Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

SEPTEMBER 25,  2015

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:53 P.M. ET:

EDUCATION NEWS – From lifesitenews.com:   LONDON, September 22, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – British three-year-olds should be taught to accept transgender playmates and explore their own gender using storybooks featuring androgynous penguins, MPs heard last week.  But a parents' group says three is too young for gender issues, and that children are already being overloaded with ineffective social messaging.  Why wait until they're three?  It's those one-year-old bigots who are the real threat.

MANIACS – You cannot make this up:  From Reuters:   Mayors from eighteen U.S. cities signed a letter to President Obama saying they are willing to take even more refugees than what has been proposed by the administration.  “We will welcome the Syrian families to make homes and new lives in our cities,” wrote the mayors, all of whom are part of the Cities United for Immigration Action coalition...The mayors who signed included New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh.  I wonder how their constituents feel.  Chicago is on the verge of bankruptcy.  Baltimore is in chaos.  New York is deteriorating rapidly under the Marxist de Blasio.  And they volunteer to take "refugees," many of whom may not even be refugees.  Call this a "more votes for Democrats" idea. 

MAJOR PROBLEM CONFRONTED – From Fox:   Stressed-out students at an increasing number of universities can forget about catching winks in a hammock, because school officials are more worried about the stress the sling-style bedding puts on trees.  Michigan State University is one of the latest schools to ban hammocking, after determining the rope-and-canvas island staples put too much pressure on trees.  “We’re not anti-hammock," Frank Telewski, a Michigan State plant biology professor and curator of the campus arboretum, told The Wall Street Journal. "We’re anti-tree damage.”  I've always suspected the pro-hammock crowd of being anti-tree.  It's a particularly ugly form of bigotry.  Trees deserve their freedom, including the right to marry.

September 25, 2015       Permalink

JUST ONE MORE LIE – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  Hillary has been caught again.  It's getting so routine.  From Fox: 

Documents released by a conservative watchdog group Thursday show Hillary Clinton personally signed official forms in 2012 that allowed her top aide to attain status as a special government employee (SGE), despite the Democratic presidential frontrunner's denial of any involvement in the situation during a recent interview.

The arrangement enabled Huma Abedin to work both for Clinton at the State Department and the corporate consulting firm Teneo, as well as carry out duties on behalf of the Clinton Foundation. Abedin's status has led some lawmakers to raise questions about the possibility of conflicts of interest during Clinton's time as secretary of state.

The document, obtained by Judicial Watch as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, shows that Clinton signed off on a title change for Abedin on March 23, 2012. The aide's dual role didn't go into effect until that June. The document's release was first reported by Politico.

The Clinton campaign and lawyers for Abedin have denied any wrongdoing. On Thursday, the Clinton campaign told Politico that the document signed by Clinton merely approved the title change brought about by Abedin's new status, not the status change itself.

In an interview with NBC's Andrea Mitchell that aired Sept. 4, Clinton was asked about the propriety of Abedin collecting a salary from the State Department and Teneo, which was founded by a longtime aide to former President Bill Clinton.

"Well, you know, I was not directly involved in that," Clinton answered. "But everything that [Abedin] did was approved, under the rules, as they existed, by the State Department."

COMMENT:  There have been so many lies that we're used to them, which is a danger.  Daniel Patrick Moynihan used to warn of "defining deviancy down," the process whereby we accept things like dishonesty and corruption because they've become an everyday part of the social system. 

Have we reached the point where the dishonesty of the Clintons will simply be accepted as part of the price we must pay? 

September 25, 2015       Permalink

AGREEMENT WITH DONALD – AT 10:58 A.M.  ET:   A new poll shows that an overwhelming number of Americans do agree with Donald Trump – that America isn't as great as it used to be.  From Bloomberg: 

Americans are “fed up” with politics, suspect the wealthy are getting an unfair edge, and think the country is going in the wrong direction, according to a new Bloomberg Politics poll that lays bare the depth and breadth of the discontents propelling outsider candidates in the Republican presidential field.

The survey shows that 72 percent of Americans think their country isn't as great as it once was—a central theme of front-runner Donald Trump's campaign. More than a third prefer a presidential candidate without experience in public office.

Three of the four candidates leading the Republican field fit that description: Trump, the first choice of 21 percent of registered Republicans and voters who say they lean that way, followed by neurosurgeon Ben Carson with 16 percent, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush with 13 percent, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina with 11 percent.

Fiorina and Carson have seen the strongest gains among Republicans since the survey was taken a month ago. In the interim, voters have had their first extended looks at the candidates in two nationally televised debates. Fiorina's numbers, at 1 percent in the August poll, leaped by 10 percentage points while Carson jumped 11 percentage points, up from 5 percent. Trump's numbers have remained unchanged. Together, the three candidates who have never held political office account for 48 percent of the Republican vote.

COMMENT:  Americans are instinctively right.  America has slipped in too many areas – popular culture, an economy that actually makes things, the level of our presidents, civil courtesy, a sense of patriotism, influence abroad.  Can we rise again?

Yes.

September 25, 2015       Permalink

IS TRUMP GETTING TRUMPED? – AT 9:52 A.M. ET:   There's a big debate on as to whether Donald Trump is slipping in public esteem.  Trump is responding to the debate in his usual quiet, restrained, dignified manner.  From Business Insider: 

Donald Trump has two words to describe a recent spate of articles that suggested he may be losing steam in the Republican presidential primary: "dishonest reporting."

"Very dishonest and the people understand that," Trump said in a conversation with Business Insider Thursday.

Three articles published Thursday by CNN, Politico, and The Washington Post used recent polls from Quinnipiac and CNN/ORC to argue that the surge that propelled Trump to the head of the GOP pack may be ending.

The Quinnipiac poll, released Thursday, showed Trump in first place. But it also found that Republican voters said, by a 4-to-1 margin, that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina "out-performed" Trump in the Republican presidential debate last Wednesday.

The CNN/ORC poll, released Sunday, also put Trump in the lead but found his support had dipped eight points. It also found Fiorina surging.

On Thursday morning, Politico's Kyle Cheney published a piece that pointed to the CNN/ORC poll, predictions from rival campaigns, and the widespread impression that Trump "faded a bit" during the debate. Cheney argued that the "Trump momentum shows signs of stalling."

CNN's Eric Bradner came in with a story of his own a few hours later. Bradner said the Quinnipiac poll "reinforce[d] a recent CNN/ORC poll that showed an ascendant Fiorina in the wake of her strong debate performance last week."

That story was headlined, in part, "Donald Trump lead shrinks."

COMMENT:  Some people criticize our long presidential campaigns.  I like them.  Long campaigns will eventually reveal the truth about candidates, about who they are.  I do think Trump may have reached his peak as people ask whether they want to live with that raw personality four four years.  I don't believe they do.

Trump has struck a chord with many voters because he's correctly identified areas of concern, and his approach is decidedly not that of a politician.  But his constant insults toward others, his belittling of anyone who dares disagree with him, eventually become wearing. 

September 25, 2015       Permalink

BULLETIN:  BOEHNER TO RESIGN – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  And quickly.  From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, under intense pressure from conservatives in his party, will resign one of the most powerful positions in government and give up his House seat at the end of October, throwing Congress into chaos as it tries to avert a government shutdown.

Mr. Boehner made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning.

The Ohio representative struggled from almost the moment he took the speaker’s gavel in 2011 to manage the challenges of divided government and to hold together his fractious and increasingly conservative Republican members.

COMMENT:  It's a shocking move, but a correct one.  The speaker is a fine man, but a man who lives in an era when Republicans in Congress got a little too used to losing.  Republicans today are asking, "We elected a Republican Congress.  What difference has it made?" 

I think Republicans are still stunned by the fact that, with the public behind them, and control of both Houses of Congress, they could not stop the Iran nuclear deal, and cannot move the country toward a 20-week standard on abortion, a standard adopted by almost all civilized nations.  Better leadership needed.

Now the talk will begin about Boehner's successor.

And then, maybe about Mitch McConnell's in the Senate.

September 25,  2015     Permalink 

SEPTEMBER 24,  2015

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

HILLARY'S DESCENT – From Breitbart:  A new CNN/WMUR poll of New Hampshire Democrats finds Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) opening his biggest lead against presumptive frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Sanders has the backing of 46 percent of the state’s Democrat voters, while Clinton has just 30 percent. Vice President Joe Biden has the backing of 14 percent of Democrats in the Granite State.  It gets worse and worse for Hillary in every poll, and the FBI investigation is just gathering steam.  Maybe she'd like a nice retirement cottage by the sea.

MAJOR NATIONAL PROBLEM ADDRESSED – From Fox:  Syracuse University is considering kissing its kiss cam goodbye after a fan suggested it sends the wrong message at a time when colleges are fighting against campus sexual violence.  A regular feature at sports venues, the kiss cam frames unsuspecting couples in a heart on the Jumbotron while the game crowd cheers for them to kiss.  The future of civilization may rest on defeating this threat. 

CARLY ROMPS – From the Washington Times:  Carly Fiorina tops Hillary Rodham Clinton in a head-to-head general election matchup, according to the latest Quinnipiac University Poll released Thursday morning that also found the former Hewlett-Packard CEO easily outperformed GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump in last week’s debate.  Carly is rising, but is also coming under increasing scrutiny.  She is a superb debater, but at times appears somewhat fanatical and mechanical.  We'll be watching how she responds to the criticism.  The real story ultimately might be the slow rise of Marco Rubio.

September 24, 2015       Permalink 

OUR IRANIAN FRIENDS, HAPPY AT LAST – AT 8:46 A.M. ET:   Iran is making it clear that it has contempt for us, for the civilized world, and for the agreement we just made with them.  Anyone surprised?  From the Washington Free Beacon: 

Multiple senior Iranian officials have vowed in recent weeks to violate the recently inked nuclear accord that aims to constrain the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear enrichment program, according to multiple comments by top Iranian leaders.

Iranian leaders, including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, have said that the country has “no intention” of abiding by a United Nations Security Council Resolution that encompasses the deal and other restrictions on Tehran’s rogue activities, according to these comments.

These officials said that Iran views the recent Iranian nuclear deal secured in Vienna as separate from the resolution endorsing the deal and further prohibiting Iran from developing advanced ballistic missiles and purchasing other types of arms, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, which issued a report compiling recent statements by Iran.

The agreement, which was made earlier this year, is a non-binding set of resolutions focused on Iran’s nuclear program. The deal was transferred to the United Nations and officially endorsed as UNSRC 2231.

The accord itself “is not a contract between Iran and the P5+1 countries as a group or any single one of them, and hence no document was signed,” MEMRI noted.

COMMENT:  What a farce.  But, of course, Field Marshal Obama won't be in the White House when it all comes crashing down.  He'll be making millions writing his memoirs and announcing his saintliness.

September 24, 2015       Permalink 

MARCO – AT 8:20 A.M. ET:  With Scott Walker out of the GOP presidential race, Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal not getting traction, and some others treading water, attention is turning to those survivors who keep making progress.   Donald Trump.  Carly Fiorina.  Marco Rubio.  From the Politico: 

Shining debate performances. Good press. Better poll numbers. And the implosion of a rival candidate.

Marco Rubio is having a moment in the GOP presidential campaign. Again.

But if it’s like Rubio’s other moments — rising to second in May after his official campaign announcement, wall-to-wall press criticizing President Barack Obama’s new Cuba policy in December — the confluence of his rise in the polls and the luck of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s early exit from the race probably won’t produce much more than a modest dose of momentum and a few favorable headlines.

Due to Rubio’s relentlessly on-message, penny-pinching campaign style, he’s reluctant to boast about his turn of fortune — or to spend freely targeting his rivals now.

Terry Sullivan, Rubio’s campaign manager, said he expects plenty of other candidates won't last.
“We need everybody not named Marco to fizzle. That is the plan. We need everybody to slowly fizzle out, and we think they will,” Sullivan said Monday, just as the news of Walker’s withdrawal broke, during a “Meet the Campaign Managers” event sponsored by Google, National Review and YouTube.

Long term, however, Walker’s abrupt departure could pay big dividends for Rubio, who immediately welcomed nine top Walker grass-roots activists and campaign staffers from three early states. At least two top Walker donors have chosen the Florida senator as well, sources said. Bush’s campaign said it had as many or more Walker alums, but declined to give a full list.

COMMENT:  It's been clear for a while that Rubio's strategy is to pace himself, stay among the top contenders, then surge at the right moment.  It's risky, but the payoff could be the GOP nomination, if Rubio plays his situation with skill. 

September 24, 2015       Permalink

PRIDE GOETH BEFORE THE FALL – AT 8:12 A.M. ET:  The president of Volkswagen has resigned after disclosures that his company installed software in its cars designed to get around emissions standards.  It is considered a major scandal in a country, Germany, that has tried to portray itself as a great moral leader.  From The New York Times:

BERLIN — As Germany has emerged as the dominant actor in Europe, it has lectured Greece and other debtor nations on the virtues of thrift and lately wagged its finger at countries that balk at receiving a share of refugees from the killing fields of Syria. Its right to lead, based on a narrative of self-sacrifice and obedience to rules, was generally acknowledged.

That is one reason the Volkswagen scandal has shaken the country’s very core. More than just a tale of corporate misdeeds, the disclosure of systematic cheating by one of Germany’s most iconic companies has delivered a sharp blow to its conception of itself as an orderly nation and tarnished its claim to moral leadership of the Continent.

It was perhaps inevitable that Volkswagen’s chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, would quickly step aside on Wednesday after disclosures that the company deceived regulators over emissions from its diesel cars. But the effects on Germany are likely to play out for some time, even as it copes with a huge influx of migrants attracted by its reputation as Europe’s beacon of opportunity and as it continues to find its footing as an often-ambivalent global power.

Further, the timing puts Germany in an awkward spot ahead of the global climate conference in Paris in December, where it had hoped to hold out its transformation as an industrial power reliant on a lower-carbon energy system as a model to the world.

COMMENT:  Always suspect those who are holier than thou.  We've also seen the ugly picture recently of German officials rushing to Tehran to grovel before the murderers to get business contracts. 

September 24, 2015       Permalink

SOUTH AFRICA – THE UNTOLD STORY – AT 8:02 A.M. ET:  If you judge by the liberal press, you'd think that the only story of importance in the history of South Africa was apartheid and the fight against it.  But what has happened in South Africa in the years after apartheid?  Why is the media so silent?  Maybe it's because the place is a disgrace to humanity.

This is an important piece.  It's about South Africa today, but, unintentionally, it tells us much about the cynicism of the press.  From, of all places, The New York Times:

LONDON — Most first-time visitors to Cape Town are mesmerized by the majesty of Table Mountain, and wowed by the vivacity of the Victorian-era waterfront. As a new visitor myself last month, I was captivated by both. But what has lodged most in my memory is something very different.

Driving from the international airport, I was struck by the sheer wretchedness of Cape Flats: the series of black townships, comprising mostly shacks with corrugated steel roofs, that stretch from the highway almost to the horizon. Few people — tourists or locals — want to talk about the Cape Flats. But there is no better starting point for a discussion of the state of contemporary South Africa.

I was shocked by the degree to which the predominant emotions, 21 years after the end of apartheid, are not of hope and expectation, but of fear and despair.

“It’s not rosy,” a leader of the United Front opposition political movement in the eastern Cape city of East London told me, “but it’s not yet totally bleak.” That was about the most optimistic view I heard.

COMMENT:  Please read the whole thing and send it to your friends.  We're told that journalism is history's first rough draft.  We have a right to ask, "Where's the second draft?"  I'm still waiting for the second draft on the Vietnam War. 

September 24,  2015     Permalink