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SEPTEMBER 2,  2018

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

WHO US? – FROM BLAST:   CBS News is demanding to be let out of the lawsuit filed by three women who accused Charlie Rose of sexual harassment because the network says they are not responsible for any of the legendary news anchor’s alleged misdeeds.  Charlie Rose was sued in May by three former female staffers, all in their mid-20s. The women claimed that Rose “subjected Plaintiffs to repeated, ongoing and unlawful physical and verbal sexual harassment.” The suit listed CBS News as a defendant along with Rose.  In a new filing obtained by The Blast, CBS News filed a motion to dismiss all claims against them in the case, saying they did nothing wrong.  The network explains that following the Washington Post article that reported Rose engaged in misconduct, and his admission that he engaged in “inappropriate behavior,” CBS News terminated his employment as an anchor and correspondent for the network.  CBS News explains that one of the women suing never even worked at CBS and another was not an employee at the time Rose engaged in the alleged harassment.  Now the blood really begins to spill.  But I think we know far too little about these cases to pass judgment.  And I want to know just who's getting the cash.

WHATEVER BECAME OF LONDON? – FROM THE EXPRESS:  There have so far been over 100 suspected murders in the capital since the start of the year and London’s murder rate overtook New York for the first time.  Conservative Party councillor Shaun Bailey, who is one of three short-listed candidates hoping to secure the Conservative nomination in the 2020 London Mayoral election, expressed his shock at the harrowing statistics and said Londoners “need a leader”.  He told Express.co.uk: “The challenge for the Mayor is he promised when he ran to be a mayor that would focus on violent crime. It took 18 months to get a strategy.”  London Metropolitan Police statistics show that since Mr Khan took office in May 2016, criminal offences between July of that year to July 2018 have seen a 9.2 percent increase.  Mr Bailey insisted the London Mayor’s violent crime strategy is only short-term and “slightly shallow”. He added: “With this spike in crime it looks like the mayor was caught on the back foot.”  At one time London was considered one of the safest cities in the world.  Then it went multicultural and "welcoming."  It might consider going back to being British.  Sherlock Holmes would be pleased.

ANOTHER FRIEND OF LABOR, NOT – FROM DAILY CALLER:   Hillary Clinton is hiring a batch of unpaid interns for the fall to work in her New York City office, according to documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.  Applications are currently being accepted on a rolling basis and will “run from September to mid-December.” The internship requires “a minimum of three days per week,” and undergrads “of all majors are encouraged to apply.”  While the amount of hours per day aren’t specified, the “internship is unpaid.”  “Interns will provide support to our staff, assisting our work on a wide range of projects. Work will include but will not be limited to: compiling press clips, monitoring social media, conducting research, drafting correspondence, and assisting with office management,” the job posting states.  Clinton’s office is looking for applicants who have “a high level of professionalism and discretion,” “strong research and writing skills,” “the ability to work collaboratively as part of a team,” “strong interpersonal communication skills,” “a diligent work ethic and a sense of conscientiousness,” as well as “enthusiasm, dedication, and a positive attitude.”  Uh, I have questions:  What does Hillary Clinton do?  Who would want to do it with her?  And...will she take a deplorable?

September 2, 2018      Permalink

HE'S BACK...OR IS HE? – Barack Obama, now a multi-, multi-millionaire, will soon be back on the campaign trail.  Of course, the masses will greet him with screams of love, approval, and thanks for all he did for them.   Uh, maybe not.  From The Hill: 

Former President Obama is set to dive into the midterm elections next week with a speech in Illinois where he is expected to urge Democrats across the country to vote — addressing a problem that plagued the party in 2016.

Obama has kept a low political profile since leaving office, but sources familiar with his plans say he will soon hit the campaign trail to help Democrats in their quest to take back the House, protect vulnerable Senate incumbents and win state legislative races.

The former president will kick off his push by delivering a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Friday. In the weeks ahead, Obama will also campaign in California, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania, a person familiar with his schedule said.

Not all Democrats want Obama’s help.

Democratic candidates running in states that President Trump won by double digits in 2016 would prefer that the former president stay far away.

Some Democrats in pro-Trump states, such as Sens. Bob Casey Jr. (Pa.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.) and Sherrod Brown (Ohio), say they hope Obama will campaign for them. 

Others, such as Sens. Jon Tester (Mont.) and Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), want to keep the race locked on the battle between themselves and their state rivals, fearing a high-profile surrogate like Obama could distract from the strategy.

“We’re not going to use any surrogates. Surrogates are fine but we don’t need them. The race is myself and Matt Rosendale and that’s the way we want to keep it,” Tester told The Hill, referring to his GOP challenger. 

Asked if she thought Obama might show up in North Dakota, Heitkamp said: “Nope, no.” 

“He threatened to campaign against me once so I don’t think he’s coming out there,” she said.

COMMENT:   Maybe Barack can book an hour to talk about his contributions to the American worker.  Question is, what would he do for the other 59 minutes?

The campaign begins officially on Tuesday.  The election is two months away.  This is going to get very, very tough.

September 2, 2018     Permalink

TODAY – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the formal end of World War II.  On this day in 1945, Japan signed the instruments of surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. 

On the weekend when Senator John McCain is buried, let us remember that his grandfather, Vice Admiral John Sidney McCain, was aboard the Missouri that day, observing the ceremony.  He died of a heart attack three days later, and was posthumously promoted to admiral.

In each generation we go through the ritual of disparaging the young, and wondering whether today's youth would meet the challenge that culminated in that surrender.  It is sometimes discouraging to see the antics on college campuses and the apparent contempt for patriotism among the new, "educated" generation. 

We should have more confidence.  Despite the destructiveness of the sixties generation, despite the attempts by the hard left to disparage this country, we still have a cadre of young people willing and able to serve.  And behind them are other young people who, if called upon, will acquit themselves well.  Our volunteer forces today probably comprise the best military force we have ever fielded.  And most of America is more like Kansas or South Carolina than Manhattan or Beverly Hills. 

It is up to us to provide the leadership that will guard our freedoms and our independence, and finally reform a failing educational system that could indeed bring our country to its knees.  Ronald Reagan warned that we're always one generation away from losing our freedoms.  That is the challenge we should think about on this 73rd anniversary of one of America's greatest triumphs.

September 2,  2018     Permalink

SEPTEMBER 1,  2018

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

THE NERVE! – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Ron Clarke, 51, regularly positions himself in front of Union Market, the snooty Park Slope grocery spot that a local realtor nicknamed “Millionaire Market.” The discerning Clarke, often seen holding a cup full of coins at the chain’s Seventh Avenue outpost, would not disagree.  Last Tuesday morning, shortly after blowing part of a previous day’s proceeds on a pair of lottery tickets (“I buy them once in a blue moon,” Clarke insisted), he told The Post, “By standing in front of Union Market, I get nice groceries.”  Clarke may rely on the kindness of strangers for sustenance, but he won’t take everything he is given — even if it’s high-quality fare from the ritzy store.  On a recent Sunday morning, a woman bought him an egg-salad sandwich. He sent her back inside to exchange it for tuna salad, and she complied without question.  “I do not eat the yellow of the egg; it does not agree with me,” Clarke said, sitting atop the blue milk crate that he keeps stashed in front of the building next door. “I like the white of the egg.”  Geez!  King of the panhandlers.  Well, at least the man has standards.

REAL ESTATE AVAILABLE – FROM FOX:  In a stunning scientific discovery, researchers have found water clouds inside Jupiter's Great Red Spot, raising the prospect that life may exist on the planet.  Jupiter's Great Red Spot, a storm that has been continuously observed since 1830, still remains a mystery to NASA and much of the scientific community, but the discovery of water clouds may lead to a greater understanding of the planet, its atmosphere and whether it ever held life, Clemson University astrophysicist Máté Ádámkovics said.  “Water may play a critical role in Jupiter’s dynamic weather patterns, so this will help advance our understanding of what makes the planet’s atmosphere so turbulent," Ádámkovics said in a statement.  Robert Mueller has announced that he's already looking for Trump associates up there.  He's prepared to travel.

REMINDER OF THE REAL WORLD – FROM AP:  An Afghan suspect in a Friday stabbing attack in Amsterdam had a “terrorist motive,” authorities said Saturday.  The US ambassador to the Netherlands said the two people wounded in the knife attack at the Dutch capital’s busy main railway station were both American citizens who were visiting the country.  Police shot and wounded a 19-year-old Afghan man immediately after the attack and were questioning him.  A dramatic photo captured by a passerby shows two police officers pointing their pistols at a man wearing jeans and sneakers lying on the ground inside a tunnel in the station.  Ambassador Pete Hoekstra issued a written statement saying embassy officials had been in touch with the victims or their families. Police said they had serious but not life-threatening injuries.  We await details, but the terms "Afghan suspect" and terrorist motive" lead me to believe that the attack was not carried out by agnostics.

September 1, 2018       Permalink

FLORIDA HEATS UP – AT 12:16 P.M. ET:  The candidates in the Florida gubernatorial race were just selected in Tuesday's primaries, and already the race for the governorship is red hot.  From AP:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Andrew Gillum, who engineered a surprising upset victory in Florida's Democratic primary this week, is picking up endorsements, money and plenty of national attention in the aftermath of his win.

But as the Tallahassee mayor mounts his bid to become Florida's first black governor, he is already coming under swift attack from Republican opponents who are trying to use a slow-moving corruption investigation into Tallahassee city government to portray Gillum as untrustworthy.

The investigation broke into the open last summer shortly after Gillum joined the race, but it was not extensively debated or discussed by his Democratic opponents before he won Tuesday's primary. But by Thursday, the Republican Governor's Association launched a digital ad that blasted Gillum. It focused on both the City Hall probe and an earlier incident in which Gillum paid back the city after he used city money to buy software that was used to send out campaign emails. Likewise, the campaign of U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, who won the GOP primary, is also trying to draw attention to the investigation.

The 39-year-old Gillum — who will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN"s "State of the Union" this Sunday —contends he is ready for the onslaught of attacks that have just begun to ramp up.

COMMENT:  This guy is a bad piece of work, but is a real smoothie.  He's being compared to Barack Obama, though he's actually to the left of Obama.  He's being financed by George Soros and backed by Bernie Sanders.  Under his leadership, Tallahassee has the highest crime rate in Florida.  He's already on record as favoring the impeachment of the president.  He wants to increase the corporate tax rate by 40 percent, which will drive jobs out of his state.  Enough said?

Congressman Ron DeSantis is the worthy Republican opponent, a man of high ability.  But DeSantis lacks Gillum's human touch, phony as it may be.  And Gillum has the excitement factor going for him.

We can hope that the Republicans run this race correctly.  The stakes are high.  It will be bitter.  The Dems are already playing the race card.  The press loves Gillum even more than it loved Obama.  If Gillum wins, he may wind up on the Dem 2020 ticket.

Work hard.

September 1, 2018       Permalink

POLITICAL INTRIGUE – AT 11:28 A.M. ET:  President Trump is going all out for Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.  The two have been bitter political foes, with Trump calling Cruz "Lyin' Ted" during the last presidential campaign.

The need to keep the Senate in GOP hands is motivating the new love fest.  From the Texas Tribune:

In a tweet Friday, President Donald Trump announced that he’d be coming to Texas in October to participate in “a major rally” for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican incumbent facing a tougher-than-usual challenge this year against Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso.

“I will be doing a major rally for Senator Ted Cruz in October. I’m picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find,” Trump tweeted Friday afternoon. “As you know, Ted has my complete and total endorsement. His opponent is a disaster for Texas — weak on Second Amendment, Crime, Borders, Military, and Vets!”

Cruz previously said he hoped the president would make a trip to Texas prior to the 2018 midterms. Donald Trump Jr., the son of the president, is also planning to visit the Lone Star State in September to campaign with Cruz, The Washington Post reported.

The rally will bring together two former political adversaries. During the 2016 election cycle, Cruz and Trump were pitted against each other in the GOP primary for president. During the race, Trump suggested during the 2016 presidential election that he had "dirt" on Cruz's wife and that Cruz's father was connected to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Cruz condemned Trump's statements at the time as "classless," calling him a "coward." Cruz later angered many Trump supporters by telling attendees at the national GOP convention to "vote your conscience" rather than explicitly endorsing Trump.

COMMENT:  I'm reminded of the fact that, at the start of World War II, President Roosevelt had to work with industrial leaders he had trashed regularly for about ten years.  This is the stuff of politics.  As the actor, Spencer Tracy, once said, sincerity is great, if you can learn to fake it. 

I guess we'll see the president and Senator Cruz faking it.  Don't be shocked, and vote for Cruz.

September 1,  2018     Permalink