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OCTOBER 26,  2018

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

VOTERS AGREE – THE PRESS IS LEFTISH – FROM RASMUSSEN:   Voters think the media is trying to help Democrats in the upcoming elections which helps explain why Democratic voters are much bigger fans of election news coverage than others are.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 45% of all Likely U.S. Voters think that when most reporters write about a congressional race, they are trying to help the Democratic candidate. Just 11% think they’re trying to help the Republican instead. Only 35% think most reporters are just trying to report the news in an unbiased manner.  The people always figure it out, don't they?  Mainstream journalism is falling apart.

PATHETIC – FROM TOWNHALL:   Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum slammed Republican opponent Ron DeSantis Thursday for repeatedly calling him by his first name during two gubernatorial debates.  “I met him for the first time the other night and then all of a sudden, without invitation, he was calling me only as Andrew,” the Tallahassee mayor told college students at the historically black Florida Memorial University. “Between the two of us, he quit his job in Congress, I’m a sitting mayor, and he had the nerve to address me only as Andrew?” Gillum said. “I wanted to correct him, y’all, but I didn’t want to be petty. So, we just we pushed all the way through.”  The New York Times reported in 2012 how difficult it can be for candidates to decide what to call each other during debates. While most tend to err on the side of formality, referring to one's opponent by their first name is not all that uncommon.  This man is some piece of work.  He wants to be Florida's next governor, and may well be, but he's hobbled by corruption concerns and by an extreme leftist past.  And this is what he's worried about?  In America, we can go up to the president and call him by his first name, and no one will arrest us.  Perhaps Mr. Gillum would prefer Your Majesty. 

THE LATEST FROM TRENDY HBO – YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS UP – FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:  After the second season of The Deuce piloted the practice, HBO decided to staff every one of its television shows and films that have intimate scenes going forward with an intimacy coordinator.  The network announced its decision via its public relations Twitter account on Thursday after Rolling Stone published a story about the cable network's work with Deuce intimacy coordinator Alicia Rodis. "As reported in @RollingStone, all @HBO programs with intimate scenes will be staffed by an intimacy coordinator," HBO PR tweeted.  Since working on The Deuce, a series about the burgeoning porn industry in New York in the 1970s, Rodis has worked on intimate scenes on Crashing, the upcoming Watchmen series and the Deadwood movie, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Rodis is additionally training new intimacy coordinators to be on hand during the production of the upcoming crime drama Jett and Drake executive-produced high school series Euphoria.  Look, I don't want to seem un-hip, but what, precisely, does an intimacy coordinator do?  What does she coordinate?  I can just see a college major in intimacy coordination, with a multicultural faculty to make sure that all cultural traditions are respected.  And I can see an Emmy for best achievement in intimacy coordination.  During the golden age of film we had a production code, and we did just fine. 

October 26, 2018       Permalink 

ANOTHER GOOD ECONOMIC REPORT – AT 4:08 P.M. ET:   The economy keeps up a strong pace, and that has to be good news for Republicans in this election year.  From USA Today:

Healthy consumer spending and business stockpiling helped keep the U.S. economy on a roll in the third quarter, more than offsetting the negative effects of President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

The nation’s gross domestic product – the value of all goods and services produced in the economy – increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.5 percent in the July- September period, the Commerce Department said Friday. That followed a 4.2 percent gain in the second quarter and marks the first time growth has topped 3 percent for two consecutive quarters since early 2015. Economists expected a 3.3 percent increase in output.

The economy has continued to benefit from federal tax cuts and spending increases, along with a 3.7 percent unemployment rate that marks a 50-year low and is nudging worker wages and buying power higher. So far, those forces have outweighed the fallout from U.S. trade standoffs with China and other countries.

COMMENT:  Politically, this should help the president's party in two weeks, but the assistance may not be that great.  People get used to a strong economy, and the classic question asked is, "What have you done for me lately?" 

However, Trump's personal numbers continue to rise.  They are higher than Obama's, a good if early sign for the 2020 presidential race.

October 26, 2018       Permalink

I'D BE CAREFUL ABOUT THIS – AT 3:26 P.M. ET:   In every election cycle we have the "New Jersey story," and it is always the same:  Will this be the year that New Jersey, one of the bluest of the blue states, surprises us and goes red?  And then New Jersey votes blue.  But this year something is intriguing is happening late in the race.  From Fox: 

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez's once-comfortable lead over Republican Bob Hugin has narrowed in recent polls amid withering attacks over his ethics challenges and personal controversies, and now one rating outfit has shifted the Senate race into the "toss-up" column.

Cook Political Report, reflecting how unexpectedly competitive the contest has become, announced Friday it is moving the race from "lean Democratic" to "toss-up."

“The contest isn’t about anything else but Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his ethics problems,” Cook Political Report’s Jennifer Duffy wrote, noting wealthy pharmaceutical exec Hugin has outspent the incumbent by nearly 3-1, with much of that going toward brutal TV ads.

The imbalance, and potential risk for Menendez, has led a major Senate Democratic super PAC to jump in with its own multimillion-dollar ad buys.

COMMENT:  Other polls put the race in the Dem column.  Maybe Cook knows something the others don't know. 

Menendez has an ethics problem.  In New Jersey that's like having the sniffles.  In the end, I think he'll pull it out, unfortunately.

October 26, 2018       Permalink

CAUGHT – AT 1:15 P.M. ET:  By now you all know that authorities have captured a man in Florida and taken him into custody in connection with the bombs sent around the country in the last few days. 

From Fox: 

A male suspect was arrested in Florida on Friday morning in connection with the rash of suspicious packages sent to prominent Democrats nationwide, law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News.

Multiple sources identified the suspect to Fox News as Cesar Sayoc, 56, a former New Yorker who now lives in Aventura, Florida. Several of the packages went through a U.S. postal facility in Opa-locka, which is less than 10 miles from Aventura. He was arrested at an auto parts store in Plantation.

Sayoc, a registered Republican, has a lengthy criminal history in Florida dating back to 1991. He had been arrested and accused of threatening to use a bomb in 2002 and has also been arrested for felony theft and on drug charges.

Sayoc's white van, which was plastered with stickers of Trump, the presidential seal and other political signage, was seized by authorities and taken to a secure facility. His social media accounts are also full of him attending MAGA rallies.

President Trump applauded the FBI during remarks Friday afternoon, also decrying the use of violence in the political realm. Trump called the packages and the events of the week "despicable".
"We must never allow political violence to take root in America. We cannot let it happen. And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it. And to stop it now."

COMMENT:  The alleged bomber is clearly a fan of President Trump, which is unfortunate.  He has a van covered with Trump stickers and stickers of prominent Trump opponents.  He made no attempt to hide his beliefs.  In fact, he made no attempt to hide. 

However, it should be noted that he has a long criminal history.  He is certainly not typical of Trump supporters.  That criminal history probably led police right to him, as criminals are fingerprinted, and it's possible there were prints on the bombs.  Further, he is known to authorities.

Already, the vulgar CNN is on the air with not-so-subtle hints that President Trump is at least partly to blame for this suspect's activities, despite the fact that the suspect has a long criminal history.

The suspect is being described as white.  In fact, he identifies as Native American, a Seminole.  I'd love to see how that is handled by the politically correct media.

October 26,  2018     Permalink

OCTOBER 25,  2018

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

A BRINKLEY MOMENT – I recall an edition of the old Huntley-Brinkley Report on NBC, when David Brinkley announced that he had nothing to report that night because nothing had happened.  Nothing much is happening now as well.  The "reports" we see contain so much padding we could easily produce millions of comfy beds.  Cops found some more inoperative "bombs" today, and, increasingly, this week's big story – suspicious packages in famous mail boxes – looks more and more like show biz by a failed showman.  The fact is that the last two weeks of campaigning is sucking most of the air out of the news.  There is nothing that will shut down journalism faster than a member of Congress trying to keep his job, and pension.  On Tuesday we will hit the one-week mark, and the countdown will begin to what the mighty media is calling the most important midterm election of our time.  They seem to say that every four years.

ELLISON SINKING – FROM ROLL CALL:  Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison has fallen behind Republican Doug Wardlow in the race for Minnesota attorney general, a new poll released this week showed.  Wardlow flipped the race on its head, pacing Ellison by 7 points, 43 percent to 36 percent, according to the Star Tribune/MPR News poll conducted as the discussion surrounding an allegation of domestic abuse levied against Ellison by his ex-girlfriend heightened over the last month.  Ellison has forcefully denied the claim. His ex-wife has also taken the Democratic congressman’s side, saying that even though their relationship ended in a messy divorce, Ellison never struck her and is not the type of person to turn physically violent on a woman.  Roughly one in six of the 800 likely voters surveyed from Oct. 15 through Oct. 17 remained undecided, a considerable bloc this late in the race.  Sometimes there are stories that are morally uplifting.  This is one of them.

THE MARCH OF HYPOCRISY – FROM THE FEDERALIST:   The New York Times published a fictional essay fantasizing about President Trump getting assassinated the same week that explosive devices were sent to prominent political figures across the country.  After explosive devices were sent to prominent Democrats and liberal political figures — Maxine Waters, Joe Biden, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Brennan, and others — New York Times opinion columnist Charles M. Blow blamed Trump for creating a “toxic environment” that led to these attempted acts of terrorism.  “Trump doesn’t operate on an intellectual plane, but an emotional one, and the emotions he has learned to manipulate in politics are the darker ones,” Blow wrote, adding a summary of Trump’s speech at a rally for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas during which the president said Democrats want to “destroy American communities.”  “This is the rhetorical backdrop as we await an investigation and answers about who sent bombs to Democrats and the CNN offices,” Blow wrote.  Here’s some of the rhetorical backdrop being painted by The New York Times. In a collection of fictional essays published Tuesday, one author fantasized about a Secret Service agent helping the Russians assassinate Trump.  Once a great newspaper.  No longer.  Of course, they aren't aware of their own hypocrisy.  They are too busy lecturing their readers on morality.

October 25, 2018       Permalink

THE PRESIDENT ACTS – AT 12:14 P.M. ET:   As the caravan north moves closer, the president is taking the action he promised.  From Fox: 

Hundreds of U.S. troops are set to make their way to the southern border to help Homeland Security and the National Guard as a caravan with thousands of migrants pushes north with the goal of crossing into America, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News on Thursday.

The official said roughly 800 soldiers will be sent to the area to offer “logistical support," including providing tents and vehicles.

It’s not immediately clear which units are being tasked with the mission as details are still being finalized.

Defense Secretary James Mattis could sign the deployment orders as soon as today.

There are currently 2,100 National Guard troops on the southern border assisting Homeland Security.
President Trump tweeted Thursday morning that "I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency. They will be stopped!"

The migrant caravan as of Thursday is still in southern Mexico, more than 1,000 miles away from the nearest entry point into the U.S. Its size is estimated to be around 7,000, but many of those currently walking are suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and heat stroke.

Some also told Fox News they fear getting attacked if they hop on a cargo train or getting deported if they take a bus.

“They are going to walk as long as they can,” said caravan member Brian Colindres, “or as far as they can.”

COMMENT:  Should we feel for these people?  Of course we should.  They're human beings.  But should we let them just come in illegally?  No.  The right answer is to stop them at the border, and demand that the UN and Central American governments house them.  We should give each migrant a packet, in their own language, explaining how to legally apply for entrance into the United States.

In other words, follow our laws, as tens of millions have.  We will treat you with kindness, but we will not destroy our tradition of law.

October 25, 2018        Permalink

THE BEAT GOES ON, AND GETS CURIOSER AND CURIOSER – AT 11:50 A.M. ET:  Several new "bombs" have been discovered.  It's nine so far, and, oddly, none has gone off.  From Fox: 

Former Vice President Joe Biden and actor Robert De Niro -- both prominent critics of the Trump administration -- were the targets of suspicious packages discovered Thursday, officials said, one day after several similar parcels were sent to the homes and businesses of various Democratic politicos on Wednesday.

The FBI, New Castle County, Del., police and postal inspectors were investigating the package addressed to Biden, law enforcement officials told Fox News, stressing the suspicious package investigation was the bureau's highest priority. The FBI was also investigating a second package addressed to Biden at a postal facility in Wilmington. Both packages were similar to the others that were received. The FBI later confirmed the packages were addessed to Biden and De Niro

The FBI Laboratory at Quantico, Va., is also engaged, beginning forensic analysis of some of the packages addressed to former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, liberal billionaire George Soros, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former CIA Director John Brennan and California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters.

Pictures of the contents of the Brennan package appeared to show a pipe bomb, but it wasn't clear if the explosive was in working order, and several experts took to social media to note flaws in the design. The Brennan device was also wrapped with a spoof flag of the terror group ISIS that bore the Larry the Cable Guy catchphrase "Get 'Er Done." It wasn't clear if either the Biden or De Niro packages contained similar contents.

COMMENT:  Ah yes, right before the election.  And the caravan of "migrants" coming north from Central America?  Right before the election. I don't believe in coincidences.

None of the "devices" has gone off, something almost unheard of.  Looks like an amateur job.  One Urgent Agenda reader calls it "performance art."  The "device" delivered to CNN was hand carried.  Why wasn't the carrier concerned about video surveillance?

No one knows who's sending the devices.  But the disgraceful behavior of the liberal press, in trying to pin the blame on President Trump, is a new low in journalism.  We'll see other new lows. 

Will the case be solved?  Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik says that he thinks it will be solved within a few days.  I dunno.  We once had a guy in New York who planted bombs around the city, and it took years to nab him.  He was called the Mad Bomber.  Turned out he had a grudge against the electric company.

We await facts, even though a good part of the media doesn't care about them.

October 25,  2018     Permalink