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

OCTOBER 27,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – 9:55 P.M. ET: 

A MERE COINCIDENCE – Early voters in Illinois reported last week that voting machines switched their votes from Republican to Democratic.  And now this, from Fox:  "Voting machines that switch Republican votes to Democrats are being reported in Maryland.  'When I first selected my candidate on the electronic machine, it would not put the x on the candidate I chose — a Republican — but it would put the x on the Democrat candidate above it,' Donna Hamilton said.  'This happened multiple times with multiple selections. Every time my choice flipped from Republican to Democrat. Sometimes it required four or five tries to get the x to stay on my real selection,' the Frederick, Md., resident said last week."  Just a coincidence.  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  But I'd be awfully careful a week from Tuesday."

HILLARY CLARIFIES – You know, as Brit Hume suggested tonight, Hillary may not be quite the politician that some Dems think she is.  From The Politico:  "Hillary Clinton on Monday mopped up her botched statement from a rally in Massachusetts last week, making it clear she’d misspoken and hadn’t intended to deliver a fresh economic policy message... 'Don’t let anybody tell you that corporations and businesses create jobs,' Clinton had said at the rally in Boston, where she appeared on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley along with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a populist, anti-Big Banks crusader who has become the wished-for candidate from some progressives for 2016.  A Clinton aide later said the former secretary of state had meant to talk about tax breaks for corporations and businesses in that sentence, which led into a line about how trickle-down economics had 'failed spectacularly' — a sentiment she has long held."  A little late for a correction.  We know what she said.  She was appeasing the far left of her party, and it backfired.  Bill was Slick Willy.  Now we have Slick Hilly.

AND THE FACTS COME OUT – From Gateway Pundit:  "The Ebola nurse who attacked Governor Christie for putting her in quarantine after returning from Africa is a Progressive with ties to the CDC.  Her LinkedIn profile was scrubbed this weekend.  Natural News reported:  'Kaci Hickox, the nurse who was quarantined in New Jersey over her high risk status as a possible Ebola carrier, has ties to the CDC which have been deliberately hidden by the mainstream media.  Right now, a war is waging between states like New Jersey, New York and Illinois — which have all decided to quarantine travelers at high risk of Ebola infections — and the federal government which is adamantly opposed to border security, medical quarantines and travel bans.  Kaci Hickox emerged in the center of this debate just yesterday when she complained of being “interrogated” and held in violation of her civil rights...It turns out that Kaci Hickox is a registered democrat and Obama supporter who works for the CDC.'"  If it weren't for the internet, we probably never would have learned that.  It's the way the Obama crowd operates.

GIVING IT A SHOT – Can't tell whether this is a wise business decision or just nostalgia.  From Fox Business:  "Ford Motor Co's (F) new chief executive, Mark Fields, is giving the automaker's long-moribund Lincoln brand what his predecessor Alan Mulally never could: a little love and a lot of cash.  Lincoln, a storied Detroit brand which Ford has owned since 1922, has been in a swoon for the past two decades, leaving dealers and customers wondering if Ford management had left the brand for dead.  Now, with the renewed backing of Executive Chairman Bill Ford and the company's board, Fields has committed the automaker to a a multiyear, multibillion-dollar overhaul of Lincoln that includes a significant investment in a new premium vehicle platform that will underpin several future Lincoln vehicles, four sources told Reuters."  Well, I hope it works, for the good of the employees.  But the lack of energy and imagination on the part of American car companies in the last 40 years has been astounding.  Compare please to Silicon Valley. 

October 27,  2014     Permalink

YIKES! – AT 10:18 A.M. ET:   The Boston Globe, one of the most liberal mainstream papers in the country, yesterday endorsed the Republican candidate for governor of the People's Republic of Massachusetts.  Is something happening among some liberals?  Is the bad experience with Obama forcing them to grow up?  We hope so, but we'll wait and see.

Not all is entirely well in the Commonwealth, though. In cities and towns far removed from the shiny new towers of Cambridge’s Kendall Square or Boston’s Seaport District, the economic picture looks much dimmer. Meanwhile, cracks are showing in the edifice of state government itself. The Department of Children and Families, the Probation Department, the state crime lab, the board that regulates compounding pharmacies, the state Labor Department’s unemployment system, the Health Connector website — voters have come to know all these terms as shorthand for the kind of bureaucratic failures that make them doubt state government’s ability to help Massachusetts move forward.

Effective activist government isn’t built on good intentions. To provide consistently good results, especially for the state’s most vulnerable and troubled residents, agencies need to focus on outcomes, learn from their errors, and preserve and replicate approaches that succeed. Baker, a former health care executive, has made a career of doing just that. During this campaign, he has focused principally on making state government work better. The emphasis is warranted. And in that spirit, the Globe endorses Charlie Baker for governor.

COMMENT:  Who woulda thunk it?  I hope the Globe editors have hired food tasters.  Liberals in Massachusetts don't forget and don't forgive.

Baker is leading in the polls.  Massachusetts may well have a Republican governor, and a new national figure.

October 27, 2014       Permalink

SERIOUS WARNING – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:  We've noticed that serious warnings are being issued almost every day about the progress of the Islamic State, while Obama fiddles.  From Defense News: 

BERLIN — Germany’s intelligence service believes Islamic State jihadist fighters in northern Iraq possess anti-aircraft weapons that could take down passenger jets, according to a newspaper report Sunday.

The BND federal intelligence service had told German lawmakers about its suspicion in a confidential briefing late last week, reported the Bild am Sonntag newspaper without citing named sources.

In the briefing, the BND reportedly warned that IS fighters possess portable rocket launchers captured from Syrian army stocks. Some dated from the 1970s, while others were modern and advanced.

The shoulder-mounted rocket launchers — known as Man Portable Air Defense Systems or MANPADS — were of Russian design but may have been manufactured in other countries including Bulgaria or China, the report said.

COMMENT:  This is one of those nightmare scenarios.  We've also had solid reports that MANPADS are missing from arsenals in Libya. 

Sooner or later, someone is going to bring down an airliner, or more than one.  Aside from the obvious human tragedy involved, the disruption to the international aviation system could be financially catastrophic.  The Islamic State must be crushed, along with the other Islamic terror groups.  We're playing with fire, and the president of the United States has yet to put on his fire hat.

Oh, by the way, visualize a MANPAD, broken down into parts, and smuggled across our Southern border.

October 27, 2014       Permalink

WHERE IT STANDS – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  It's a series of polls, and the only poll that counts will be taken a week from tomorrow.  The key to interpreting these polls is to hold off and match them against polls taken over next weekend.  Often, in the final week of a campaign, we see a shift that tells us that the final holdouts are making up their mind.  From The Politico: 

Republicans are on the precipice of taking control of the Senate for the first time in eight years, new NBC News/Marist polls released Sunday show, but the GOP has yet to lock up many of the key battleground races.

The surveys show the Republican candidate with slight, inside-the-margin advantages in three of the hardest-fought contests for Democratic-held seats: Arkansas, Colorado and Iowa. North Carolina is a dead heat.

Republicans’ brief scare in South Dakota appears to be over, with Mike Rounds now leading by double digits. But the party still faces danger in Kansas, where an independent candidate is in a virtual tie with the GOP incumbent.

NBC/Marist didn’t poll all of this year’s competitive Senate races. But with Montana, West Virginia and South Dakota in the GOP column, Republicans need to pick up just three seats in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana and North Carolina.

Republicans have a cushion. Five of those states currently lean toward the GOP, poll averages show, while North Carolina is still a toss-up. They also are closing the gap in New Hampshire. But the party may need to pick up additional seats if it loses Georgia, Kansas (if the independent conferences with Democrats) or Kentucky.

COMMENT:  From what I've seen, that seems to be a sound analysis.  The fact is, the election can go either way.   Our side must pour it on this week.  No overconfidence, as President Dewey might have told us.

October 27, 2014       Permalink

FRESH AIR – AT 8:45 A.M. ET:  We're havin' an election next week.  We're focused on the results.  Fortunately, we have some people who are thinking about how things should be done after the election.  From The Politico: 

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy landed here from Los Angeles with a bang: he bluntly warned that Republicans will blow the presidency in 2016 if they don’t make some radical changes - and quick.

McCarthy, speaking without a working microphone, told a group of Long Island donors that their gains in the House will amount to little if they can’t govern over the next two years.

“I do know this,” McCarthy said, standing in front of a group of Long Island donors. “If we don’t capture the House stronger, and the Senate, and prove we could govern, there won’t be a Republican president in 2016.”

The crowd groaned at his prediction. McCarthy feels the same.

In a series of interviews with POLITICO in his office in D.C., in a Capitol Police SUV in New York and aboard a rented private jet flying above the Empire State, McCarthy, who became the No. 2 Republican in the House this summer, laid out in the richest detail yet his goals for a Republican controlled Capitol Hill.

Legislative cliffs are over. One muscular, unified agenda will bridge both chambers. If he has his way, House and Senate Republicans will kick off the year at a joint retreat to get on the same page. He and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) have already been holding private dinners with lawmakers from both chambers to build relationships.

COMMENT:  It's a beginning.  A needed beginning.  We may win next week, but be under no illusions.  Every poll shows that the Republican Party is unpopular.  Voters often feel it is detached, aloof, and incapable of government.  McCarthy is out to change that, to govern the nation, and prepare properly for 2016.  The Democrats are learning, with great pain, what it's like to have a man who knew how to run for president, but had no idea how to be president.  Let's not make that mistake.

October 27,  2014    Permalink

OCTOBER 26,  2014

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

JEB – From the Miami Herald:  "Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is 'moving forward' on a potential 2016 White House run and it appears more likely he will enter the Republican field, according to his son, who's running for office in Texas.  George P. Bush told ABC's 'This Week' that his father is 'still assessing' a presidential bid, but suggested it was more likely that he would seek the White House this time. The ex-governor declined to run for president in 2012 despite encouragement from Republicans.  'I think it's more than likely that he's giving this a serious thought and moving — and moving forward,' said the younger Bush, who is running for Texas land commissioner."  Would make it an even more interesting race.  Bush vs. Clinton – the clash of the dynasties. 

OH JOY – From the Washington Post:  "In case anyone needed another reason to love chocolate, a new study suggests that a natural compound found in cocoa, tea and some vegetables can reverse age-related memory loss.  The findings suggest that the compound increases connectivity and, subsequently, blood flow in a region of the brain critical to memory, the researchers said.  The study — published online Sunday in Nature Neuroscience and partly financed by a chocolate company — found that flavanols reverse mild memory loss in older adults. Using brain scans and memory tests, the latest study built on previous work showing that flavanols extracted from cocoa beans had improved neuronal connections in mice’s dentate gyrus, a part of the brain involved in memory formation."  I can now proudly justify my dietary sins – I need the memory to serve my readers.  Stop laughing. 

RICHARDSON FINALLY GETS IT – From The Hill:  "Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) said the U.S.'s relationship with North Korea is in 'very bad shape,' despite the recent release of U.S. citizen Jeffrey Fowley, 56.  Richardson, who's visited North Korea nearly ten times in his work as a diplomat, attributed the failed relationship to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's brass regime.  'He's ordered nuclear detonation, missile tests — he hasn't exactly warmed the hearts of his neighbors and the U.S.-North Korea relationship is in very bad shape right now,' he said.."  I never would have known it.  Please don't tell Barack.

October 26, 2014       Permalink

FREE AT LAST – AT 11:31 A.M. ET:  The women of Colorado appear not to be following the script written for them by left-wing Democrats.  Ah, independence.  From the Washington Examiner: 

DENVER, Colo. — There is a gender gap in the Senate race here in Colorado, and, contrary to popular perception, it is Mark Udall's problem.

The race between the incumbent Democratic senator and his Republican challenger, Rep. Cory Gardner, has at times been a mire of gender politics. For months, Udall attacked Gardner incessantly on the issues of abortion and birth control, in an effort to run up an advantage among women voters so large that it would ensure victory on Nov. 4.

But that's not how things are working out. According to a variety of public and private polling, while Udall enjoys a lead among Colorado women, Gardner has a far bigger advantage among men. The difference is so pronounced that if it continues through election day, Gardner will win.

There are a lot of competing numbers on the gender gap, and none of them are good for Udall. A recent Quinnipiac poll found Udall leading by four points among women — but Gardner leading by 13 points among men. Another recent poll, by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, also found Udall up by four points among women, with Gardner leading by 11 points among men. A CNN poll more than a week ago found Udall leading by nine points among women, but Gardner leading by an astonishing 20 points among men. Any of those scenarios would be disastrous for the Democrat.

COMMENT:  It's the old story.  Democratic policies on women are dictated by radical feminists, who really do believe that American women get up every morning thinking about abortion. 

Udall's campaign has been an insult to women, a talking-down, an infantilization.  His numbers among women serve him right.

October 26, 2014       Permalink

OUTRAGEOUS – AT 11:16 A.M. ET:   The painful cost of irresponsible immigration policy.  Expect more of this if Obama issues his expected amnesty...after the election.  From Fox: 

The suspect alleged to have shot three northern California sheriff's deputies Friday, killing two, was deported twice and has a criminal record, federal officials said late Saturday.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman said that the fingerprints of the suspected shooter match those of a man named Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte. Monroy-Bracamonte was initially deported to Mexico in 1997 after being convicted of drug possession in Arizona. Four years later, he was arrested and deported again for an unspecified offense.

"The fingerprints were the basis for our request for an immigration detainer," ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice told The Associated Press. The detainer requests that local authorities transfer him to federal custody after his case is adjudicated so ICE can purse his deportation, Kice said.

The suspect initially identified himself as Marcelo Marquez, 34, of Salt Lake City. He is charged with two counts each of murder, attempted murder and carjacking. The suspect's wife, Janelle Marquez-Monroy, was also arrested Friday and charged with carjacking and attempted murder

And...

A search of Utah court records under Marcelo Marquez's name shows a history of about 10 tickets and misdemeanor traffic offenses between 2003 and 2009. Those records list one speeding ticket for Monroy in 2009 and three small claims filings attempting to collect outstanding debts.

COMMENT:  This whole case requires a full investigation, and a journalistic investigation as well.  Had the law been enforced, those officers might still be alive.   How did the suspect get back into this country, twice?

October 26, 2014       Permalink

SHE SPEAKS – WITH HER USUAL BRILLIANCE – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  We sometimes forget that Hillary Clinton was a less-than-stellar candidate in 2008.   She'd stumble, she'd utter the gaffe, she sometimes didn't know quite what to say.  In Ronald Reagan's terms, there she goes again.  Hillary has now given us a quote for the ages.  From Fox: 

At a Democratic rally Friday in Massachusetts, Hillary Clinton’s attempt to attack “trickle-down economics,” resulted in a spectacularly odd statement, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

Clinton defended raising the minimum wage saying “Don’t let anybody tell you that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs, they always say that.”

She went on to state that businesses and corporations are not the job creators of America. “Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s corporations and businesses that create jobs,” the former Secretary of State said.

Clinton’s comment will likely be used frequently to attack her as another big-government Democrat. She is seen by many as already running for president in 2016.

COMMENT:  Who does Hillary think creates the jobs in America?  The Department of Not Much Education?  That quote will haunt her.  Yes, governments do create some jobs – mostly government jobs, and government does have a proper role.  But the overwhelming number of jobs are created by business, especially small business.  And it's small business that is hurting under Democratic policies.

Maybe Hill just won't make it after all.  I do hope our side is quick enough to hang that quote on her right now!

October 26,  2014     Permalink