SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

FINALLY – From AP:  "MIAMI (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the relatively short amount of time he has left in office 'really concentrates the mind.'  For the first time.

GOOD IDEA? – From The Hill:  "Nebraska abolished its death penalty Wednesday after a political standoff over the use of capital punishment in the Cornhusker State.  Lawmakers in the unicameral Legislature voted 30-19 to override a veto issued by Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) over their initial legislation ending the practice.  The landmark vote makes Nebraska the first traditionally red state to eliminate the death penalty since 1973, according to the ABC News affiliate in Omaha.  Nebraska now joins 18 other states and Washington, D.C., in banning executions."  One can argue the case either way, but at least this was done by a state legislature, and not some unaccountable court. 

PROFOUND – After the U.S. Justice Department announced indictments of major soccer officials of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), The New York Times ran an editorial headlined
FIFA’s Corruption Stains World Soccer.  We express appreciation to The Times for its deep insight.

OUT OF HIS MIND – From AP:   "WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul is blaming his own party for the rise of the Islamic State group.  The freshman senator from Kentucky said Wednesday that the GOP's foreign policy hawks 'created these people.' That assertion led potential 2016 rival Bobby Jindal, Louisiana's governor, to say Paul was unqualified to be president.  The Islamic State group, commonly referred to as ISIS, has seized one-third of Iraq and Syria and in recent days made gains in central Iraq.  'ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party who gave arms indiscriminately,' Paul said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' He continued: 'They created these people. ISIS is all over Libya because these same hawks in my party loved — they loved Hillary Clinton's war in Libya. They just wanted more of it.'"  For months Rand Paul tried to separate himself from the extreme foreign-policy views of his father.  Now he's moving closer to dad.  I think that, from here on, he'll be seen as the fringe candidate that he really is.  He and his father use the Republican Party, but are not really part of it.  ISIS was created by an extreme ideology, not by John McCain.

May 27, 2015