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MARCH 7,  2018

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

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? – FROM THE MIAMI HERALD:   After hours of divisive debate over guns, schools and freedom, the Florida Senate spent less than a minute Tuesday and voted on something they all could agree on: daylight.  The Senate voted 33-2 to send a bill to Gov. Rick Scott to ask the U.S. Congress to decide whether Florida should be a state that enjoys Daylight Savings Time year-round. It was passed by the House on Feb. 14, 103-11.  Under the plan, HB 1013, called the “Sunshine Protection Act,” the state would ask Congress to pass a law to let the Sunshine State move from Standard Time to Daylight Savings Time (when you set your clocks ahead one hour) year-round. Daylight Savings Time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November and is set to start this Sunday, March 11, and end Nov. 4.  I may be wrong, but it's hard to see how one state could be an exception, especially as thousands are crossing those borders every day. 

ANOTHER BOOMLET FOR OPRAH – FROM NEWSBUSTERS:   CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King on Tuesday urged her best friend Oprah Winfrey to run against Donald Trump in 2020. King even absurdly insisted she could stay on at CBS and cover the race “impartially.” The co-host, it turns out, has been lobbying her friend to run for months. On the show, King pleaded, “But I also think you have a unique ability in terms of healing and connecting all people.”  King even cited the late poet Maya Angelou, pleading to Winfrey: “What do you think Maya would say? It's one of these times I wish Maya was here. What do you think that she would say?”  After all this, King disputed the idea that a potential Winfrey run might compromise her as co-host of CBS This Morning.  There's a level of immaturity here that's almost frightening.  At least Donald Trump ran a huge organization and built an empire.  Maybe Oprah should give some speeches about nuclear weapons or international strategy.  I'll bet she'd say that the answer is love.

A DEMOCRATIC ROLE MODEL – FROM FOX:  A Democrat seeking a U.S. House seat in Illinois – who attracted attention for a campaign ad showing him smoking pot – now faces accusations that he has abused women and misleadingly described himself as an “Iraq veteran.”  Benjamin Thomas Wolf, who is running in the Democratic primary against incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, came under fire after an ex-girlfriend alleged he acted abusively and intentionally revealed her name and home address on social media, a practice called “doxing.”  “He actually hit me, threw me to the ground, put his foot on my chest. He was really angry. He grabbed my face,” Katarina Coates, who interned for Wolf’s campaign, told Politico.  We await the explanation from the party of Bill Clinton.  I guess it depends on what "face" means.

March 7, 2017       Permalink

YOU MEAN JOE FOUND OUT? – AT 2:46 P.M. ET:  Joe Biden is on the campaign trail, with reports saying he may run for president in 2020.  Biden is, by all accounts, a very decent man, but I always thought he was a little weak in the policy department.  He may get this part right, however.  From Breitbart: 

Former Vice President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he is “angry” that some leading Democrats just “don’t get it” when it comes to understanding the dignity of work and concerns of working-class Americans.

Biden was in Pennsylvania campaigning for Democrat Conor Lamb, a candidate for Congress in next week’s special election in Pennsylvania’s 18th District. The former vice president told the crowd that he grew up “watching aunts, uncles, friends,” and neighbors losing jobs, and that his dad told him that a job was about “dignity,” “respect,” and “and your place in your community.”

“They don’t get it. Some people in my party don’t even get it anymore. It’s about our pride. It’s about our dignity.It’s about who the hell we are and what we’ve done,” he said. “It makes me angry. It makes me angry.”

Biden also slammed Republicans who are threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare, telling the crowd, “You paid for it. You paid for it.”

COMMENT:  A remarkable statement by Biden, but in fact he's one of the few Democratic leaders who actually feels connected to working people.  Most of the party is obsessed with race, gender, and ethnicity, and little else. 

I doubt if Biden will run in 2020.  He'd be up against advancing age and, more important, the probability that party activists will insist on a minority, so they can feel good about themselves.   It's a big comedown from the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy, but none of them could come close to a presidential nomination in today's Democratic Party.

March 7, 2017       Permalink

BOOM – AT 11:48 A.M. ET:   With all the talk of scandal and trauma in Washington, the fact remains that the economy continues to boom, and Main Street is feeling the glow.  From CNBC: 

Job creation saw another powerful month in February, with companies adding 235,000 positions, ADP and Moody's Analytics reported Wednesday.

The total again defied Wall Street expectations, as economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting payrolls to grow by 195,000. Growth actually decelerated slightly, as January posted an upwardly revised 244,000 from the initially reported 234,000.

February marked the fourth month in a row that private payrolls hit 200,000 or better.

"The job market is red hot and threatens to overheat," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, said in a statement. "With government spending increases and tax cuts, growth is set to accelerate."

February saw broad-based gains that stretched across both the services and goods-producing sectors.
Leisure and hospitality led industry groups with 50,000 jobs, while professional and business services contributed 46,000 and trade, transportation and utilities added 44,000.

However, construction rose 21,000 and manufacturing notched 14,000 new positions. In all, goods-producing industries increased by 37,000 while all services-related businesses added 198,000.

COMMENTS:  These marks of progress are barely noted in much (but not all) of the mainstream media.  But Americans will actually see the progress in their local towns.  And Trump will be hot on the campaign trail, saying he needs a Republican Congress to keep the pace going.

March 7, 2017        Permalink

DEEP IN THE HEART OF WHAT? – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:   Texas voted in primaries yesterday.  There were Dem dreams aplenty.  A blue wave would come ashore and wipe out the evil Republicans.  The people would rise up, rise up I tell you, to drive Trumpism away and show the real heartbeat of Texas.  And all would be peaceful in the land, as Maxine Waters and Nancy Pelosi smiled above the fray.

Um, uh, look, there were some weather conditions.  The blue wave is out there, but just didn't make it to shore.  These things happen.  Don't be discouraged, Democrats.  There are reports that a Mr. Obama is rushing to Texas personally to escort the blue wave in.

My friend, Silvio Canto Jr, called this morning from Dallas to go over some of the results.  As usual, Silvio knew more about Texas than all the members of the "national" media put together.   Yes, he reported, the Democrats were animated and motivated.  They hate Trump and they had contested primaries.  So they voted in larger-than-average numbers.  The Republicans had few contested primaries, especially at the top of the ticket, the races for governor and U.S. senator.  There was really very little motivation to go to the polls, if you had some grocery shopping to do.

But Republicans voted anyway, in large numbers, much larger than the Dems.  They wanted to make a statement, and they did.  And while they must run scared in November, we seem to be okay in Texas.

Besides, some of the Dems who are zooming to the top of the Texas Democratic Party are really sixties-style radicals posing with cowboy hats and boots from the Neiman-Marcus catalogue.  Many are financed by the ogre of American politics, George Soros, billionaire leftist from New York.  I can't wait for Ted Cruz, running for re-election to the Senate, to open up on his opponent, Beto O'Rourke, who likes to dress and cut his hair like Robert Kennedy.  Beto, it's Texas, not Massachusetts.  Beto is slightly to the left of Karl Marx.

There'll be more news from Texas, a critical state.  The key to victory this year is turnout.   The Dems will get their voters out, whether dead or alive.  We just need our living ones.

March 7,  2017     Permalink

MARCH 6,  2018

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

REMARKABLE – FROM CNN:   Washington (CNN) Wreckage from the USS Lexington -- a US aircraft carrier sunk by the Japanese during World War II -- has been discovered 500 miles off the Australian coast by a team of explorers led by billionaire Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder announced on Monday.  One of the first US aircraft carriers ever built, the vessel dubbed "Lady Lex" was located at the bottom of the Coral Sea -- nearly two miles below the surface -- by the expedition crew of Research Vessel Petrel on Sunday, Allen said.  The Lexington was lost in May 1942 along with 216 of its crew and 35 aircraft during what is considered the first carrier battle in history -- the Battle of the Coral Sea.  We are reminded that the generation that fought World War II is fading away very quickly.  Paul Allen is doing great work in keeping their legacy alive.

SICKENING – FROM FOX:  A former criminal justice adjunct professor whose social media posts proclaimed his “privilege to teach future dead cops” has doubled down, this time referring to “pig death stats” in reaction to a recent spate of police officers killed on duty.  “My favorite thing about pig death stats is how they just lump all deaths on duty together whether they're killed or just have a heart attack from all the donuts,” read a tweet from @ve_unblockedt, one of two known accounts for Michael Isaacson. The tweet was posted the same day a police commander was shot and killed in downtown Chicago, making him the 11th officer to be killed by gunfire across the country this year.  Isaacson, who has used the hashtag #abolishpolice, most recently taught at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, one of the nation’s highest-profile schools for students planning careers in law enforcement.  You wonder how a jerk like this ever got a teaching job at John Jay.  We should demand answers.  Standards keep getting lower in the academic world.

ANOTHER BUSH WINS – FROM THE TAMPA BAY TIMES:   Writers of the Bush family political obituary can stand down after George P. Bush, son of Jeb Bush, outright won the GOP primary for Texas Land Commissioner on Tuesday night, effectively assuring another term and keeping future ambitions in good standing.  The younger Bush had to swallow Donald Trump's taunts of his father and offer the backing of Trump. It was a gesture the president did not overlook.  "This is important work, and sometimes when you make bold decisions and you're a leader, you get criticized. Speaking of criticism, I want to thank my opponents," Bush said with a smile. "Some ran more spirited campaigns than others."  And while thanking supporters for their work on the campaign, he also took a jab at the news media.  "Many of the critics, including those in the media, had doubts that we would even be celebrating tonight, but you didn't doubt me," he said.  We'll have more on Texas tomorrow.  In the early voting, Democrats came to the polls in heavy numbers.  Apparently, the Dem onslaught faded later in the day.  But we'll be able to be precise tomorrow.

March 6, 2018       Permalink

TEXAS VOTES TODAY – AT 11:39 A.M. ET:  We are well into primary season.  One of the most critical states is Texas, where Democrats are making a serious, well-financed effort to cut into a traditional Republican stronghold.  The Dems are enthusiastic, almost fanatical.  In Japan in 1945 they would have been kamikazes.  Just kidding.  (Not really.)  From Fox: 

The midterm election season officially kicks off on Tuesday, when Texas voters head to the polls for the nation’s first primary of 2018.

With early voting already suggesting a record turnout for Democrats, and widespread speculation about what effect an endorsement by President Trump will have on Republican candidates, the Texas primaries are being looked at as both a bellwether for the rest of the nation - and a sign the red state could be turning purple more quickly than expected.

“What these primaries really boil down to is one issue: Trump versus anti-Trump,” Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, told Fox News. “There is relatively little talk about the issues for either party. It’s a race to the margins. Democrats are all against the president, while with Republicans it’s about staying close to Trump, and whether that hurts or helps them.”

While initially skipping some major Republican candidates in the Lone Star state, Trump went all in early last week when, in a series of tweets, supported a number of top-tier Texas Republicans.

"I want to encourage all of my many Texas friends to vote in the primary for Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Ken Paxton. They are helping me to Make America Great Again! Vote early or on March 6th," Trump tweeted.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush also got Trump’s endorsement, with the president saying the nephew and grandson of two former presidents “backed me when it wasn't the politically correct thing to do, and I back him now.”

Unlike Cruz, Abbott, Patrick and Paxton – incumbents who are expected to easily win the GOP nomination in their campaigns – Bush is facing a tough battle against his predecessor in the land office, Jerry Patterson. A recent University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll found that when voters were allowed to be undecided, Bush mustered only 36 percent of the vote in his race.

COMMENT:  We can't make any judgments until the votes are counted.  Republicans should be running scared.  Ted Cruz in particular should be concerned about his probable opponent in November, Beto O'Rourke, a left-wing congressman from El Paso who has all the charms of a true con artist.  O'Rourke has a chance of winning.

Texas is critical to the Republican Party.  But changing demographics give the Democrats a real shot at flipping the state in the near future.

Of course, the first midterm after a presidential victory is usually very tough on the president's party.  This year it can be particularly tough because the mainstream media, heading toward its own disaster, will be siding with the president's opposition.

March 6, 2018       Permalink

BREAKTHROUGH OR STALL? – NORTH KOREA SPEAKS – AT 10:38 A.M. ET:  A reported statement by North Korea has given hope that maybe the crisis with that country can be resolved peacefully.  Well, we've been here before, but not with a tough president and superb negotiator like Trump, who understands the use of power.  From Fox:

President Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. is "ready to go hard in either direction" after North Korea promised to not use nuclear or conventional weapons against Seoul and expressed a willingness to hold talks with the United States on denuclearization.

President Trump tweeted hours after South Korea’s presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong released a statement detailing his rare two-day visit to North Korea. He praised the "possible progress" but remained cautious.

“Possible progress being made in talks with North Korea. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!” Trump tweeted.

The Hermit Kingdom added that it’s willing to give up its nuclear weapons if military threats against North Korea subside, Chung said hours after leaving Pyongyang.

"The North side clearly affirmed its commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and said it would have no reason to possess nuclear weapons should the safety of its regime be guaranteed and military threats against North Korea removed," Chung said in a statement, according to Yonhap News Agency.

COMMENT:  The first thing we need to do is to verify what the North actually is saying.  The South Korean government is not necessarily the best source on these things, as it's run by a leftish leader who often has stars in his eyes.

If the North is serious, we'll soon know. 

The president's tone, reflecting Ronald Reagan's use of the Russian proverb, "Trust but verify," is exactly right.

March 6,  2018     Permalink