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MAY 2,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – From the New York Post:   A Texas high school teacher who teaches French could have to bid adieu to his job — because he doesn’t know how to speak the language.
Albert Moyer has been teaching French classes at the Houston Independent School District’s Energy Institute High School for about five months, but the only word he knows how to speak is “bonjour,” students told local TV station KHOU.  “I thought it was a joke, I couldn’t believe this was happening,” said Sharonda White, whose son Nathanial is in one of Moyer’s classes.  Nathanial said his teacher, who only took one year of French in high school, can’t even answer any of the students’ questions.  “We’ve got to search it up on our own,” he said, adding that most of his class is teaching themselves by looking up translations on Google.  Outrageous that anyone would complain about this.  I think "bonjour" is a lovely word, and who needs any others, given the educational standards in our country today.  So, bonjour, readers.

ANOTHER GREAT MOMENT IN EDUCATION – From Daily Caller:   The University of New Hampshire (UNH) has issued an apology after spending $17,520 on a single table for a newly-renovated dining hall.  The chef’s table in Holloway Commons, custom-made at a workshop in Chicago and then shipped out to the school, doesn’t just provide elevated support for food and other items. It also provides an illuminated top with no fewer than eight LED lights that change colors throughout the day. According to The New Hampshire, the fancy table was purchased as part of a master plan to “draw members of the UNH and Durham communities into the dining hall to experience what it has to offer.”  I'd rather see the money spent on that table than on the "oppression studies" department.

DISCOVERY? – From AP:     CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Astronomers searching for life beyond our solar system may need to look no farther than a little, feeble nearby star.  A Belgian-led team reported Monday that it's discovered three Earth-sized planets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star less than 40 light-years away. It's the first time planets have been found around this type of star — and it opens up new, rich territory in the search for extraterrestrial life.  Because this star is so close and so faint, astronomers can study the atmospheres of these three temperate exoplanets and, eventually, hunt for signs of possible life. They're already making atmospheric observations, in fact, using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The Hubble Space Telescope will join in next week.   The first thing this administration will do if it encounters a new planet is learn what it's doing about climate change.

May 2,  2016     Permalink

INDIANA – AT 10:45 A.M. ET:  The Indiana primary is tomorrow.   The sense I get from polls and reporting is that the stars are not aligning for Ted Cruz.  Cruz seems to be weakening at the time he needs strength the most.

Part of the problem is the sheer momentum built up by Donald Trump, especially with recent primary victories in the northeast.  Momentum creates a vision of inevitability, a sense that the people's will has been expressed.  There may be more emotion in this than rationality, but emotion is a critical part of politics.  I recall how Kennedy built a vision of inevitability in 1960, even though support for him in the Democratic Party was remarkably thin.

I've also noticed more press to the effect that Trump can recover from some of his awful poll numbers among certain groups.  Currently he has a 70% disapproval among women.  It's been pointed out, though, that Hillary's poll numbers, and approval ratings, are nothing to write home about.  If Trump can start pushing down his disapproval ratings, he might suddenly find himself more competitive with Hillary.  Indeed, some polls actually show them almost neck-and-neck already in general-election matchups.  Do not underestimate Trump.  He's tapped into something real in the electorate, and, rightly or wrongly, millions of voters are drawn to him.

There have also been a surprising number of references in the last three days to Hillary's FBI problems.  I don't know why this is happening.  Maybe her "inevitability" is forcing journalists to look at the one thing that can un-inevitable her.  And yet, I've seen no substantive reporting on the probe that is actually new. 

The election is still six months away, ten lifetimes in politics.

May 2, 2016       Permalink

MONEY PROBLEMS – AT 9:47 A.M. ET:  You've been hearing much about Puerto Rico's debt problems.  Today is a critical day.  The issue can potentially be important during our presidential campaign, as many Hispanic voters have feelings about Puerto Rico.  From Bloomberg: 

Puerto Rico will default on a $422 million bond payment for its Government Development Bank, escalating what is turning into the biggest crisis ever in the $3.7 trillion market that U.S. state and local entities use to access financing.

Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla invoked a debt moratorium law approved last month, saying during a televised address Sunday that the commonwealth needs to focus on providing essential services. The bank, already operating under an emergency period, had until the end of Monday to make the payment. The Government Development Bank reached a tentative framework agreement with investors who hold $900 million of its debt late Sunday under which creditors would accept a potential haircut, leaving them 47 cents on the dollar of the face value of their original securities, the bank said in a statement. The parties agreed to keep discussions out of court while they negotiate.
“Faced with the inability to meet the demands of our creditors and the needs of our people, I had to make a choice,” Garcia Padilla said during his 10-minute speech. “I decided that essential services for the 3.5 million American citizens in Puerto Rico came first.”

COMMENT:  There is a campaign underway to have Washington bail out Puerto Rico.  There is also a counter-campaign.  You may have seen ads for it on TV.

With the Republicans seriously vulnerable among Hispanic voters because of Donald Trump's coarse comments about illegal immigrants, the plight of Puerto Rico can be used to great effect by the Democrats.  On the other hand, the Dems must be careful not to alienate others.  Bailouts are unpopular, with many people believing that the need for them stems from poor or corrupt management.

May 2, 2016       Permalink

EUROPE TERROR WARNING – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  We try to keep up with the real world as we're fighting this bizarre election campaign.  There is a new, and important, terror warning in Europe.  From AP, via Fox: 

BERLIN – The head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency says the deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels show the "highly complex" nature of the terrorism threat facing Europe.

Hans-Georg Maassen told a conference Monday that extremists returning from combat zones, home-grown extremists and extremists who have come in with Europe's recent wave of migrants were all involved in the recent attacks for which the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility.

Maassen says intelligence agencies now "need to take into account multiple attack scenarios by multiple cells against different targets and possibly over many days."

To help, he called for better cross-border information exchange. The German spy chief says "to counter criminal groups operating across borders, we need the enhanced international cooperation of security agencies."

COMMENT:  Please notice that an increasing number of pundits are warning of a terror attack here during our election campaign.  Some are saying that a terror attack within three months of the election could put Donald Trump in the White House.

That is speculation, but informed speculation.  I would be very concerned.  ISIS might well try to influence our electoral result.

May 2,  2016     Permalink

MAY 1,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

OH, AGAIN – From the New York Post:   Hillary Clinton drew ire from Native Americans on Saturday over her use of the phrase “off the reservation” in a CNN interview.  Activists pointed to the saying’s dark origins in late-19th-century laws restricting Native Americans to reservation lands.  “When reservations were first established, going #OffTheReservation meant you were going to be hunted down and killed,” Ruth Hopkins tweeted.  The social-media firestorm forced Clinton’s campaign to apologize — also on Twitter.  “Divisive language has no place in our politics,” tweeted Amanda Renteria, Clinton’s national political director. “Hillary Clinton meant no disrespect to Native Americans. She wants this election to be about lifting people up, not tearing them down.”  I love how Hillary goes full pompous whenever she's caught in a gaffe.  She talked about how she's dealt with men who go "off the reservation," now she's claiming her heart is pure.

AND MORE PC – From the College Fix:   Los Angeles’s Occidental College has chosen Harvard Law Prof. Randall Kennedy, and hoo-boy – this hasn’t sat very well with student activists and some faculty.  You see, Kennedy has publicly spoken out against the dubious film The Hunting Ground for its portrayal of “the general sexual assault phenomenon at universities and of [Harvard] student Brandon Winston.”  The case against Winston was so spurious that a grand jury didn’t even indict him – despite a prosecutor’s recommendation to do so. (See this legal explanation of why is so significant.)  Kennedy also had the temerity to chide Harvard race protesters for overreacting to incidences of apparent “hate,” like the most-probably-a-hoax “black tape” affair at the college Law School.  I want to see a group of PC students hold up a sign saying "Down with everyone."  Why not say what you really mean?

I GUESS THE INSURANCE COMPANY DOESN'T HAVE TO PAY – From London's Daily Mail:  Captain Cook's famous ship has seemingly been discovered in the United States 230 years since it was sold, sunk and forgotten.  The Endeavour is one of the most famous ships in naval history and was used by Captain James Cook to discover the East Coast of Australia in 1770.   The last sighting of the Endeavour was around 1778 when it is believed the ship was sold, renamed the Lord Sandwich, and then used to transport British troops during the American Revolution.   Archaeologists believe they have found the scuttled remains of the Endeavour in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island.  The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project made the discovery, saying the ship was scuttled in the harbour by British forces in the lead up to the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778.  Maybe that's where my lost Parcel Post packages are.

May 1, 2016       Permalink

CAN THIS BE TRUE? – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll shows Donald Trump demolishing Ted Cruz in Indiana on Tuesday, which would probably end Cruz's candidacy.  But wait a minute!  There's another poll in Indiana showing Cruz well ahead.  Which do you believe?  I'll tell you Tuesday night.  From The Wall Street Journal:   

Donald Trump holds a 15-point lead in the Republican presidential primary in Indiana, and a majority of GOP voters disapprove of the effort by underdogs Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich to coordinate a strategy to block him, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll finds.

Hillary Clinton holds a narrow, 4-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders among likely Democratic voters in Indiana, the poll found.

Ahead of the voting in Indiana on Tuesday, Mr. Trump is the first choice of 49% of likely GOP primary voters in the state, with 34% favoring Mr. Cruz and 13% for Mr. Kasich.

That gives Mr. Trump a substantial advantage in a state that Mr. Cruz says could be his last, best chance to stop the front-runner from clinching the GOP nomination before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.

And...

“After the Acela primary, there is an aura of inevitability surrounding the Trump and Clinton candidacies,” said Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

In the Republican primary, it is still mathematically possible for Mr. Cruz, of Texas, and Mr. Kasich, of Ohio, to pick up enough delegates between now and the end of the primary season on June 7 to keep Mr. Trump from reaching the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. But the path to doing so narrows substantially if Mr. Trump sweeps Indiana and wins all of its 57 delegates.

COMMENT:  Look, we'll see.  There's nothing to comment on.  If it's accurate, it will decide the Republican nominee.  If not accurate, the race can go on.

On the Dem side, if accurate, it shows continued resistance to Hillary, but it may only be symbolic.  She's getting the delegate numbers she needs to win the nomination.  That's the nomination, not the presidency.

Trump and Hillary, the two most disliked probable nominees since McGovern and Nixon in 1972.  Can't we do better?

May 1, 2016       Permalink

McCAIN BLASTS OBAMA'S LEADERSHIP – AT 11:29 A.M. ET:   A reminder that the so-called "Republican establishment" has a great deal to say that is correct and useful.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lambasted the foreign policy strategy the Obama administration has employed over the past seven years on Sunday.

"Under this administration, we've been on a holiday from American leadership. Too often, President Obama has adopted a cheap fatalism about America's role in the world," McCain said in the weekly Republican address released Saturday.

"No matter the challenge, we're told that there are no good options, that our influence is limited, that we will not succeed overnight, that there is no military solution, and that we can't solve every problem," McCain said. "These are truisms, but none of them absolve us of our responsibility to make the situation better where we can. And the results of our failure to do so are clear to see."

COMMENT:  McCain, of course, is correct.  There was a time, especially during the Reagan era, when America showed that it had learned the lessons of the 1930s and 1940s.  But a new generation knows little of those past struggles, and the GOP is clearly losing the spirit of Reagan.  John McCain seems at times like a lonely, forgotten voice.

Please note that Churchill was also a lonely, forgotten voice, until events proved him right.

May 1, 2016       Permalink 

CHINA'S INCREASED AGGRESSIVENESS – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  Like North Korea, China is learning that it can challenge the United States and pay nothing in return.  From Fox:

China blocked a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier from arriving at a port in Hong Kong as tensions ratcheted up over disputed islands in the South China Sea, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Friday.

The USS John C. Stennis and escort ships had planned to visit the port next week, Stars & Stripes reports. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not explain why it denied the request.

"We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, including with the current visit of the USS Blue Ridge, and we expect that will continue,” Cmdr. Bill Urban told Fox News. The USS Blue Ridge is a Navy command ship.

China claims virtually all of the strategically vital South China Sea and has tried to shore up its control by building islands on coral reefs complete with airstrips, harbors and radar stations.

Satellite images provided to Fox News earlier this month showed how China deployed new fighter jets to Woody Island in that same region.

COMMENT:  As they say, the whole world is watching.  And it is watching something they've seen repeatedly under Obama – the United States bullied and humiliated by a hostile nation, and getting away with it.

Weakness always provokes more conflict, and that's what we're bound to see, no matter who becomes president.

May 1,  2016     Permalink