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I appeared on Silvio Canto Jr's talk show from Dallas yesterday.  It's here.

APRIL 7,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 8:41 P.M. ET: 

FLORIDA – A new poll shows Republican Governor Rick Scott edging ahead of the terminally obnoxious former Governor Charlie Crist in this year's gubernatorial race.  Crist, as you'll recall, was a Republican who is now a Democrat, largely because he's no longer welcome in his own party.  Scott is only slightly ahead, but the trend is in his favor.  Most of his new support is coming from Republicans who are catching on that Crist is no longer one of them.

WHAT'D HE DO? – From The Hill:  "President Obama will speak next month at a gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of a Holocaust history foundation established by director Steven Spielberg.  The USC Shoah Foundation, created by Spielberg after he completed the film 'Schindler's List,' will honor Obama with its Ambassador to Humanity Award at an event in Los Angeles on May 7."  Yup, you read it right.  The guy who got the Nobel Peace Prize after two days in office now gets an "ambassador to humanity" award.  I guess no examples of his humanity had to be given.  The corpses in Syria are cheering. 

BAFFLING – From Fox:  "Al Sharpton on Monday dismissed a report portraying him as a one-time mob informant for the FBI, calling the claims old news and a 'crazy' attempt to discredit him.  'I don’t see this as news,' Sharpton told FoxNews.com.  'This has been brought up three or four times now. I don’t understand. It’s crazy.'  TheSmokingGun.com story describes in detail how Sharpton in the mid-1980s secretly recorded Mafia bosses and other underworld figures for an FBI-NYPD crime task force.  The 12,196-word story -- in which he is referred to as CI-7, short for confidential informant #7 -- says investigators got Sharpton to 'flip' after getting him close enough to agreeing to broker a drug deal connected to boxing promoter Don King that they could threaten him with charges."   It is an old story, but very probably a true one.  I can understand Sharpton denying it.  The Hudson River is very deep and very cold.

SHAZAM! – Reader and military historian Will Stroock first alerted us to this weeks ago.  From the San Diego Union-Tribune:  "This summer, San Diego will host the public unveiling of a military weapon that the Navy’s chief scientist calls a Star Wars-like technology that is nevertheless now viable.  In July, the Navy will hold a static display of its $500 million electromagnetic railgun prototype program at San Diego Naval Base, aboard the Joint High Speed Vessel Millinocket. It’s the same ship on which the Navy will perform the first maritime firing test of the weapon in 2016.  'The American public has never seen it,' said Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, in a recent telephone press conference."  The gun can fire a projectile 100 miles.  I hope Obama's defense cuts don't destroy it.

April 7, 2014       Permalink

A HOLLYWOOD WEEK – AT 9:43 A.M. ET:   The single most frequent request I get from readers is to write more about show business and popular culture.  I promise to do so, and then I break my promise.  But I promise to stop breaking my promise. 

Hollywood saw two milestones within the last week.  First, Doris Day turned 90.  For those of a certain age, Doris Day is an iconic figure.  First, she was one of the most famous singers of the 1940s and 1950s.  In fact, she was one of the best-selling recording artists of all time.  Her sultry rendition of "Sentimental Journey" in 1945, with its reminder of soldiers returning home, made her a star. 

She was a torch singer, meaning there was a sensual sizzle in her delivery.  But her peachy-cream, all-American looks attracted Hollywood, which launched her on a second career to film stardom.  This transition from torch singer to "the girl next door" led Oscar Levant, one of the great wits of the time, to remark, "I knew her before she was a virgin."

Doris Day starred in a number of films during the waning years of Hollywood's golden age, but may best be remember for starring, with James Stewart, in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Man Who Knew Too Much."  That movie also launched what came to be her signature song, "Que Sera, Sera (whatever will be, will be)." 

It is rare for anyone to be a major star in two media for the 20-30 years that Doris Day stayed at the top.  But the audience loved her, and made her.  At 90, she still gets film offers.

She is an animal-kindness advocate who has stayed with her cause for years.  No flash-in-the-pan activist is she.  She also is fiercely independent and a bit eccentric.  She was offered the Kennedy Center Honors, but turned the offer down because she refuses to fly. 

If you aren't that familiar with Doris Day's work, listen to her recordings and see her movies.  Her appeal is instant.

And another milestone:  Mickey Rooney has died at 93.   He was one of the last remaining actors to have achieved stardom in the 1930s.  In fact, I can think of only one other who is still living, and that is Olivia de Havilland, who starred in "Gone With the Wind" in 1939, and is now 97.  Rooney was never a particularly beloved figure, but he stayed famous for more than 70 years.  His fame was built largely on his early "Andy Hardy" films, made with Judy Garland.  A tiny man, he was also noted for marrying eight women, including the radiant Ava Gardner. 

He was an accomplished actor, probably underestimated because he was tagged as a "child star." 

I was able to watch Mickey Rooney in rehearsal, with the great dancer Ann Miller, when they were doing "Sugar Babies" on Broadway, in the 1970s.  He struck me as completely professional, very devoted to the show.  It's hard to think of him as gone.

Doris still lives.

April 7, 2014       Permalink

BROWN IN – AT 9:03 A.M. ET:  Scott Brown is about to jump into the Senate race in New Hampshire.  From The Hill: 

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) will announce he's running against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in New Hampshire on Thursday, The Hill has confirmed.

Brown's planned entrance into the race gives the GOP another pickup opportunity in a swing state, further expanding the map for the party as it looks to take back the Senate.

He has long been expected to run. Brown has flirted with a bid for months, moving from Massachusetts last year. He has been on a month-long "listening tour" in which he's publicly discussed a challenge to Shaheen, and said last week that he would definitely run against her.

Shaheen has led in most public polls by a high-single digit margin.

COMMENT:  I think this will be a very tough one.  First of all, Brown previously was a senator from neighboring Massachusetts, and was defeated for re-election by the flimsy Elizabeth Warren, now a spiritual darling of the trendy left.  To some in New Hampshire, Brown's bid will appear a mixture of desperation and opportunism.

Second, Shaheen is relatively popular.  She's not one of the knee-jerk Democrats who wait in line to kiss the ring of Barack Obama. 

Third, New Hampshire is in the Boston media market, which is emphatically liberal.  That has its effect. 

Fourth, Brown is an attractive candidate, but his one term in the Senate did not produce any stunning accomplishments, and in today's media rush he may be seen as old news.

Fifth, he is very well known, and people have already formed an opinion.   Making Shaheen's solid lead evaporate will not be easy.

I want Brown to win.  That would be one more vote toward GOP control of Congress.  But, if there is a heartbreaker for us in this year's midterms, it may well be in New Hampshire.  Fight, Scott, fight.

April 7, 2014       Permalink

A LESS THAN BURNING BUSH – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:  Jeb Bush is a very calm, reasoned guy, not given to bursts of high emotion.   He was an effective governor of Florida, and has shown considerable personal appeal.  Whether this translates into a presidential candidacy is another matter.  We'd have to see more of him.

But Bush's name has been all the rage recently, with powerful Republicans lining up to support him financially, the better to keep the party out of the hands of Rand Paul.  And Bush is now responding by discussing a candidacy openly.  He has also made a very controversial statement on illegal immigration.  From Fox: 

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has said that he would make a decision on whether to run for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination before the end of this year and said that some immigrants who enter the United States illegally do so as an "act of love" for their families.

Bush made the remarks in an interview broadcast on "Fox News Sunday" while attending a celebration of the 25th anniversary of his father's inauguration at George H.W. Bush's presidential library in College Station, Texas.

Without ever officially entering the race, Bush has emerged as a tantalizing Republican candidate. The Washington Post reported last week that some prominent Republican party officials and donors had launched a campaign to draft him into the race as an alternate to scandal-hit New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and libertarian-leaning Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

On Sunday, Bush said all the speculation about his candidacy is actually getting him more attention than if he had already entered the race.

Bush, who served two terms as Florida governor between 1999 and 2007, described the state of politics as "crazy right now," and added that one factor in his decision will be whether he can deliver an optimistic, hopeful message without getting drawn into a political "mud fight." He says the other main factor in his decision will be whether it's OK with his family if he ran.

And, on illegal immigration:

"It's an act of love. It's an act of commitment to your family," Bush said. "I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime. There should be a price paid, but it shouldn't rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families."

COMMENT:  Obviously, that is a statement that will enrage some conservatives.  But it may be a brilliant political stroke.  We know that we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.  We know that some path to their staying here legally must be found.  We also know that if the GOP can make a dent in the normally Democratic Hispanic vote, it could sail to victory in 2016. 

Jeb Bush is married to a Hispanic woman.  His children, as he likes to say, are brown.  By taking a stand on illegal immigration that combines both penalty and compassion, he may be heading for the only practical course open to the nation.  If his stands start showing dramatic poll results, he moves closer to a presidential nomination.

I'm certainly not saying that Bush is the best candidate, or would make the best president.  We should look over the whole bunch of prospects.  I'm saying that he's maneuvering, and he maneuvers well.  I have no problem with a presidential candidate being a shrewd politician.

April 7, 2014        Permalink

THE AIRLINER – AT 8:32 A.M. ET:  I watched the remarkable press conference given late last night by the head of the Australian team searching for the missing airliner.  One was struck by the carefulness and precision of his words.  This is the way professionals perform.  From CNN:

Malaysian officials said Monday that they were "cautiously hopeful" for decisive developments in the search for missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 hours after the Australian search coordinator said that a search ship had detected more signals consistent with those emitted from aircraft cockpit voice and flight data recorders -- so-called "black boxes" -- in an area of the Indian Ocean nearly three miles deep hundreds of miles off the western coast of Australia.

Malaysian defense minister Hishamuddin Hussein told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that he hoped the mystery of the plane's disappearance would be solved "in the next few days, if not hours."

Retired Australian Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston told reporters in Perth Monday that the latest detection of signals was "very encouraging" and "the best information we have.

"We've got a visual indication on a screen and we've also got an audible signal," Houston said, "and the audible signal sounds to me just like an emergency locator beacon."

However, he also stressed that the new findings did not constitute discovery of the plane, which disappeared early on the morning of March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Beijing.

"We have not found the plane," said Houston, who added that it may take days to confirm whether signals picked up by the Australian ship Ocean Shield are indeed from the flight recorders. Houston said the position of the noise needs to be further refined and an underwater autonomous vehicle can be sent in to investigate.

"In very deep oceanic water," Houston said, "nothing happens fast."

The Ocean Shield had been using a U.S. Navy towed pinger locater when it detected the sounds on two occasions over a period totaling more than two and a half hours in the northern part of the defined search area. The first ping was detected for approximately two hours and 20 minutes, and the second for 13 minutes on the ship's return trip over the same area.

If the Ocean Shield manages to pick up the signal again, the crew will launch a Bluefin-21 autonomous sub that can dive to about 14,800 feet and scan for wreckage. Given the fact that the sea floor in the area is approximately 14,800 feet deep -- and even deeper in some spots -- the sub will be operating to the limits of its capability, Houston said.

COMMENT:  It's hard to believe this can be anything else but the missing airliner.  However, I'm not a technical expert, so we'll wait and see.  But what a difference between the flow of information now and the earlier "announcements" from Malaysia, and other sources, that turned out to be nothing more than speculation.

Even if the plane is found, that will not tell us why it is thousands of miles off course, and how it came to crash without a single distress call.  This is truly one of the great aviation mysteries of the age.

April 7,  2014     Permalink

APRIL 6,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:20 P.M. ET: 

CHILLING THREAT – From Reuters:  "The head of the British branch of the Muslim Brotherhood warned on Sunday that Prime Minister David Cameron’s announcement last week that his government would investigate the group’s activities in the United Kingdom could invite terrorist attacks against civilians.  Speaking to The Sunday Times, Ibrahim Mounir, the Brotherhood’s most senior official in the UK, said that the government’s designation of his organization as a terrorist entity could be interpreted by its followers that violence was an option."  That is a direct threat against British civilians.  And yet, when the Brotherhood briefly took over Egypt, President Obama gave it considerable sympathy.  No wonder our allies are wondering.

DEM CONCEDES PROBLEMS – From Fox:  "Former top Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod acknowledged Saturday that Democrats face tough challenges in November, following a new Associated Press-GfK poll that shows voters increasingly appear to want Republicans over Democrats to control Congress.  'Every bit of evidence points to stronger GOP turnout in a low turnout elections this fall. Major hurdle for Ds,' Axelrod tweeted after the poll was released Saturday.  Thirty-seven percent in the poll last month chose Republicans, compared to 36 percent who said they would rather see Democrats in charge, with the November general elections seven months away.  Asked the same question in January, 39 percent favored the Democrats and 32 percent favored Republicans."  From his mouth to you know whose ears.

NEW TEAM IN TOWN? – From AP:  "Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Jeb Bush are starring in a new ad for a group seeking to rebrand the Republican Party.  Jindal and the former Florida governor promote NewRepublican.org in a 30-second spot that will air nationally during Fox News Sunday.  The group was launched last year by GOP consultant Alex Castellanos to help update the party's image and focus on ideas after its loss in the 2012 presidential election.  Bush talks about school choice in the ad, while Jindal promotes small government.  Both men are weighing presidential campaigns in 2016.  Bush has been traveling the country to talk about education and economic mobility, in addition to campaigning for Republican candidates. Jindal recently announced a plan to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law."  I like the notion that leading Republicans are talking about ideas and proposals, not just knocking Obama.  The GOP needs a positive image.  I look forward to seeing some of these ads.

April 6, 2014       Permalink

DEMS AND SENIORS – AT 10:37 A.M. ET:  A once-reliable Democratic voting bloc has, in recent decades, flipped to the other side.  From The Hill: 

Democrats are facing a senior problem that could get even worse this year.

The party has traditionally had trouble with older voters, losing them by 16 points in 2010 — when Republicans picked up 63 seats — and 12 points in the 2012 presidential race.

Seniors are the GOP’s most reliable voting bloc in midterm years, turning out in higher numbers than Democratic base voters. And a recent Gallup poll showed seniors have become even more Republican over the last two decades, and in 2013 48 percent considered themselves Republican.

That spells trouble for Democrats, who are already facing a difficult midterm climate. Doug Thornell, a former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesman, said it’s imperative to close the gap they faced in the last midterm cycle.

“Democrats have to perform better with seniors than they did in 2010. They got shellacked with seniors in 2010. I don’t think the goal here is to win, but I definitely think the goal is to narrow the gap,” he said.

COMMENT:  And what are the Dems doing?  Cutting Medicare.  That is a creative way to attract seniors.  So is the Democratic tendency to show disrespect for the America that most seniors revere.  Dems need to find a way to appeal to seniors, just as Republicans need to find a way to appeal to minorities.

April 6, 2014       Permalink

MORE MADNESS – AT 10:14 A.M. ET:  There was a time when the idea of college was to admit adolescents and turn them out as educated young adults.  The idea today, when colleges are run from the ideological left, is to admit adolescents and turn them out as uneducated babies.  What goes on would be hilarious, if it weren't so serious, and didn't cost $60,000 a year.  From the Daily Caller:   

Hypersensitive students and professors all over the country are about to score another victory for political correctness if they succeed in their mission to normalize the use of “trigger warnings,” which are intended to protect people from taking part in class discussions and media that might offend them.

Trigger warnings are most commonly attached to online news articles and blog posts. They warn readers that the post contains specific, offensive content. An article about sexual violence, for instance, might come with a trigger warning for rape victims. The idea is to prevent post traumatic stress.

But censorship-inclined activists are now eager to force professors to attach trigger warnings to their syllabi.

“Some students and professors argue that nearly everything should come with a trigger warning,” wrote Laurie Essig, a professor of psychology at Middlebury College and a contributor to the Chronicle of Higher Education. “Mrs. Dalloway? Trigger warning: suicidal tendencies. The Great Gatsby? Trigger warning: suicide, domestic abuse, graphic violence. Think I’m making this up? I’m not.”

Essig provided the example of a Rutgers University student who praised trigger warnings as an ideal compromise between free expression and censorship, noting that “by creating trigger warnings for their students, professors can help to create a safe space for their students — one that fosters positive and compassionate intellectual discussion within the collegiate classroom.”

Students at the University of California-Santa Barbara are doing their best to make their PC dreams a reality. The student government passed a resolution that urged administrators to adopt mandatory trigger warnings as official university policy last month.

“This is not meant to censor … but it really just asks that professors and other people on campus acknowledge the effects of triggering content on students with PTSD,” said Bailey Loverin, the student who sponsored the resolution, in a statement.

COMMENT:  I'd love to follow some of these students as they try to enter the adult world, if they ever do try.  They're in for a shock.

Imagine if they had to serve in the military. 

April 6, 2014       Permalink

AMERICA MOVES FORWARD – AT 10:01 A.M. ET:  We are, under Obama and his crowd, entering a world of weirdness.  From the College Fix: 

The insanity of Obamacare was on full display this weekend over the news that, under the Affordable Care Act, Northwestern University’s football team, once unionized, would receive maternity coverage through its mandated federal health insurance.

“Northwestern University became the first school in the nation to deem its football players full-time employees, thus making them eligible for union representation and health insurance benefits including maternity coverage,” Rare reported. ”The kicker is that under Obamacare, the Evanston, Ill.-based team, comprised of more than 50 ‘employees,’ is considered a ‘large employer’ and Northwestern must provide pregnancy-related health care for the all-male team.”

The ridiculousness of the situation was highlighted by Republican Ben Sasse, a leading critic of Obamacare and candidate for U.S. Senate in Nebraska.

In a YouTube video titled “Pregnant Football Players,” Sasse pointed out the National Relations Labor Board is appointed by President Barack Obama – and they’re the same folks who recently decided college football players at Northwestern are the equivalent of full-time employees and can form a labor union.

“Due to Obamacare, college athletics departments must provide maternity coverage to 18-year-old boys,” said Sasse, president of Midland University. ”This is insane.”

COMMENT:  Insanity, thy name is Barack.  And thy name is also the mainstream media.

April 6,  2014     Permalink