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NOVEMBER 11,  2018

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

MUST SHE? – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:   Hillary Clinton will run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, according to a former adviser and a top Democrat in New York.  Mark Penn, a pollster and senior adviser to former President Bill Clinton and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 1995-2008, and Andrew Stein, a former Manhattan Democratic party figure and New York City Council president, wrote Sunday in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee would not let "two stunning defeats stand in the way of her claim to the White House."  "Mrs. Clinton has come unbound. She will not allow this humiliating loss at the hands of an amateur to end the story of her career," Penn and Stein wrote of President Trump, explaining how Clinton would re-package herself as a more liberal "Hillary Clinton 4.0." "You can expect her to run for president once again. Maybe not at first, when the legions of Senate Democrats make their announcements, but definitely by the time the primaries are in full swing."  I'm sure we all can't wait.

FLORIDA DISGRACE – FROM FOX:   The supervisor of elections in Florida's heavily Democratic Palm Beach County said Sunday that she did not believe her department would meet a Thursday deadline to complete recounts in the Sunshine State's historically tight gubernatorial and Senate races, threatening to further confuse an increasingly chaotic and politically fraught process.  The supervisor, Susan Bucher, told reporters that she did not expect to meet the deadline due to aging equipment. Florida Department of State spokeswoman Sarah Revell told Fox News that under state law, if a county does not submit their results by the deadline, then the results on file at the time take their place. Revell added that Florida's Secretary of State has no authority to grant extensions.  "Supervisors of Elections are independent officials and they are responsible for deciding when to upgrade or modernize their equipment," Revell added.  And on this level of competence the future of our Republic may well rely.

TALK ABOUT CREEPY – FROM FOX5NY:  NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - The world's first artificial intelligence news anchor made its debut during the World Internet Conference in China.  In a tweet announcing the start of a new era in broadcast news, Xinhua News Agency wrote: 'Xinhua's first English #AI anchor makes debut at the World Internet Conference that opens in Wuzhen, China Wednesday."
The tweet is accompanied with a video clip of the anchor who looks and sounds very human-like.
"Hello everyone. I am an English Artificial Intelligence Anchor. This is my very first day in Xinhua News Agency. My voice and appearance are modeled on Zhang Zhao, a real news anchor with Xinhua. The development of the media industry calls for continuous innovation and deep integration with the advanced international technologies. I will work tirelessly to keep you informed as texts will be typed into my system uninterrupted. I look forward to bringing you brand new news experiences."  It has a lot in common with CNN.  Neither has a brain.

November 11, 2018       Permalink

IN SUPPORT OF TRUMP – AT 12:50 P.M. ET:   Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata (USA, ret) has written a sharp statement of support for President Trump, who has been insulted several times in the last few days by President Macron of France.  From Fox:

President Trump was right to tweet an outraged response Saturday to remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron after Macron said in a radio interview that France and Europe need an army to defend against America, Russia and China.

By saying that “we have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America,” Macron naively paints America as a potential enemy. In so doing, he ignores the hundreds of thousands of American lives sacrificed on French and European soil to save the free world during World War I and World War II.

Landing in France Saturday to join leaders of other nations in ceremonies commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, President Trump tweeted: “President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the U.S., China and Russia. Very insulting, but perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!”

Macron could not have levied a greater insult at America and its veterans on this 100th anniversary of the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 to end World War I and, ironically, save Europe.

The French and U.S. presidents met Saturday and Macron tried to backpedal from his earlier comments, saying he had been misunderstood, and that what he really meant was the Europeans needed to spend more on their own defense and be less dependent on America to defend them, as President Trump has called on them to do.

Nonetheless, Macron’s diplomatic moonwalking does not alleviate his insult to American veterans. 

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Very well said.  It's not the first time a French leader has insulted the United States.  De Gaulle did it repeatedly.  We survived.

November 11,  2018     Permalink

TRUMP IN FRANCE – AT 11:55 A.M. ET:  World War I ended 100 years ago today, at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 2018.  It was called "the war to end all wars," but of course it wasn't.  World War II would start in Europe only 21 years later.  Many who were born on that day in 1918 would fight in World War II, and some would die.

Today President Trump spoke at an American military cemetery outside Paris, and spoke well.  His words contrasted with the politicized speech of French President Macron, who had spoken earlier at a different location.  From Fox: 

At a rain-soaked and chilly observance of Armistice Day at the Suresnes American Cemetery outside Paris on Sunday, President Trump praised the "American and French patriots" of World War I, in a speech that sharply contrasted with the political tone of an earlier address by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Joined by senior military officials, members of Congress, and dozens of other world leaders, Trump began by introducing several veterans and noting that it was Veterans Day in America.

"Exactly 100 years ago today, on November 11, 1918, World War I came to an end," Trump said. "Thank God."

He urged Americans to remember the tens of thousands of Americans killed and wounded in the "grizzly horrors" of the war, including the "legendary Marines" known as the "Devil Dogs."

"Devil Dogs -- John Kelly knows that name very well, right John?" Trump said, looking toward his chief of staff, who served as a general in the Marine Corps.

Trump also presented a flag to American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) head Maj. Gen. William M. Matz, Jr., "as a symbol of our nation's gratitude" to the agency for "memorializing our fallen heroes."

"We're also joined by another very special guest: a 13-year-old boy from the United States," Trump said. "Matthew is in the eighth grade, and he worked and saved all of his money for two years to make this trip to France. He wanted to be here in person to honor the American heroes of World War I. Matthew, thank you -- you make us very proud. You're way ahead of your time, Matthew."

Macron had endorsed globalism and implied that Trump was unpatriotic in politically charged remarks just minutes earlier. 

COMMENT:  Trump, who can be coarse, as we all know, was elegant.  Macron acted like a buffoon.

November 11, 2018       Permalink

NOVEMBER 10,  2018

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

BLUNDER – The president is in France in part to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.  He was scheduled to go to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial near Paris, but canceled due to bad weather and logistical difficulties.  The cancellation has created an appropriate uproar, including a denunciation from Winston Churchill's grandson.  They point out that the cemetery is only an hour's drive from Paris.  If the presidential helicopter was considered unsafe in poor weather conditions, the limo could have been used.  Aides to former presidents note that there is always a rain alternative on official trips.  The story has gone viral.  The White House owes the American people a full explanation, and the president owes an apology.  Of course, there could be another explanation – illness – and that must be addressed as well.  A bad show by the White House.  We call 'em as we see 'em here.

ARIZONA – As the vote recount in Arizona continues, our Martha McSally continues to lose ground.  She is now down by 29,000 votes, and it appears that most of the votes still to be counted are in Democratic areas.  I think we can cautiously assume that Arizona is lost.  It is dismaying.  Martha's opponent,  Kyrsten Sinema is, as you all know, the snowiest of the snowflakes, the whackiest of the whackjobs.  But she is a skilled actress, and she has protrayed herself as a moderate, and a fine example of Arizona values.  The Arizona voters bought it.   It proves once again that there's no business like show business.  The loss in Arizona would be the second GOP Senate loss for this election, the other being Nevada.  Republicans picked up seats in North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri and, if the recount goes our way, Florida.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINES – FROM DAILY CALLER:  The U.S. Marine Corps turns 243 years old on Saturday, marking nearly two and and half centuries of protecting America at home and abroad.
Marines have fought in every major war in U.S. history — in fact, the Marine Corps is older than the country itself and traces its roots to the Continental Marines of the Revolutionary War period.  On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution to form “two battalions of Marines” to be led by Captain Samuel Nicholas, who is considered the first Commandant of the Marine Corps. Today, that date is regarded and celebrated by Marines around the world as the birth of America’s most iconic — and fearsome — fighting force.  But Marines don’t just protect America by deploying around the world in expeditionary forces. Sometimes they respond to emergencies at home, as they did in September, when Marines came to the aid of elderly citizens trapped in a burning apartment building in Washington, D.C.   Well done.

November 10, 2018       Permalink

FLORIDA UPDATE – AT 2:21 P.M. ET:  Major development.  Both the gubernatorial and Senate votes in Florida will be recounted, the Florida secretary of state has just announced.  From the Miami Herald: 

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner ordered recounts in three statewide elections Saturday, triggering a scramble by the state’s 67 elections departments as they pore over more than 8.2 million combined ballots in the next five days.

Detzner called for automatic machine recounts in the state’s races for U.S. Senate, governor and agricultural commissioner after receiving unofficial vote counts at noon from the elections departments overseeing Tuesday’s midterm elections. It was not a choice: Statewide contests decided by a half a percentage point or less must be reanalyzed under Florida law, and the races between Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum, and Matt Caldwell and Nikki Fried were all within razon-thin margins.

Already expected by the campaigns and elections departments, the recount order triggered a flurry of activity around the state as elections departments pushed to meet a Nov. 15 deadline to submit their newly tallied returns. With all counties having submitted unofficial vote tallies, Florida’s Division of Elections showed that 8,302,983 ballots must be recounted over the next five days.

The total vote count reported by the state after receiving the unofficial final tallies from the counties showed DeSantis leading Gillum by 33,684 votes, a difference of .41 percent; Scott leading Nelson by 12,562 votes, a difference of .15 percent, and Fried leadng Caldwell by 5,326 votes, a difference of .06 percent.

The order applies to the entire state, but most eyes will be on South Florida, where late-developing returns in the past four days shrunk margins for Republican frontrunners and, in Caldwell’s case, took him from the lead to the rear. Scott’s campaign has filed lawsuits against Broward Supervisor Brenda Snipes and her Palm Beach counterpart, Susan Bucher, alleging noncompliance with state public-records and elections laws. Caldwell has also sued Snipes.

And...

Once elections supervisors send their recount totals back to the state, Detzner may order a manual recount for any race within a quarter of a percentage point. Currently, based on unofficial totals, the U.S. Senate race between Scott and Nelson and the race for commissioner of agriculture could need manual recounts.

Detzner could decline to order manual recounts if the losing candidates ask that the election be ended, or if the number of votes to be recounted is less than the number of votes needed to change the outcome of the race.

COMMENT:  Now the question is whether the recount will be honest.  If Gillum wins the governorship, you may be sure that the press will declare the recount a great victory for social justice.  If DeSantis wins, the same press will probably say that a "cloud" hangs over the election, that DeSantis may be "illegitimate."  That's what they did to George W. Bush in 2000.  And to Donald Trump in 2016.

November 10, 2018       Permalink

THE OUTRAGE – AT 12:48 P.M. ET:  The Florida vote count continues, but one thing largely unnoticed is the disgraceful role of much of the press in openly rooting for the Democrats, Andrew Gillum for governor and Bill Nelson for the Senate, to pull from behind and win.   From Mollie Hemingway at the Federalist: 

Florida voters elected Republican Ron DeSantis as governor and Republican Rick Scott as senator on election night. Both were announced as winners and their opponents conceded defeat. But then Democratic lawyer Marc Elias announced that Democrats would be going for a recount and would win the Senate seat.

A few days after the 2018 election was held, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) sounded the alarm about serious irregularities in the counting of ballots in two Democratic stronghold counties in Florida:

To make sure that votes aren’t being invented or destroyed to effect an outcome, one of the first priorities of any election supervisor is to announce how many ballots are in possession and how many remain to be counted. To fail to do this, as the Broward County and Palm Beach County Supervisors had, is to open themselves up to the accusation of massive vote fraud.

Citizens can not have confidence that ballots are not being destroyed, or created, when supervisors fail to immediately announce how many ballots are on hand.

And...

Despite these stunning violations of law, and Rubio’s cry to stop the madness in these counties that have a history of election problems, media seemed largely uninterested in what was happening in Florida.

Rubio reminded Americans that Broward County’s supervisor had a history of election problems, including illegally destroying ballots, secretly opening mail-in ballots, sending voters too many ballot pages, and leaving a constitutional question off the ballot.

Mollie then goes on to quote news outlet after outlet declaring that there was "no evidence" of voter fraud.  In fact, the evidence, of course, was in the history and the refusal of voting authorities to follow state law.  But when you're rooting for one side, you don't notice,.

To be clear, these are not the stories and social media accounts of official Democratic partisans, but the accounts and stories of a media that is desperate to not be thought of as “fake news.” A media that is desperate to make the case that they are something other than partisan hacks who care about elevating Democrats and harming Republicans above all other journalistic concerns. If you see even an ounce of daylight between these narrative constructions and those of Democrats, please share. Because to the naked eye, this is nothing but pure gaslighting about the obvious efforts of two of the most historically scandal-ridden counties in the country when it comes to elections and voting.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's the best article I've seen about the vote count in Florida and the reaction of the bought press.

Journalism is destroying itself, and it doesn't seem to care.  Journalists have gone from the standard of reporting the news without fear or favor to "making a difference."  And it's the difference they want to make that's especially frightening.

November 10,  2018     Permalink