SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET:

PATHETIC – From The Hill:  The nation’s most powerful symbol of strength and deterrence on the high seas won’t be in the Persian Gulf as much in the near future.   Although the Navy has maintained at least one aircraft carrier in or near the Gulf for the last seven years, it is planning longer periods where there will be no carriers there at all.  The reduced presence is happening as the U.S. prepares to enter into a nuclear deal with Iran. White House and defense officials assure lawmakers, critics, and allies that the military will keep up military pressure on the regime.  In fact, if the nuclear deal makes it past Congress, it could enter into effect during a two-month gap without a carrier in the Persian Gulf. The USS Theodore Roosevelt is scheduled to leave the region sometime in October, and its replacement, the USS Harry S. Truman, won’t arrive there until later in the winter.  What a pathetic way for a superpower to act.  What a signal this sends to our allies.  But it's Obama's dream – a weak United States, stronger Muslim states.  How will we explain this to our children? 

SOCIAL NEWS – From London's Daily Mail:   America's two foremost Democratic families - the Obamas and the Clintons - mingled on Saturday night as politics mixed with summer repose on swanky Martha's Vineyard.  US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia, and former president Bill Clinton and his wife, the Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, were star guests at the 80th birthday party for their mutual friend Vernon Jordan.  So important was the event deemed to be that Hillary broke off from her campaign to fly 1,300 miles from Iowa State Fair, where she had been speaking earlier in the day.   Other guests at the party for civil-rights activist Jordan included Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault and former Baltimore Orioles player Brian Roberts.  Although the party was private, guests could be heard rocking out to the Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson dance hit Uptown Funk.  Wonder what Hillary felt, in the presence of a president who might have to decide whether to prosecute her or not, or give her a presidential pardon.  I'm sure she smiled and told jokes, and mentioned her love of Africa.

CRIME SOARS IN D.C. – From WaPo:  Authorities are grappling with the District’s escalating homicide count. As of Sunday there were 93 so far this year, a 23 percent increase over the 72 at the same time last year. One challenge for police is that the violence has not been contained to any particular part of the city.  Although some areas that have been persistent pockets of crime continue to see shootings, the uptick in violence also has affected many neighborhoods key to the city’s growth and revitalization. Residents in Northwest are complaining about more gunfire, from Columbia Heights to Petworth, from Park View to Logan Circle.   Amazing.  Everyplace Obama lives becomes a shooting gallery.  Chicago.  Washington.  I have no doubt he'll blame the gun manufacturers, Republicans, and the Israel lobby.  That is, if he can take enough time away from his next party to notice.

August 16, 2015