SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

NO NAME BEATS OBAMA – This must be humiliating to a man presented to us as a demigod.  A new Gallup poll shows that a generic Republican candidate would defeat President Obama by 47-39%.  Preference had been pretty evenly divided in recent polls.  The gap, 44-34%, is even wider among independents.  Of course, the election is 16 months away, and a named Republican candidate may actually do worse than the generic guy, so polls like this are significant largely as signs of trends, or as entertainment. 

SAN FRAN NAN SPEAKS – Nancy Pelosi says that President Obama is displaying more patience than the Biblical figure, Job, in debt negotiations.  “I want to commend the president – I have never seen – Job is no place compared to this president in terms of patience,” said Pelosi.  Pelosi knew Job personally.  Next week's claims:  Obama is wiser than Solomon and clocks more miles than Moses.

HOW SWEET IT MAY BE – Television news organizations, especially CNN and NBC, have been relishing the revelations that News Corporation, which owns the very hot Fox News, is in trouble because reporters working for one of its tabloids hacked into private telephones to get stories.  This is a scandal involving journalistic ethics.  Yet, strangely, I have yet to hear a single, traditionally required line in any network or cable newscast informing viewers that Fox News is a competitor, and that the network or cable system may have a financial interest in the story if Fox is weakened.  You'd think someone would have noticed, and corrected the lapse.  I guess ethics are for the other guy.

WILL THEY TAKE AWAY OBAMA'S CREDIT CARD? – Moody's said it yesterday, now Standard & Poor's is warning that the country's credit rating may be lowered if it doesn't put its fiscal house in order and make sure its debt obligations are met.  Did you ever think you'd see the United States in this position?  I guess the president won't get any more of those "you're pre-approved" letters from Bank of America.  No way to live.

July 14, 2011