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

NOT BAD FOR AN OLD MARXISTS – From the New York Post:  "JOHANNESBURG — The executors of Nelson Mandela’s estate say he left behind about $4.1 million and that the will’s beneficiaries include his family, members of his staff, schools that he attended and the African National Congress, the liberation movement during white rule that now governs South Africa."  And I'll bet not one of the beneficiaries will question whether some of the cash came from "dirty capitalist" sources.

WENDY'S WAYS – Wendy Davis, until recently the Dems' great hope for the governorship of Texas, is having a tough time with her carefully cultivated image as brave Wendy, come to save us.  First, we learned that she had some previously unreported "assistance" along the way.  (Does the term "Sugar daddy" come to mind?)  Now we find that Wendy, when using other people's money, has very expensive tastes.  From NRO:  "The gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Wendy Davis filed its January semiannual finance report with the Texas Ethics Commission, detailing how much donors have given the campaign and how it’s being spent.  She may have once been 'living in a tiny trailer' – at least for four months – but Wendy Davis’s campaign ensures she sleeps in better places these days.  When in New York, she stayed at the Sofitel, running up $1,545.55 in charges from October 22 to 24.   When in San Francisco from August 17 to 19, she stayed at the Fairmont Hotel, running up $1,015.27 in charges."  She'd be great with the budget of Texas, wouldn't she?

A FEW TECHNICAL PROBLEMS – From Fox:  "Thousands of people who tried to sign up for a health plan via the federal health-care exchange website, Healthcare.gov, have seen their appeals to fix site issues go unanswered.  The Washington Post, citing internal government data, reports that approximately 22,000 Americans have filed appeals to try and get site errors corrected. The complaints range from being denied coverage altogether to being overcharged for coverage to being steered into the wrong program.  So far, months after the site launched October 1, the appeals have been untouched. What's more, the Post reports, people who have tried to call the marketplace directly for assistance, have been told that the Healthcare.gov computer system is not yet allowing workers to correct enrollment records.  In theory, error appeals can be filed through the site itself, by phone, or by mail. However, only the mail appeal is currently available. But according to the Post, the appeal by mail process only goes as far as scanning the seven-page forms and transferring them to a computer system, where they currently sit unread and uncorrected."  We're talking about life-and-death issues here.  Note the deep concern on the part of the Obama press.

HIS INSPIRATION – From Breitbart:  "President Barack Obama's home state, which has been governed by Democrats throughout his national political career, has slipped in the rankings and now has the third-worst unemployment rate in the nation. Though the jobless rate was the same in December 2013 (8.6%) as in December 2012, the state's labor force declined by a staggering 80,000 workers, according to Michael Lucci of the Illinois Policy Institute."  But the Republican-run states nearby, Wisconsin and Indiana, are doing well.  Is there a lesson there?

February 3, 2014