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

THE TOLERANCE OF LIBERALS – FROM PAGE SIX:   Be careful what you say about Donald Trump at New York restaurants.  Allan Block of Block Communications — owner of swing-state outlets the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Blade of Toledo, Ohio — and his wife, Susan, owner of Vendome Pastry, and friends were dining at white-hot eatery Le Coucou when there was a “mention of the merits of Trump’s performance at the second presidential debate” at the table, a spy said.  “That drew requests from staff to quiet down due to their upsetting vocal support for the nominee,” the spy added.  Who would want to go into a place like that?  Oh so Soviet.

SOUTH AFRICA DOWN THE DRAIN – FROM COLLEGE FIX:   Reason’s Robby Soave reports that at South Africa’s University of Cape Town this past week, students known as “Fallists,” which stands for (hashtag) “Science Must Fall,” told university officials that “the whole thing” — as in science — “should be scratched off, especially in Africa.”  “How do we even start to decolonize science?” a Fallist panelist asks those assembled.  She follows up by saying that if one is “personally committed to enforcing decolonization,” since science is a “product of racism,” it all “should be scratched off.”  I guess that will be the next big thing in the Ivy League.  No more Salk Vaccine.  No more Einstein.  Let's race forward.

IS IT NUTTY OR WISE? – FROM REALCLEARPOLITICS:   At a campaign rally in Portsmouth, NH on Saturday afternoon, Donald Trump challenged Hillary Clinton to take a drug test prior to competing in the third presidential debate. Trump promised he was clean, saying: "I'm willing to do it."  He mocked Hillary Clinton's memory, saying she told the FBI "I don't remember" 39 times when questioned about her private email server. "Maybe that's why she has to do debate prep," Trump quipped. "Cause she's got a bad memory."  "A lot of things are going on folks," he continued. "I think she's actually getting pumped up if you want to know the truth."  "She's getting pumped up. You understand?"  Aside from drug tests, what about lie detector tests?  They may be imperfect, but compare please to the mainstream media.

October 15,  2016