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MAY 11,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 5:25 P.M. ET: 

FAKE NEWS – FROM SINCLAIR:   WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) - Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said he's not quitting, nor did he threaten to quit over his role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey.  When asked by Sinclair Broadcast Group's Michelle Macaluso about reports that claim otherwise, he stated "no, I'm not quitting."...The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that "Rosenstein threatened to resign after the narrative emerging from the White House on Tuesday evening cast him as a prime mover of the decision to fire Comey," citing an unnamed source close to the White House.  Beware fake news.  It's all over the police.  The press has had a collective nervous breakdown over the Comey firing.  Facts don't seem to be important.

THE MADNESS GOES ON – FROM DAILY CALLER:   The University of Rochester’s student government has decided that participation in single-gender organizations is a form of “discrimination.”
The ruling from Rochester’s All-Campus Judicial Council (ACJC) applies to 37 student organizations, spanning from club sports and a cappella groups to Greek life, reported Campus Reform Tuesday.  While several student government representatives tried to exempt Greek life from the ruling, arguing the groups do not receive funding from the school’s Student Association, Rochester’s ACJC said they could still be subjected to the ruling since they use resources funded by the Student Association.  Rochester’s student government identified phrases like “any and all women” and “men of principle” as potentially violating the Friday ruling.   The stench of fascism is in the air.  The people who will be most hurt by this will be women.  No more women's basketball or soccer.  No more women's song groups.  A gray world comes, in which everyone must be the same.

OBAMACARE FADES – FROM FOX BUSINESS:   Health insurance company Aetna (AET) announced Wednesday it will completely withdraw from the ObamaCare marketplace in 2018, a decision Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price perceived as a sign of continued instability in the health care sector under the Affordable Care Act.  In April Aetna said it would not participate on the state exchanges in Virginia next year and last week committed to pulling out of Iowa.  In 2016 the insurer sold plans across fifteen states. It trimmed that position to just four states at the outset of 2017, citing financial losses.  Obamacare was always a sham.  Even when it was originally adopted critics noted that the benefits came first, and the bills came later – a way to guarantee the plan's popularity before the bills came due.  Crass and cynical.

May 11,  2017     Permalink 

FBI MOVES FORWARD – AT 11:50 A.M. ET:  No, contrary to rumor, Trump hasn't sold the FBI to Putin.  Please put that out of your mind:  From ABC News:   

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are interviewing candidates to take over the FBI as interim director, after James Comey's firing Tuesday.

Four candidates are being interviewed today, fielded from senior FBI and Justice Department officials and the heads of FBI field offices across the country, according to a Justice Department official.

The four candidates: FBI Executive Assistant Director Paul Abbate, who leads the agency’s cyber and criminal branch; National Counterintelligence Executive William Evanina; Special Agent Adam Lee, who runs the Richmond field office; and Special Agent Michael Anderson, who runs the Chicago field office.

A new FBI director is expected to be chosen and announced within the next 24 to 48 hours.

"The president is in the process of evaluating individuals who will be able to fill that spot, lead the FBI and restore the confidence in the American people,” Vice President Mike Pence said today on Capitol Hill.

COMMENT:  It is also expected that the president will visit the FBI within the next few days for a morale-building talk.

The story says that a new FBI director will be announced within the next 24 to 48 hours.  I'm assuming that's accurate and that the writer didn't mean to say "interim director."  Even if a new, permanent director is announced, it will still take weeks or months to get him or her confirmed by the Senate.

May 11, 2017       Permalink

OH THE DREAMS, THE DREAMS – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  The Democratic Party, which has the collective maturity of a 12-year-old, dreams of impeaching President Trump.  I have no doubt they'll try.  Then they'll write rap songs about it.  From McClatchy:   

Democratic leaders aren’t calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

But they’re getting closer.

To one Democratic congressman, the president’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey reminded him of the “doomsday clock,” a symbol that warns about the likelihood of nuclear war.

“We should maybe have an impeachment clock,” Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., said on Wednesday. “And if we did, I think yesterday moved us about an hour closer to having that need.”
Pocan said he had thought Democrats in the House of Representatives needed to use the threat of impeachment as a “tool” to make the administration follow the law.

“I would argue this has got to still be on the table as an option, especially if, indeed, there was obstruction of justice by the firing of the FBI director,” said Pocan, first vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

COMMENT:  What dolts.  Even if the House impeached Trump, which simply means to make a formal change, the Senate would have to try him, as it did Bill Clinton.  A two-thirds vote to remove the president would be required to send Trump packing.  Where are you going to get two thirds?  It would take evidence of a high crime.  No president has ever been removed. 

The Dems tried to impeach Nixon over Watergate, but he resigned before action was taken.  The GOP did impeach Clinton, but he was not removed by the Senate.

And let's say Trump were removed.  Pence would succeed him.  He is more conservative and more accepted by the Washington establishment.  What would the Dems prove?

The Democratic world is a fantasy world.  But such fun for the media.

May 11, 2017       Permalink 

COMEY – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  We are in day three of the GCC, the Great Constitutional Crisis, brought about by the firing of James Comey.

Do you sense the country collapsing around you?  Do you see those men in pickups heading for the countryside with their shotguns to fight the traitors?  Do you notice the "not taking new patients" signs on the offices of psychiatrists, their schedules overfilled with distraught liberals?

I don't know how we'll survive this.

Scott Johnson of Powerline says it perfectly:

We await the definitive account of the reasons behind President Trump’s firing of Comey. It is reasonable to doubt that the reasons proffered in the Rosenstein memo prompted the termination. It would be a mistake to take them at face value without more. Even so, one can reasonably conclude (as many Democrats and Republicans believed) that Comey’s termination was warranted. If so, Trump’s termination of Comey was proper if not desirable.

The media hysteria over Comey’s firing is almost unbelievable. It is certainly insufferable. The media are like five-year-olds whose crying compounds upset each other until it reaches a crescendo of wailing and lamentation. The hyseteria of the media, however, is not without point. It amplifies the talking points of the Democratic Party protesting Comey’s firing, which Democrats were of course more or less demanding up until Trump pulled the trigger. As for the Democrats, hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to opportunism.

In firing Comey, Trump exercised his unquestioned constitutional prerogative as president. How this can be converted into a “constitutional crisis” or a “coup” — as both the Democrats and their media adjunct assert — is a mystery beyond rational explanation. As in all earthly matters, they believe because it is absurd.

COMMENT:  There are perfectly legitimate reasons to criticize Trump's action.  Like many of Trump's moves, it was abrupt and ham-handed.  The president could have gotten the same result by quietly giving Comey the chance to resign "for the good of the Bureau."  He has inadvertently provided cannon fodder for his opponents, who always look for it.  CNN is in a state of bliss as strong as its state of journalistic decline.

But the Constitution is intact.  Trump is preparing for a major trip to the Mideast, which will attempt to firm up resistance to Iran and restart the Arab-Israeli peace process.  Let's see if the Democratic Party will give him some breathing space for this important mission.

We must again note the contrast between the treatment of President Trump by the media and the treatment accorded Saint Barack of Chicagoland.  Obama is traveling around the world making enormous amounts of money selling the presidency.  He is apparently planning to break precedent by interfering in American politics right after leaving the White House.  Any cricitism by the press concerning this new Obama ego adventure?  I hear only silence.

May 11,  2017     Permalink

MAY 10,  2017

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

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – FROM FOX:    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –  Boos, catcalls and the turning of backs welcomed the commencement speaker at Wednesday’s Bethune-Cookman University graduation ceremony.  For 20 minutes, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s most opposed cabinet secretary nominee during confirmation hearings, endured jeers from the graduates and interruptions from the university president to calm down the crowd.  At one point, President Edison Jackson even threatened to “send your diplomas in the mail” if the noise didn’t stop.  Betsy DeVos is a wealthy woman who could have spent her life going to liberal cocktail parties in Manhattan and Beverly Hills.  Instead, she devotes herself to education.  This is the thanks she gets.

MADNESS – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  A new NYPD directive forbids cops from entering a residence in response to a noise complaint — unless they’re given permission.  The directive, a copy of which has been obtained by The Post, means loud partiers can simply tell the cops who come to their door to just go away.  The bizarre constraint is the result of costly, successful lawsuits against the city by homeowners who complained that cops barged onto their properties without a warrant, multiple sources told The Post.  A week after it was issued, the directive had already outraged brass and rank-and-file cops alike, who warned Wednesday that neighborhoods will suffer from sleepless nights and trash, and that the NYPD will lose the vital ability to police out-of-control parties by known or suspected gang members.  Another victory for degeneracy and chaos.  But the intellectual classes will be pleased.  After all, loud parties never happen in their neighborhoods, so why should they worry?

WHO CARES ABOUT TERRORISM? – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, announced Wednesday that he intends to block President Trump's nominee for the top post monitoring terrorism financing at the Treasury until the department releases documents relating to Trump and his dealings with Russia.  "I have stated repeatedly that we have to follow the money if we are going to get to the bottom of how Russia has attacked our democracy," the Oregon Democrat said in a statement Thursday afternoon announcing the "hold" on the nomination of Sigal Mandelker to be undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.  Wyden said the hold would remain in place until the requested documents were provided to the Finance and Intelligence committees. On Wednesday, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner, told reporters that he had requested documents from the Treasury showing any ties between Trump or his campaign associates and outside entities, including Russia.   I mean, who cares about monitoring terrorism?  If you're a Democrat, and a follower of Hussein Obama, terrorism is defined as a "manmade disaster."  It can wait. 

May 10, 2017       Permalink

AND DON'T FORGET IRAN – AT 12:20 P.M. ET:    With all that's going on involving the FBI, Korea, and the re-emergence of Barack Obama, it's easy to forget that Iran is forging ahead with its own military programs.  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

Iran is preparing to launch two new domestic satellites into space, according to a new announcement by Iranian military leaders that is stirring discussion among U.S. national security insiders who say the move is likely cover for the test firing of advanced intercontinental ballistic missile technology that could be used as part of Iran's nuclear program.

The latest test comes as the Trump administration continues to engage in a comprehensive review of the Iran nuclear agreement that U.S. officials tell the Washington Free Beacon will result in a full-scale plan to "meet the challenges Iran poses with clarity and conviction."

Iran continues to boost its military might and move forward with the testing of controversial ballistic missile technology. The expertise needed to launch satellites into space is similar to that needed to properly launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, which could potentially reach U.S. soil.

U.S. officials and national security experts have been paying close attention to Iran's missile progress as North Korea ups its provocative moves. Tehran and Pyongyang have long traded illicit missile technology on the black market and Iran's nuclear progress closely mirrors that of its partner.

The Iranian satellite launches also come as Iran engages in an unprecedented effort to reorganize and boost its military so it can serve as an offensive fighting force, a move that has drawn concern among U.S. national security insiders.

COMMENT:  When President Trump said that Obama had left him a mess, he was accurate.  No international problem was ever solved, or even seriously confronted, by Barack Obama.  Cans were continually kicked down the road, and we're at the end of that road.

May 10, 2017       Permalink

COULD BE BUMPY – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  South Korea just elected a new president who's not as cozy with the U.S. as we might have wished.  From Reuters: 

South Korea's new liberal President Moon Jae-in was sworn in on Wednesday and vowed to immediately tackle the difficult tasks of addressing North Korea's advancing nuclear ambitions and soothing tensions with the United States and China.

Moon said in his first speech as president he would begin efforts to defuse security tensions on the Korean peninsula and negotiate with Washington and Beijing to ease a row over a U.S. missile defense system being deployed in the South.

In his first key appointments, Moon named two liberal veterans with ties to the "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with North Korea from the 2000s to the posts of prime minister and spy chief...

..."I will urgently try to solve the security crisis," Moon said in the domed rotunda hall of the parliament building. "If needed, I will fly straight to Washington. I will go to Beijing and Tokyo and, if the conditions are right, to Pyongyang also."

Spy chief nominee Suh said Moon could go to Pyongyang if it was clear the visit would help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis and ease military tension on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea is likely to welcome Moon's election but its state media made no mention of his victory on Wednesday.

COMMENT:  This new guy might qualify for the label "peacenik" if he were American.  He seems to be one of these politicians who believe that the object of negotiations is negotiations.  The so-called "Sunshine Policy" never worked.  North Korea went right ahead and built its nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

We'll have to see if Moon remains his wobbly self or sees the light and tries to align himself more with American policy.  That may well happen if the real world caves in on him. 

Also, our concern with North Korea doesn't only involve its threat to the South.  It involves its threat to Japan, the Philippines, and, ultimately, to the United States itself.  It is developing ICBMs that can hit Hawaii, Alaska, and our West Coast.  And North Korea has always considered America a mortal enemy.  It was the U.S., after all, that led the successful multi-nation effort to repel the North Korean attempt to take over South Korea in the early 1950s. 

Trump will not allow the new South Korean government to dictate our policy.  Our own lives are involved.

May 10, 2017       Permalink

DAY TWO – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:  It's day two of the Great Constitutional Crisis – the firing of James Comey.  We will now refer to the event as the GCC, since an abbreviated name is necessary to mark its importance.

The Dems are going crazy.  It's Watergate!  The Democratic Party vocabulary has been reduced to four words – racism, Hitler, Watergate, and abortion.  If you can't push one of those four buttons, the party has no use for you.  They've tried to wrap three around Trump's neck.  They haven't quite gotten to the abortion thing.

From Fox: 

Top Democrats who just months ago called for FBI Director James Comey to be fired are now blasting President Trump for doing just that.

Just last week, Hillary Clinton blamed the FBI director for costing her the presidency by briefly reopening the investigation into her handling of classified emails. But after Trump sacked Comey Tuesday night, Clinton's former campaign manager pronounced the move "terrifying."

"Twilight zone," Robby Mook wrote on Twitter. "I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me."

Just hours before Comey was canned, former Clinton cmpaign chairman John Podesta tweeted: "The American public is getting mildly nauseous listening to Jim Comey."

Then, after Comey was fired he tweetd: "@realDonaldTrump Didn't you know you're supposed to wait til Saturday night to massacre people investigating you?"

COMMENT:  Nice try, but I don't think it'll work.  Trump will soon appoint a successor, and attention will shift to that person.  I hope he does his homework and doesn't pick someone with a problem. 

The rumor mill is at work.  No favorite names so far.  The Dems, of course, would prefer a woman who is also a minority who is also no fan of the president.  Whoopi Goldberg would be fine.

Director Whoopi would be confirmed easily.

May 10,  2017     Permalink