month's job creation figure at 158,000.   However, the official government report, issued minutes ago, has the number at 222,000, obviously a much better figure. 

SHUT UP, KAMALA – AT 8:50 A.M. ET:  Kamala Harris has come to Washington, and wants to be president.  Lord help us.  She arrived on the scene from California in January as a freshman, or freshwoman, or fresh gender of choice, senator, and all we know so far is that she's fresh. 

Even her senior senator, Dianne Feinstein, is hinting that the president-in-waiting might wish to wait a little longer.  From the Washington Free Beacon:   

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) downplayed chatter of Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) becoming a viable presidential candidate in a New York Times profile piece on the latter published Thursday by saying that she needs to concentrate on being a senator first.

The Times article discussed Harris' rapid rise in the Democratic Party and speculation that she could be a potential contender in the 2020 presidential election, the Hill reported.

"What she should do is concentrate on being a good, and possibly great, United States senator," Feinstein, 84, said. "The rest will either happen or not happen."

"She just got here," the senior senator added.

The article was published after CNN reported that Harris raised over $600,000 during the first half of 2017 for Senate Democrats in the 2018 election cycle, according to the Hill. 

Harris was elected to the Senate last November, after being endorsed by then-President Obama.
Harris, who served as California's attorney general, made history becoming the first Indian American to serve in the Senate and the second black woman elected to the upper chamber.

She garnered national attention during the televised Senate Intelligence Committee hearing investigating alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Harris was publicly interrupted twice during these hearings by Sens. John McCain [R., Ariz.] and Richard Burr (R., N.C.), who told her to be quiet and let the officials being questioned answered.

COMMENT:  She has achieved levels of obnoxia that usually call for medical intervention.  It may reach the level of a Senate emergency.

She has ambition.  She raises money.  Most important, she's Asian, black, and female.  In the Democratic Party, that's all that matters.  She should take personality lessons.  I think Obamacare may pay for them.

July 7,  2017     Permalink

AH, HIGHER EDUCATION – AT 8:37 A.M. ET:   Each year entering college students are given books to read, apparently to let them reach the next level of intellect.  What a farce.  The reading list is designed to make them into attentive little lefties.  No room for dissent.  From RedAlertPolitics: 

After years of criticism that universities and colleges were focusing too much on feelings and social justice, many people hoped that things would start to change. Those hopes appear to be dashed judging from the books incoming college freshman are asked to read over this summer. Most of them are mediocre at best in their writing style and are meant only to encourage liberal indoctrination.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that many of the books assigned to incoming freshman push themes of racial diversity, transitioning genders, social activism, and economic justice.

Books like Just Mercy, Between the World and Me, Make Your Home Among Strangers, Citizen: An American Lyric, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, and Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family are especially popular this year.

Only one conservative author has broken through the pack and is being assigned by universities, J.D. Vance’s bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy, which discusses the crisis afflicting white working class Americans. 

The books are far too contemporary and read like an MTV special on American teenage culture, emphasizing the need to realize the victimhood — the first step in their indoctrination.

None of the reading assigned is based on empirical evidence; colleges could have assigned books like Bowling Alone or Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, which are data driven.

There’s also no historical standard that shows these books will stand any test of time; there’s nothing by Sinclair Lewis, Plato, or George Orwell. Just because those books are old doesn’t mean that they cannot help students understand current events, as the world existed before any of them were born.

COMMENT:  I expect nothing better our contemporary colleges and universities.  For too long we have lived the myth that education is an unalloyed good.  It is not.  It depends on what is taught and who's doing the teaching. 

Guidance counselors report an increasing number of parents who are ruling out certain colleges for their children based on those schools' oppressive, leftist orientation.  That's a good start.  The market, even in education, might work wonders.

July 7, 2017        Permalink

GET THESE POLL RESULTS – HEARTBREAK FOR THE PUNDITRY – AT 8:21 A.M. ET:  Seems that the press is less popular than the president.  What's an anchor to do?  From Newsbusters: 

Monday's PBS NewsHour spotlighted the low trust in the news media, according to the results of their latest poll. Only 30 percent of those surveyed by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist trust the press "a good deal" or "a great amount." The Trump administration scored seven points better in the same poll. Guest Stuart Rothenberg bemoaned the "horrible trend" towards distrust of the media over the past several decades. NPR's Tamara Keith underlined that "these numbers are part of a very long trend of institutions losing trust from the American people; and that...puts America at risk."

Host Judy Woodruff zeroed on the media's poll numbers near the end of the segment with Rothenberg and Keith. She noted that "one of the things we looked at was...[the] high distrust of the news media." After outlining the numbers, she turned to Rothenberg and asserted that "the bottom line here, Stu, is that the media may be a good whipping boy."

The guest replied, "I think the public sees the media as a political institution — just as they see the White House, the President, and Congress." After pointing out the "horrible trend," Rothenberg pointed out "Gallup numbers in the early 1970s...[where] those of us in the media are regarded much worse than we were back then."

COMMENT:   Yup, that's right.  The public increasingly sees the press as a political institution, aligned with either parties or interests.  And you know what?  The public is right. 

The press is in crisis. Thoughtful journalists know that and want to fix the problem.  Other journalists don't see the problem.

And part of the problem is that journalists are educated in major American universities, where they're taught to think left and show contempt for any opposing argument.  Too many journalists learned the lesson too well.

July 7, 2017     Permalink