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

IDIOT – From Breitbart:  Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation Sunday, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns told host John Dickerson he believes America is still a racist nation, and those who have questioned the legitimacy of President Obama’s birth certificate, namely, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, have done so as an alternative to using the N-word.  Burns outlived his usefulness years ago.  His Civil War series on PBS was excellent, but it's been downhill ever since.  He is a race-obsessed leftist, a graduate of ultra-leftist Hampshire College.  In my view, his constant anti-American drumbeat has diminished his effectiveness as a filmmaker.

MESSAGE TO HILLARY? – From The Hill:  The White House on Monday said President Obama may offer an endorsement in the Democratic primary, which could pit his former secretary of State against his vice president.  Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the front-runner for the party's nomination, but Vice President Biden is looking at the race.  “I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an endorsement during the Democratic primary,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters on Monday.  That means there'll be an endorsement, and it will go to Biden.  I can't imagine Obama really wanting Hillary to be president, especially with legal problems hanging over her.  By contrast, he's known to have a warm relationship with Biden.

THE NERVE – From Reuters:   MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday the United States has been sending "signals" that it wants to start mending ties with Moscow, badly strained over the past year and a half by the conflict in Ukraine.  The United States and European Union slapped economic sanctions on Russia last year after its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and support for a separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.  Moscow, which denies arming the rebels, responded with its own counter-sanctions against Western countries.  Why would we want to mend ties when the Ukraine situation is still unresolved?  Again, as with Iran, it looks like Obama is on an appeasement mission.  I wonder what we'll give away this time.  Probably Ukraine.

August 24, 2015