SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:48 P.M. ET:

NO CIVIL WAR THIS TIME – Our great constitutional crisis is over.  (Please see our 6:57 P.M. post).  President Obama has backed off his request to deliver a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 7th, at the same hour of a major Republican presidential debate.  Speaker Boehner had gently advised the president to bug off and come the next night.  The president has now agreed.  Even Rick Perry agrees there will be no secession over this incident.  The  president's request was widely seen as tacky, an attempt to take TV attention away from the GOP.  Now the debate and the speech will occur on separate nights.

A FULLY STOCKED HEADACHE – The major stock averages have suffered their worst August in ten years.  Our general economic problems were compounded by a serious debt crisis in Europe and, of course, by Standard & Poor's downgrading of the credit of the United States, the first time in our history that has been done.  In addition, the housing market, which represents the largest life investment for most Americans, continued awful, and possibly heading for more awful.  Happy days are here again.

HOLLYWOOD TURKEYS – Hollywood flopped again this summer.  While worldwide revenues are up a bit, movie attendance in the United States dropped for the fourth straight year.  Even hardened hype artists concede that this is now a trend in this country.  The reasons?  These are mine:  1) Rotten movies, most of which appeal only to a small, youthful segment of the audience; 2) ridiculously high ticket prices, especially at a time of economic squeeze; 3) a corrupted industry run by its least talented people, who have little understanding of how to put the "show" back in show business;  4) the reality that the most creative people no longer work in Hollywood, or necessarily want to.

FRANCE WARNS IRAN – With President Obama leading from behind, way behind, some other leaders with a higher guts quotient are taking up part of the fight against international thugs.  French President Sarkozy is warning Iran that continued Iranian attempts to build a nuclear bomb, and develop long-range missiles could lead to a preemptive attack by other nations.  Sarkozy said that this could lead to a major international crisis that Paris is determined to avoid.  Sarkozy charged that Iran is not negotiating seriously over the issue.  He did not name the country, or countries, who might launch a preemptive strike, but most observers believe he had Israel, perhaps with US backing, in mind.

August 31, 2011