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MARCH 22,  2017

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

BULLETIN – FROM THE HILL:   Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Wednesday night he and President Trump have come to an “agreement in principle” on a plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, just one day before a historic House vote on the bill.  “The president and I came to an agreement in principle,” Meadows said during an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, adding that he was still ironing out a few final details with the White House.  “I think what we're trying to do now is make sure that our agreement is actually something that can be executed in a way that passes the Senate,” he added. “There's still work to be done, but I can tell you that the president is all engaged."  If true, this is enormously important, and a testament to the president's skills as a negotiator. Stand by for more tomorrow.

A BAD DAY FOR POLICE – IN BOTH LONDON AND IN THE USA – FROM AP:   WESTON, Wis. — A police officer and three other people were shot and killed when a domestic dispute at a bank escalated into shootings at three locations in northern Wisconsin on Wednesday, investigators said. A suspect was in custody.  The shootings happened at a bank, a law firm and an apartment complex, where officers, including a SWAT team, had a standoff with the suspect for several hours before ending in a volley of gunfire around 5 p.m.  Authorities took no questions in a brief news conference late Wednesday and gave no details on the four victims or suspect. They said there was no remaining threat to the public. Jason Smith, a deputy administrator for the state Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, said more than 100 officers were investigating and more information would be released Thursday.  Most police officers are good and decent, and some get killed.  Maybe CNN could spend some time on this.

THE MADNESS CONTINUES, AND OUR DEMOCRACY DIES A LITTLE – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   Students at the University of Missouri–Kansas City could soon decide to boot staff and administrators responsible for “victim-blaming and invalidation of rape” if officials accede to the latest demands of campus activists.  One object of students’ ire: an email from Vice Chancellor Mel Tyler in which he “routinely” referred to an alleged rape as “alleged.”...Students also marched on Tyler’s office March 8, where they found him “eating pizza,” according to a report in student newspaper University News that portrays the protesters in a heroic light.  They were led by student Helen Proctor, co-founder of Squad of Siblings, who told Tyler that “all of the administrators” need to go through sexual-violence training. She said without evidence that “one in five women will be sexually assaulted” at UMKC.  The one-in-five figure has been substantially debunked.  Using false figures diminishes the very serious issue of sexual violence.  So do childlike protests against the term "alleged."  That is a word properly inserted into reports of crimes before proof of the crime is presented.  What many "activists" don't realize is that their destruction of due process does real victims no good.  A fair, dispassionate process is best for all.  Then the result will be widely accepted.

March 22,  2017    Permalink

THE AMERICAN SPIRIT – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  When is the last time you heard the term "space program"?  It used to be one of most inspirational aspects of American life.  Under Obama, there was barely a mention.  Oh yes, he did tell his NASA chief that one of his jobs was "Muslim outreach."  Strange, but I never read that in the NASA charter. 

Things are different now.  From the New York Post:   

President Trump peeled back the curtain on his plans for the US space program on Tuesday — singing a sweeping NASA policy bill into effect and reaffirming the agency’s commitment to human exploration and putting a man on Mars.

“For almost six decades NASA’s work has inspired millions and millions of Americans to imagine distant worlds and a better future right here on Earth,” Trump explained during the signing, which was attended by astronauts, lawmakers and scientists.

“With this legislation, we support NASA’s scientists, engineers, astronauts and their pursuit of discovery,” he said. “It’s been a long time since a bill like this has been signed reaffirming our national commitment to the core mission of NASA, human space exploration, space science and technology.”

The bill, dubbed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017, was co-authored by Trump’s campaign trail rivals Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio, both of whom were in attendance for the signing. The event marked the first time President Trump spoke about the space program in public since the election.

The new NASA legislation mainly keeps the agency on the same trajectory it’s been since its last authorization act in 2010, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The bill extends a number of important space programs, including the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station through 2024 — and calls for a crewed mission to Mars by 2033. It also states that manned missions to deep space would be NASA’s main goal in the decades to come.

COMMENT:  Terrific.  We will go to Mars...because that's what Americans do.  We're sure the Muslim world won't miss the "outreach."

March 22, 2017       Permalink

A CRITICAL TRIP – AT 8:08 A.M. ET:   The president, in a surprise move, will attend a NATO summit in May.  From the New York Post: 

WASHINGTON — The White House has announced what is expected to be President Donald Trump’s first foreign trip.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer says the president will travel to Brussels, Belgium, on May 25 for a meeting with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization heads of state.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the meeting earlier Tuesday.

Spicer says the president is looking forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts “to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO, and to discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism.”

Stoltenberg is set to visit the White House on April 12.

Trump accused NATO of being “obsolete” during the campaign and criticized Brussels, equating it to “like living in a hellhole right now.”

COMMENT:  I think the NATO leaders will see a serious president, but will still play the European game of talking down to him.

Remember that Ronald Reagan, the most consequential president of our time, was laughed at in Europe.  Great throngs of European leftists would greet him with demonstrations.  The European press accepted the image of him as an "amiable dunce."  He was amiable, but no dunce. 

Reagan, with Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II, changed the world, made it more free, and more peaceful.  But Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter got Nobel Peace prizes.  That's Europe.

Nice museums, though.  Some are air-conditioned.

March 22, 2017       Permalink

A TRAGEDY THAT INFORMS – AT 8:03 A.M. ET:  A rape in Maryland is reverberating through the political world.  It is the kind of trauma that can move a political debate.  From Fox: 

The rape of a 14-year-old girl last week in a boys’ bathroom of a Maryland high school, for which two immigrants have been charged, has fueled opposition to officials making the state a sanctuary for illegal immigrants.

One suspect in last Thursday’s attack is 17; the other is 18. Both were enrolled as freshmen because of their weak English language skills. The two suspects, who were enrolled in Rockville’s Montgomery High School, are from Central America.

Four days after the rape, Maryland’s House of Delegates passed legislation to join states like California in becoming a “sanctuary state,” affording illegal criminal aliens additional protections and making it more difficult to deport them or ask about immigration status.

That action has infuriated Maryland officials.

“I am outraged by the brutal and violent rape of a 14-year-old girl in a Rockville public school,” Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement Tuesday. “The state of Maryland is calling on Montgomery County to immediately and fully cooperate with all federal authorities during the investigation of this heinous crime. The public has a right to know how something this tragic and unacceptable was allowed to transpire in a public school.”

The legislation that passed Monday will make Maryland a sanctuary for illegal alien criminals, further endanger its citizens and interfere with state and local law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal law enforcement, the governor said.

To no one’s surprise the attack has triggered widespread revulsion outside of Maryland.

"The reason the president has made it such a priority to crack down on illegal immigration is because of cases like this," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday.

COMMENT:  The whole idea of sanctuary cities is an insult to law-abiding Americans and the rule of law itself.  It tells a person who is here illegally that his lawbreaking will be protected by government agencies that presumably are dedicated to enforcing the law itself.  Outrageous.

March 22,  2017     Permalink

MARCH 21, 2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:04 P.M. ET: 

OH PLEASE – FROM FOX:   Since her father took office, Ivanka Trump has seen her fashion line dropped or reduced at multiple retailers, including Nordstrom, T.J. Maxx and Marshall's.  Now, Trump is facing a lawsuit that alleges her company, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, is getting an "unfair" boost based off her political connections as first daughter.  The class-action lawsuit, filed last week, was brought by Modern Appealing Clothing, a boutique based in San Francisco.  The suit seeks unspecified damages for women’s clothing retailers working in California, and also seeks an order blocking Trump's products from being sold in the state.  An unfair advantage?  She's had every kind of slur thrown at her, and stores have been pressured by the neo-fascist left to drop her line.  That's an unfair advantage?  I'd love to see the maturity level of the people in San Francisco who are suing her?

MORE CHILDREN AT WORK – FROM FOX:   Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), one of the most vocal left-wing critics of President Donald Trump, took to Twitter this morning with a very blunt message.  "Get ready for impeachment," she wrote.  Waters has mentioned impeachment multiple times before, but the latest one comes after FBI Director James Comey said Monday that there is an ongoing counterintelligence investigation into possible "coordination" between Trump's campaign and Russia.  Waters claimed last week that sexual allegations made against Trump in an unverified dossier were "absolutely true" and a month ago called members of the Trump team "a bunch of scumbags."  After the hearing yesterday, Waters called Trump a "liar," and blasted Comey for also interfering in the election. She blamed the Russians and Comey for an overall "misinformation campaign that led to the election" of Trump.  Maxine Waters is the strongest argument I know for the idea that any federal health insurance include coverage for extreme mental illness.

SAD – FROM MSN:  Sears Holdings Corp. acknowledged “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating, raising fresh concerns about a company that has lost more than $10 billion in recent years.  The retailer added so-called going-concern language to its latest annual report filing, suggesting that weak earnings have cast a pall on its future as a business.  “Our historical operating results indicate substantial doubt exists related to the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the Hoffman Estates, Illinois-based company said in the filing. But the company added that its comeback plan may help mitigate the concerns, “satisfying our estimated liquidity needs 12 months from the issuance of the financial statements.”  I'd hate to see the old name go.  Sears used to be an institution in America, and the people involved in building the firm have been superb philanthropists.  Great tools too.

March 21, 2017       Permalink

PUSHBACK – AT 12:22 P.M. ET:  With all the depressing stories about thuggery in our colleges and universities, and attempts by the hard left to censor free speech, there are points of light, students and faculty members fighting back.  From College Fix: 

Northwestern University has been eerily quiet when controversial speakers come to campus – former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro.

And the student government wants to keep it that way.

It passed a resolution that went through four months of drafting, asking the administration “to allow speakers of all viewpoints,” protect them from “threat of disruption” and enforce its own disciplinary policies “should disruption occur.”

Only “peaceful” protests that “adhere” to the student handbook should be allowed, says the resolution. It asks the administration to expand “efforts to include viewpoint and intellectual diversity.”

COMMENT:  "Intellectual diversity" is a term rarely heard on today's leftist campuses.  It is welcome and needed.  While the censors and party liners are still in firm control in most places, there is an increasingly organized resistance to the power grab by the academic left.  There is cautious reason for optimism, as Northwestern shows.

Alumni should withhold donations from colleges that don't make a full commitment to free speech and intellectual diversity.

March 21, 2017       Permalink

THE FAILING, AND FLAILING, DEMS – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Party, despite all its drum-beating during Congressional hearings, is a weak, leaderless party that has been losing strength at virtually every level of government.  It is a shadow of the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy that we vaguely remember.  From The Hill:     

The Democratic Party has a leadership vacuum at the top, with many registered voters eager to see someone who is not currently on the scene become the party’s standard-bearer in 2020, according to a new Harvard-Harris Poll survey provided exclusively to The Hill.

When registered voters were asked whom they view as the leader of the Democratic Party, 40 percent said it has no leader.

Fifteen percent named former President Obama as the party’s leader. Twelve percent said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has gone out of his way not to join the Democratic Party despite running for the its presidential nomination last year.

Eleven percent view Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) as the party’s leader, and 10 percent answered with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

On the question of who should be a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020, Sanders led the field, at 14 percent, followed by former first lady Michelle Obama at 11 percent, Warren at 9 percent, Clinton at 8 percent, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo each at 4 percent, and television personality Oprah Winfrey and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.) each at 3 percent.

Forty-five percent said they want to see someone not on the list of possible candidates in the survey.

COMMENT:  Not exactly a vote of confidence in the current party leadership.  I'm surprised at how low Barack Obama ranks.  He isn't a demigod after all.

The Democratic Party today seems more a collection of interest groups than a political engine with a coherent point of view.  It needs a Reagan, but no one on their bench comes close.

March 21,  2017     Permalink

NORTH KOREA'S THREATS – AT 10:34 A.M. ET:  North Korea is rattling the saber.  That would always be a matter of concern, but it's a greater matter now, after we spent years allowing the North to break agreements and become a nuclear power.  From Breitbart:

North Korea’s foreign ministry warned Monday that its government is prepared to go to war with the United States, following remarks from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in which he said the Trump administration was prepared for a military engagement with the communist dictatorship should they strike U.S. allies.

“The U.S. should face up to the situation of the world with its eyes wide open. The DPRK has the will and capability to fully respond to any war the U.S. would like to ignite,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying, according to the South Korean newswire service Yonhap.

“If the businessmen-turned-U.S.-authorities thought that they would frighten the DPRK, they would soon know that their method would not work on the latter,” the spokesman continued. “The world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won by the DPRK in the recent ground jet test of Korean-style high-thrust engine will carry.”

COMMENT:  North Korea is clearly emerging as one of the priorities of the Trump administration, and a severe test for Rex Tillerson. 

There are two key questions:  Can Trump make any progress in countering, and diminishing, North Korea's weapons program?  And, what allies can we count on?

We seem to be able to count on Japan, which may actually increase its defense buildup in the face of the North Korean threat.  South Korea may be another story.  The new administration in that country appears somewhat less devoted to its alliance with the United States than was the previous group.

But Trump cannot finish his administration with the status quo intact.

March 21, 2017       Permalink