SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:31 P.M. ET: 

TOUGH GUY (CHOKE) – President Barack Obama said that SONY was wrong to cancel "The Interview" over threats from North Korea.  It took the president some time to announce his view that submission to terrorists threats was wrong, and he didn't seem all that passionate about it.  The president reiterated his position that North Korea would be punished in some way.  The North Koreans do not seem particularly nervous over this prospect, having dealt with Field Marshal Obama before.  Meanwhile, some Hollywood scribes are suggesting, to our shock and dismay, that SONY may have actually pulled "The Interview" to avoid further embarrassing disclosures by the North Korean hackers who have released e-mails from SONY executives and others.  Careers and egos, after all, are precious.

MR. SMALL TIME – In a particularly demeaning (to Canada) statement, Mr. Obama ridiculed the benefits of the proposed Keystone Pipeline, saying it would primarily benefit Canadian oil companies, as if our closest ally doesn't interest him at all.  Americans overwhelmingly favor the pipeline, but it is opposed by well-heeled enviro-nuts in the Democratic Party.  The new Republican Congress will undoubtedly pass legislation authorizing the pipeline, but the president's statement today strongly hinted that he will veto it.  This will thrill Manhattan and Beverly Hills.

STUNNING – From Fox:  "Parents in Farmville, North Carolina want to know why their children were given a Common Core vocabulary assignment in an English class that promoted the Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic faith.  'It really caught me off guard,' a Farmville Central High School student who was in the class told me. 'If we are not allowed to talk about any other religions in school – how is this appropriate?'
The Islamic vocabulary worksheet was assigned to seniors.  'I was reading it and it caught me off guard,' the student told me. 'I just looked at it and knew something was not right – so I emailed the pages to my mom.'"  If there were any promotion of Western religions in that class, the ACLU and The New York Times would be on the case within minutes.  Notice the silence. 

December 19, 2014