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SEPTEMBER 14,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

HARVARD RETREATS – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The dean at the Harvard Kennedy School has decided to withdraw an invitation to have Chelsea Manning serve as a visiting fellow — but still invited the convicted leaker to give a talk at the school.  Douglas Elmendorf released a statement late Thursday claiming that it was a “mistake” to give Manning the designation.  “We are withdrawing the invitation to her to serve as a Visiting Fellow—and the perceived honor that it implies to some people—while maintaining the invitation for her to spend a day at the Kennedy School and speak in the Forum,” he wrote.  Manning was convicted of releasing classified information, which possibly put American lives at risk.  She served time in prison.  You don't honor someone like that.  The backlash against the appointment was large and proper, and I'm glad to see that Harvard listened.

AH, THE JOYS OF MARXISM – FROM THE MIAMI HERALD:   Surrounded by the remains of her home in Isabela de Sagua, a town on the north coast of central Cuba, a little girl tells a state television reporter what she lost during Hurricane Irma, which lashed across most of the island. “The bathroom, the bicycle, the fan, a sweater of mine,” says the girl. Nearby, a woman with her hands on her head stares in disbelief at the remains of her house, which now has no roof, walls or windows. Little by little, details of damages caused by Hurricane Irma during its passage through Cuba are emerging. It’s a tragedy…In a country where the state controls almost all resources (and people), many are beginning to ask themselves, where is the government? In Florida, where Irma made landfall over the weekend, Gov. Rick Scott was quick to issue a state of emergency, even before the storm reached Florida shores. But in Cuba, the Cuban Civil Defense, a military operation in cases of disasters, waited until the storm was already making its presence felt on the island to declare an “alarm phase,” prompting a last-minute scramble to secure homes and move those in harm’s way.  We might look at things like this before Bernie Sanders introduces his "Medicare for all" program, meaning socialized medicine.  Socialism is not known for either speed or excellence.  But there's a lot of equality...of misery.

BEN SHAPIRO SPEAKS AT BERKELEY, CAMPUS NOT BURNED DOWN – FROM CNN: (CNN)  As conservative radio host Ben Shapiro spoke at the University of California Berkeley, protesters swarmed outside chanting various slogans.  Police stood in full riot gear, standing guard as the school took extensive security measures, shutting down surrounding buildings and setting up a large perimeter around the hall where Shapiro gave a speech and answered questions Thursday night.  The school was facing a critical test on whether it can prevent violence from breaking out. As the speech took place, the protests appeared peaceful.  Officials were hoping to avoid the kind of violence that erupted on campus when right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos came to speak in February. Protesters caused $100,000 worth of damage to the public university when they threw fireworks, rocks and Molotov cocktails on campus, forcing the event to be canceled.  Things were better tonight.  But the fact that Berkeley needed a massive police presence to protect a conservative speaker demonstrates that we have a serious free-speech problem.

September 14, 2017       Permalink

THE DEMS GO CRAZY – AT 10:46 A.M. ET:   And not for the first time.  Now the Bernie Sanders faction is trying to force on the party a socialist-style plan for a single-payer health system.  In other words, the government will make your health choices for you.  Democrats are falling in line, fearful of offending the Moscow wing of the party's base.  From IBD: 

Health Reform: Democrats are lining up to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders' plan to socialize medicine. But have they actually read what it is they are signing up for?

Sanders touts his "Medicare for all" as the solution to all our nation's health care woes. No more premiums, no more deductibles or copays, no provider networks. The government would pick up all the costs, except for possibly minimal copays for prescription drugs. Private insurance would be effectively outlawed.

A third of Senate Democrats co-sponsored Sanders's bill, and a similar measure in the House has 117 Democratic co-sponsors. Sanders is now the standard-bearer for the party on health reform.

In a New York Times Op-Ed previewing the release of his bill, Sanders claims that it "is not a radical idea."

It's hard to know where to begin to show just how radical Sanders' plan really is.

But let's start with this. There is no industrialized country in the world that has a government-run health care system as vast as the one Sanders proposes.

Not one.

Plenty of other countries "guarantee" health care to their citizens, and pay most of the costs with tax dollars. But none promises first-dollar coverage for all health care, without limits.

Even Sanders' beloved Canadian single-payer system doesn't cover prescription drugs, home care or long-term care, vision or dental.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  It's very instructive.  The lure here is "free" heatlh care.  Of course, it's not free.   It will require huge tax increases, and the government will dictate the care you get.  Forget about choices.  Forget about fighting to live to an old age.  Only if the government approves, my friend.

This is a vast country.  Sanders is basing his plan on countries with much smaller populations, and countries where individual freedom is not stressed.

I can't imagine the Sanders plan actually becoming law.  But I wouldn't trust anything to chance.  There is a powerful constituency out there whose motto is not, "Give me liberty or give me death," but, rather, "Free stuff!  Free stuff forever!"

September 14, 2017        Permalink

MASS CONFUSION – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:   The president had dinner last night with Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, itself a risky proposition.  The result has been mass confusion.  From Fox: 

President Trump on Thursday denied reports that he struck a "deal" overnight with top Democrats to protect so-called “Dreamers,” while insisting “massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent.”

Trump’s Twitter post was in response to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announcing after a dinner meeting at the White House that they had "agreed to a plan to work out an agreement to protect our nation’s DREAMers from deportation."

They also said "we would review border security measures that didn’t include building a wall."
The president clarified Thursday morning that he intends for the wall to be built -- and while he wants to helps Dreamers, there's no deal yet. 

"No deal was made last night on DACA. Massive border security would have to be agreed to in exchange for consent. Would be subject to vote," Trump tweeted. "The WALL, which is already under construction in the form of new renovation of old and existing fences and walls, will continue to be built."

Pelosi and Schumer called Wednesday night's dinner at the White House “very productive."
Shortly after their statement, the White House issued its own statement agreeing that the sit-down was productive, but the exclusion of the border wall "was certainly not agreed to."

COMMENT:  Maybe these sessions should be recorded.  Or televised.  Or maybe everyone should have to take a lie detector test afterward.  Clearly, there is a bit more negotiating to be done.  But I have no problem with the president sitting down with the opposition...as long as they recognize him as the president.

September 14, 2017       Permalink

AMERICA IN 2017 – AT 9:36 A.M. ET:  We have to guard college campuses if a conservative dares to show up.  From AP: 

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- The University of California, Berkeley has ramped up security as it braces to host conservative commentator Ben Shapiro Thursday night, the latest polarizing figure to raise concerns of violence on the famously liberal campus.

Authorities plan to seal off the campus' central hub, Sproul Plaza, with a "closed perimeter" around several buildings including where Shapiro is scheduled to speak to a sold-out, 1,000-person audience. There will be "an increased and highly visible police presence," the university said in a statement.

For the first time in two decades, officers have been authorized to use pepper spray to control violence after the city council modified a 1997 ban at an emergency meeting this week.

Berkeley city police chief Andrew Greenwood said officers would make "very strong, rapid arrests" of protesters wielding weapons and wearing masks.

Nice to know they're actually being allowed to do their jobs.  That's new in Berkeley.

The city and campus at UC Berkeley have become a flashpoint for the country's political divisions, drawing extremist groups from the left- and right-wing. Four political demonstrations have turned violent in Berkeley since February, prompting officers to come up with new strategies to control rowdy and sometimes dangerous crowds.

"We have seen extremists on the left and right in our city," said Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, a Democrat who backed the police request to use pepper spray. "We need to make sure violence is not allowed."

Shapiro was invited to speak by campus Republicans, who say the liberal university stifles the voice of conservative speakers.

COMMENT:  I love how the story tries to equate left and right.  In fact, virtually all the violence has come from the left.  When's the last time you saw a violent right-wing protest against a liberal speaker? 

We hope Ben gives his speech freely.

September 14,  2017     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 13,  2017

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

MAJOR ADULTHOOD NEWS – FROM STUDY FINDS:  ST. LOUIS — Though many might never admit it publicly, a new survey finds that four in ten adult Americans still sleep with a teddy bear at night. And many of those bears are the same bears kept from childhood.  The popular custom teddy bear outlet Build-A-Bear Workshop commissioned a new survey with over 2,000 Americans to gauge their views on their furry friends, and came away with some surprising findings.  More than half of the survey participants indicated they currently owned a stuffed animal, and 40 percent indicated the toy joins them at bedtime. Perhaps most surprisingly, most of the plush toys out there are no spring chickens — 56 percent of those polled said that they’ve held onto their favorite stuffed animal from childhood for at least two decades.  But my question is, what teddy bear wants to sleep with Hillary?

MAJOR OCCUPATIONAL NEWS – FROM CBS LOCAL:   As fast food employees across the U.S. continue to protest for higher wages, a California chain restaurant has decided to hire a new staff member that works for free. The competition for the company’s low-wage workers: a burger-flipping robot named “Flippy.”  CaliBurger has announced they will be installing the high-tech replacement in 50 of their locations around the world. “Flippy,” the robotic kitchen assistant, was created by a California startup company called Miso Robotics and is expected to roll out in 2018.  Don't laugh.  Flippy might someday run for president, and win.

HIGHER NON-EDUCATION NEWS – FROM THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON:   The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has named convicted felon and transgender activist Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow at its Institute of Politics for the 2017-18 academic year.  Harvard's announcement of its incoming class of visiting fellows at the Institute of Politics celebrates Manning's inclusion as the program's "first transgender fellow."  The Kennedy School describes Manning in its press release as "a Washington, D.C. based network security expert and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst."  "She speaks on the social, technological, and economic ramifications of Artificial Intelligence through her op-ed columns for the Guardian and the New York Times," the announcement says. "As a trans woman, she advocates for queer and transgender rights as @xychelsea on Twitter."  This individual gave away the national secrets of the United States and served time in prison for it.  She placed Americans, and others, at risk.  Some may have died for what she did.  And they make her a fellow at Harvard.  For shame.

September 13, 2017       Permalink

TRUMP SLIPS BACK – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  This is probably inevitable, as the immediate crisis of the hurricanes passes, but President Trump's approval rating is slipping again.  From Rasmussen: 

The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. Fifty-six percent (56%) disapprove.

The latest figures include 26% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 45% who Strongly Disapprove. This gives him a Presidential Approval Index rating of -19. 

COMMENT:  The president has dropped four points in a week.  I would not be shocked to see him hover at about 40%.  That's where he was on election day, and yet he won. 

What we're learning about this unique president is that disapproval numbers do not necessarily turn into rejection at the polls.  Some people may dislike him, or even disapprove of things that he's doing, but they will still vote for him, when they examine his competition. 

If Mr. Trump can get Congress to enact a tax cut, which is seriously needed, he'll do fine with the people. 

September 13, 2017       Permalink

GROSSLY WRONG – AT 10:25 A.M. ET:   The right to vote is a sacred part of American freedom.  It should not be treated cheaply.  But that's what's happening.  The latest offender is College Park, Maryland, naturally a college town.  From Fox: 

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The College Park City Council has voted in favor of a measure that would allow city residents who are not U.S. citizens to vote in local elections.

College Park joins six other towns in allowing legal permanent residents and undocumented immigrants to vote in municipal elections.

The council's vote on this issue was supposed to happen back in August, but it was postponed due to threats made to council members over the proposal.

It was a very contentious debate inside College Park City Hall as almost two dozen people signed up to speak on the matter during Tuesday night’s meeting.

One man against the proposal came to the podium saying he was called a Nazi while waiting in line to voice his opinion.

“The reality is allowing all people to vote in municipal elections is going to make College Park more inclusive, and that has been the history of voting rights expansion in the United States and what has happened in our neighbors in Maryland who have expanded voting rights to non-U.S. citizens,” said Todd Larson, who is in favor of the proposal.

“Although you come up here and you say that there are hundreds of citizens and residents of College Park that are for this charter, I can tell you that there are thousands against it,” said Beth Debrosky, who is against non-citizen voting. “Voting is a right of the citizens. It's plain and clear. It's constitutional. It's also written at the state level and it also belongs at the local level.”

COMMENT:  And she is correct.  Voting is an honor.  It has been fought for, and bled for, in battle after battle.  Awarding the right to vote to someone who broke the law by coming here illegally, and has never taken the oath of citizenship, is an insult to the concept of a nation of laws.

I suspect that, what's really behind this proposal, is the belief, and it's probably true, that illegals will vote Democratic.  But the whole idea is an abomination.

September 13, 2017       Permalink

EMBARRASSING – AT 9:50 A.M. ET:  With each passing, agonizing day, Hillary Clinton's book tour becomes more and more embarrassing.  There comes a point where family should simply sit down with her and suggest that some time with the grandchildren might be time better spent.  All she's doing now is destroying whatever legacy she has left.  From Breitbart: 

During an interview with Vox on Tuesday, former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton argued that without FBI Director James Comey, she could have picked up a point or two more among white women and that Comey allowed husbands and boyfriends to tell their wives and girlfriends that Clinton would end up in jail.

Clinton began by saying that white voters have been leaving the Democratic Party since Lyndon Johnson predicted they would. She added that gender isn’t “the motivating factor that race was for President Obama.”

Clinton then cited research that Sheryl Sandberg discussed with her about women become less likeable the more professionally successful they become and women being seen unfavorably when they advocate for themselves.

She then stated, “Now, I believe, absent Comey, I might have picked up 1 or 2 points among white women.” Clinton then cited her polling in the Philadelphia suburbs before the Comey letter compared to how she did in the election in those suburbs. She continued, “It stopped my momentum. And it hurt me, particularly among women. And I have so much anecdotal evidence for this. And now, researchers are starting to pull some of this together. You know, all of a sudden, the husband turns to the wife, ‘Pshh, I told you she’s going to be in jail. You don’t want to waste your vote.’ You know, the boyfriend turns to the girlfriend and says, ‘She’s going to get locked up. Don’t you hear? She’s going to get locked up.’ I mean, all of a sudden, it becomes a very fraught, kind of conflictual experience. And so, instead of saying, ‘I’m taking a chance. I’m going to vote,’ it didn’t work.”

COMMENT:  Of course, Trump was given such an easy ride.  He only had 90 percent of the press against him.

I don't think I've ever seen a defeated candidate behave the way Hillary is behaving.  Maybe Jimmy Carter, to some degree.  And John Kerry tried to blame rigged voting machines in Ohio.  But nothing like this.  Even Nixon was absolutely gracious in defeat in 1960, although there were legitimate questions about who really won Illinois.  He refused to challenge the election, believing it was bad for the country.  Hillary is shameless.,

September 13,  2017     Permalink