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JULY 31,  2017

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

MOOCH OUT – FROM CBS NEWS:   President Trump has removed Anthony Scaramucci from his new job as communications director, on his 11th day on the job -- he was named to the position on July 21.  "Anthony Scaramucci will be leaving his role as White House Communications Director. Mr. Scaramucci felt it was best to give Chief of Staff John Kelly a clean slate and the ability to build his own team. We wish him all the best," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.  Scaramucci was escorted out of the White House, a source told CBS News.  This was inevitable with the arrival of General Kelly as chief of staff.  Scaramucci, or "Mooch" as he is called, had a good few days when first appointed, but then gave a disastrous interview which was laced with profanity.  Not acceptable.

UPROAR – FROM THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON:  The chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a new interview there will be no litmus test on abortion for Democratic candidates in the 2018 midterm elections.  "There is not a litmus test for Democratic candidates," Rep. Ben Ray Luján told the Hill in an interview published Monday. "As we look at candidates across the country, you need to make sure you have candidates that fit the district, that can win in these districts across America."  Luján, who chairs the Democratic Party's campaign arm in the House, said that the DCCC will not withhold funds from pro-life candidates who deviate from the party on abortion issues. This is contrary to what Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said back in April.   Luján's statement caused an immediate backlash and a flood of anguished statements.  I don't think it will be party policy very long, but it should be. 

OH PLEASE! – FROM THE SACRAMENTO BEE:  The people behind California’s latest effort to leave the United States are confident this time and are preparing to fan out across the Golden State to collect signatures for a 2018 ballot initiative.  It would repeal a provision of the California Constitution stating that the state is “an inseparable part of the United States ... up to and including agreement establishing California as a fully independent country,” the ballot language reads.  “We feel like this current initiative is more feasible and will hold up more to scrutiny and legal challenges,” said Steve Gonzales, a member of the group California Freedom Coalition. A first attempt fizzled and was withdrawn.  Gonzales said the group is beginning to raise money to hire signature gatherers. It has until Jan. 22 to collect 585,407 signatures, according to Secretary of State Alex Padilla.   Interesting effort, but probably doomed to failure from every direction.  I doubt if most Californians would vote to secede.  There are, after all, some Californians who live outside San Francisco.  In addition, the US Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional for states to secede from the US. 

July 31,  2017     Permalink

NANCY IN LA-LA LAND – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  If you think the Republicans are in trouble, and they are, just look at their salvation – the Democratic Party.  The embarrassment continues.  From The Hill:   

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday said questions about her future in leadership are “unimportant."

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace asked Pelosi to estimate the chances of Democrats winning back the lower chamber in 2018 and whether she would run again for Speaker if they did.

“That’s so unimportant. What is important is that we have the lively debate on a better deal,” Pelosi said.

The excitement builds.  We certainly need a debate on a better deal.  Why didn't I think of that?

“Better pay. Better jobs and a better future. And that’s what we look forward to having. And we have unity in our party. You saw it with the fight on the Affordable Care Act in the House and in the Senate." 

Can you hear the cheering?  Remember, she disparaged the importance of Democrats winning next year.  What a leader!

Wallace during the interview also asked Pelosi if Democrats need new leaders, noting that the members of her party’s House leadership are all over 75.

“I am a master legislator. I know the budget to the n-th degree. I know the motivation of people,” responded Pelosi, who has faced criticism from some in her party recently.

COMMENT:  The inspiration just flows.  And on the Senate side the Dems are led by super-obstructionist Chuck Schumer.  Most Dems think he's too conservative for their taste.

The Republicans are blessed.  They have the Democrats.

July 31, 2017       Permalink

THE KOREAN THREAT – AND THERE ARE NO GOOD SOLUTIONS – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:   The latest North Korean ICBM test has the experts chilled.  It is possible that North Korean progress will soon, or even currently, allow the North to hit the western United States.  From Fox: 

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he and President Donald Trump agreed to take further action against North Korea following its latest missile launch.

Abe told reporters after the call that Trump pledged to “take all necessary measures to protect” Japan and that Abe praised his commitment to do so.

He also called on China and Russia to do more to stop Pyongyang.

“We have made consistent efforts to resolve the North Korean problem in a peaceful manner, but North Korea has ignored that entirely and escalated the situation in a one-sided way,” Abe said, according to Bloomberg. “The international community, starting with China and Russia, must take this obvious fact seriously and increase pressure.”

Abe said Japan would pursue concrete steps to bolster defense systems and capabilities under firm solidarity with the U.S. and do the utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese people.

The White House said in a statement after the phone call that the two leaders “agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far,” Reuters reported.

The call between the two world leaders comes hours after the U.S., Japanese and South Korea militaries spent 10 hours conducting bomber-jet drills over the Korean peninsula.

COMMENT:  Douglas MacArthur once said that all military disasters start with two words:  too late.  We are seeing that now in our crisis with North Korea.  For years we have "negotiated" one agreement after the other with the North, to no effect.  The regime continues to develop nuclear weapons, and the missiles to carry them.  The only consequences we have imposed are some sanctions, which haven't worked. 

There are no good solutions.  We depended on China to pressure North Korea.  The Korean behavior didn't change.  We have hinted at military action, knowing full well that the North is fully capable of massive retaliation against anything we do.

Some are arguing that we have no choice but to depend on old-fashioned deterrence, maintaining a powerful military presence in the region to deter any North Korean moves.  It worked with the Soviet Union.  It has worked, at least in terms of the use of nuclear weapons, with China.  But those are great nations with rational, if evil, governments.  North Korea is a basket case.  The government cannot even feed its own people.  It has no dreams for a better future.  It is run by a kid who inherited power from his father.  What if, like the Japanese in World War II, it becomes suicidal?

I'm sure CNN can figure it out.

July 31, 2017       Permalink 

THE NEW RECRUIT – AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  Never before has the arrival of a new White House chief of staff been met with such anticipation.  Will John Kelly save the Trump presidency?  Will he survive?  Will he be knifed, like the others?  Will he get the girl?  Well, forget the last one. 

General John F. Kelly, USMC (ret) arrives at the White House today.  He will have to set the tone from his first minute.  He will have to be the boss, second only to the president.  And he will have to confront the president if necessary and get this White House organized.  From AP: 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted Monday there is no chaos at the White House, even as his new chief of staff is entering a West Wing battered by crisis.

Retired Gen. John Kelly, previously the Homeland Security secretary, takes over Monday from the ousted Reince Priebus, bringing his military experience to an administration weighed down by a stalled legislative agenda, a cabal of infighting West Wing aides and a stack of investigations.

While Trump is looking for a reset, he pushed back against criticism of his administration on Twitter Monday. He said: “Highest Stock Market EVER, best economic numbers in years, unemployment lowest in 17 years, wages raising, border secure, S.C.: No WH chaos!”

And the president is right about the economy.  Much progress.  Jobs brought back.  Manufacturing on its way back.

Kelly’s success in a chaotic White House will depend on how much authority he is granted and whether Trump’s dueling aides will put aside their rivalries to work together. Also unclear is whether a new chief of staff will have any influence over the president’s social media histrionics.

Former Trump campaign manager Cory Lewandowski, who was ousted from the campaign in June 2016, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he expected Kelly would “restore order to the staff” but also stressed that Trump was unlikely to change his style.

“I say you have to let Trump be Trump. That is what has made him successful over the last 30 years. That is what the American people voted for,” Lewandowski said. “And anybody who thinks they’re going to change Donald Trump doesn’t know Donald Trump.”

They may not know John Kelly either.  I don't think Kelly will "change" Trump, but he will certainly influence him.  And, just as important, Kelly will influence the staff around the president.

Observers like to compare Trump with Reagan, asking if Trump is "Reaganesque."  It's the wrong comparison.  The right comparison is with Harry S. Truman.  Of all the presidents I've seen, Trump most resembles Truman.  Harry was also a defiant, profane, underestimated gut fighter, who could blurt out the most foolish things.  It was said that many letters Truman wrote never reached their destination.  Staff members would politely throw them in the wastepaper basket to avoid presidential embarrassment.

It was also said of Truman that he did the biggest things in the biggest ways and the littlest things in the littlest ways.  But at least he did the biggest things in the biggest ways.

Harry Truman left office with an approval rating in the twenties.  He is now regarded as one of our great presidents.  Don't underestimate Trump's potential for greatness.  But, also, don't underestimate his potential for disaster. 

July 31,  2017     Permalink 

JULY 30,  3017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:55 P.M. ET: 

SHOW OF FORCE – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Sunday in a show of force against North Korea following the country's latest intercontinental ballistic missile test. The U.S. also said it conducted a successful test of a missile defense system located in Alaska.  The B-1 bombers were escorted by South Korean fighter jets as they performed a low-pass over an air base near the South Korean capital of Seoul before returning to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces said in a statement.  The only question is whether anything we do will change the North's behavior.  So far, nothing has.

ANOTHER "EDUCATOR" HEARD FROM – FROM BREITBART:  Jason Osamede Okundaye, Ethnic Minorities Officer for Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, is being investigated after cheering on violent ‘Black Lives Matter’ rioters in an extraordinary anti-white online rant.  “ALL whites people are racist,” tweeted the Cambridge Ethnic Minorities Officer, as rioters protesting the death of alleged drug dealer Rashan Jermaine Charles attacked police and members of the public in Dalston, East London.  “White middle class, white working class, white men, white women, white gays, white children they can ALL geddit [get it],” he declared.  Where would Cambridge, presumably one of the great universities of the world, acquire a genius like this?  And why would it want to?

YIKES!  DID YOU KNOW THIS? – FROM KAISER HEALTH NEWS:    The controversial practice has been standard in many teaching hospitals for decades, its safety and ethics largely unquestioned and its existence unknown to those most affected: people undergoing surgery.  But over the past two years, the issue of overlapping surgery — in which a doctor operates on two patients in different rooms during the same time period — has ignited an impassioned debate in the medical community, attracted scrutiny by the powerful Senate Finance Committee that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, and prompted some hospitals, including the University of Virginia’s, to circumscribe the practice.  Known as “running two rooms” — or double-booked, simultaneous or concurrent surgery — the practice occurs in teaching hospitals where senior attending surgeons delegate trainees — usually residents or fellows — to perform parts of one surgery while the attending surgeon works on a second patient in another operating room. Sometimes senior surgeons aren’t even in the OR and are seeing patients elsewhere.  Okay, next time you have an operation, insist that your surgeon wear a GPS.

July 30, 2017       Permalink

CLOSE CALL DOWN UNDER – AT 12:50 P.M. ET:   This has gotten far too little attention in our media.  Australia just had a close call with terrorism, and our government is watching developments carefully.  This is not lone-wolf stuff.  From The Hill: 

The Department of Homeland Security said Sunday it is closely monitoring the foiled Australia terrorist plot in which extremists planned an attack targeting an airplane.

“We are closely following the terrorism investigation in Australia and assisting our partners," DHS said in a statement.

"The Department of Homeland Security remains focused on the persistent and emerging threats to aviation, and we have taken extraordinary steps in recent weeks to raise the baseline of aviation security worldwide, especially to protect flights bound for the United States," the statement said. "We will continue to work with authorities in Australia and elsewhere to confront these threats.”

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Saturday that Australian authorities had thwarted a terrorist plan to "bring down" an airplane through counterterrorism raids.

Authorities arrested four men in connection with the plot, The Australian reported.

While those arrested have not been charged, authorities believe the attack was inspired by the Islamic State, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said.

COMMENT:  We've gotten too used to the concept of the lone wolf, itself a misnomer.  There's no such thing as a lone wolf.  Islamic terrorists are radicalized by someone.  They didn't come to terrorism naturally.

But small operations are only part of the Islamist workbook.  Aviation has been a terror target for decades.  It's a spectacular target, with instant propaganda results. 

July 30, 2017       Permalink

TENSIONS WITH IRAN RISE – ANYONE SURPRISED? – AT 11:54 A.M. ET:  While we're distracted by the bizarre activity in Washington, hostile nations aren't modifying their hostility.  If only we'd stayed with Barack.  He was so good at bringing us perfect government.  We saw the oceans recede, and peace come to the world...  From AFP:   

Tehran (AFP) - A defiant Iran vowed on Saturday to press ahead with its missile programme and condemned new US sanctions, as tensions rise after the West hardened its tone against the Islamic republic.

In the latest incident, Tehran and Washington accused each other's naval forces of provocative manoeuvres in the Gulf that culminated in a US helicopter firing warning flares.

The US Navy said it had reacted to unresponsive vessels belonging to the Revolutionary Guards closing in on American ships at high speed, a charge denied by Iran which described the American move as unprovoked.

"At 4 pm (1130 GMT) on Friday, the supercarrier USS Nimitz and its accompanying warship, while being monitored by the Guards' frigates, flew a helicopter near the Resalat oil and gas platform and approached the force's ships," the Iranian paramilitary force said.

"The Americans in a provocative and unprofessional move, sent a warning message to the frigates and fired flares," it said. The Guards "ignored the unconventional move by the US ships and continued their mission".

The US Navy said its ships were on a routine patrol when an American helicopter "observed several Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval vessels approaching US naval forces at a high rate of speed".

"US naval forces attempted to establish communications, with no response from the Iranian vessels. Shortly thereafter, at a safe distance, the US helicopter deployed flares, after which the Iranian vessels halted their approach," it said.

COMMENT:  Seems like an entirely appropriate warning action by the US Navy.  The key here is not this minor incident, but Iran's refusal to curtail its missile program.  Since our nuclear deal with Iran essentially guarantees that Tehran will be free to develop nuclear weapons in the future, the building of ICBMs will allow Iran to have a delivery system already in place.  Iran will become one of the world's nuclear powers.

Nice going, Barack.  But we're sure you meant well, as you'll explain in your new $65-million book.

July 30, 2017     Permalink

YOU SMARTY PANTS READERS BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR PRIVILEGE – AT 11:29 A.M. ET:  We really are terrible, just terrible.  Why, a university says so.  The latest in fashionable research.  A pop quiz tomorrow.  From Daily Caller: 

The University of Iowa’s student newspaper has announced the discovery of a special privilege which intelligent people acquire as an accident of birth. This new privilege — called “cognitive privilege” — functions in essentially the same way as white privilege.

The Daily Iowan revealed the discovery of this new privilege earlier this week.

Garden-variety white privilege “is an important topic that deserves a public discussion,” the op-ed on “cognitive privilege” explains, but it is also “prudent to at least mention the wider concept contained therein: that of privilege itself.”

Privilege in general is “the receipt of certain benefits wholly through accident of birth and it is “undeniable that privilege itself is a reality,” the student newspaper explains.

As with skin color and much else, Daily Iowan author Dan Williams argues, people have no control over how smart they are. Life is a huge cosmic lottery full of winners and losers.

Cognitive privilege is one of “many kinds of privilege besides white privilege.”

Also, Williams declares, robots will wipe out manual labor jobs but will somehow not affect jobs available to members of a special cognitive elite.

Damn bigoted robots!

“Thus, the accident of having been born smart enough to be able to be successful is a great benefit that you did absolutely nothing to earn. Consequently, you have nothing to be proud of for being smart.”

COMMENT:  I'm embarrassed already.  Not that I think I'm smart.  I don't want that privilege.  I never earned it.  But if I am smart, I will just have to be more sensitive toward the ignorant, the unprivileged, the dense.  I will start by being kind to liberals.

July 30,  2017     Permalink