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AUGUST 23,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 5:24 P.M. ET: 

OUR HILLARY BETRAYED AGAIN – FROM CNN:  Another former Secretary of State -- Condoleezza Rice -- has been drawn into the fray over who advised Hillary Clinton to use a private email server while she was America's top diplomat.  An aide to Rice told CNN that Rice has "no recollection" of a conversation between Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell that reportedly took place at a 2009 dinner party of former Secretaries of State, during which Powell allegedly recommended that Clinton use a private email account. The Daily Caller was first to report that Rice had commented on the issue.  Georgia Godfrey, Rice's chief of Staff at Stanford University where she teaches, also told the conservative news outlet that "Dr. Rice isn't doing any media right now. I can tell you, though, that she has no recollection of that conversation either."
I guess our Hillary just has a better memory than Powell or Rice.

LAND OF THE FREE? – FROM BREITBART:   West Virginia University (WVU) has told its 29,000 students that they are breaking federal law if they don’t agree to use the pronouns — including ‘he’ or ‘she,’ ‘zir’ or ‘hir’ etc. — preferred by each person who claims to be transgender.  That policy means if a biological man — for example, famous transgender athlete Bruce Jenner — says he “identifies” his gender as female, then all other students must refer to the man as a “she,” or else be treated as a law-breaker.  WVU says using the wrong pronouns is a crime because the United States departments of justice and of education insist that transgender people are protected by decades-old sexual discrimination law.  Are we intent on committing suicide as a free nation?  The left won't mind.  It coddles dictatorships anyway.  But what about the rest of us?

THE LAST TIME THEY SAW PARIS – FROM LONDON'S EXPRESS:   France facing multi-billion euro ‘INDUSTRIAL CRISIS’ as tourism numbers plummet...One million fewer visitors went to the French capital in the first six months of 2016 compared to the year before, sparked by terror and safety fears, as well as claims the chic city is dirty and blighted by striking workers...The Paris region tourist board also said there had been a 46.2 per cent decline in Japanese visitors, a 35 per cent decline in Russian visitors, a 19.6 per cent decline in Chinese visitors, and a 5.7 per cent decline in visitors from the US.  And we have a president who belittles the impact of terror. 

August 23, 2016       Permalink

I'M SURE THIS WILL ALL BE EXPLAINED IN A RESPECTFUL MANNER – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  A bit of an incident in Virginia has the feds concerned, but not about everyone in any particular group, mind you.  From Fox: 

Federal authorities are investigating a weekend stabbing in Virginia to see whether the attacker may have been trying to behead a victim and whether the attack was inspired by the Islamic State terror group.

Wasil Farooqui, 20, was charged with two counts of aggravated malicious wounding in the stabbing attack Saturday that left two people wounded.

The FBI confirmed to Fox News it is investigating the dual stabbing alongside the Roanoke County Police Department. A source familiar with the case also told Fox News the FBI is investigating the attack as a possible terrorism-related incident.

"The FBI is working with the Roanoke County Police Department following the incident that occurred on Saturday evening,” said Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division.

"While I cannot discuss details of the investigation at this time, I do want to reassure the community that we are working to determine the nature of the incident," Lee said.

According to ABC News, Farooqui had traveled to Turkey in the last year and may have tried to sneak into Syria to meet with ISIS militants.

Farooqui allegedly attacked a man and woman at an apartment complex in Roanoke, according to WDBJ-7. Both victims were seriously injured in the attack. Witnesses told authorities that Farooqi was yelling “Allah Akbar.”

Authorities believe that Farooqui may have been trying to behead the male victim, according to ABC News. Investigators said that there was no connection between Farooqui and the victims.

COMMENT:  Yeah.  He was yelling "Allah Akbar," and the authorities are wondering whether it was terror-related.  Like asking whether the Japanese planes above Pearl Harbor were flown  by tourists.

August 23, 2016       Permalink

HILLARY UP EIGHT, OR IS SHE? – AT 10:50 A.M. ET:  A new, major poll, shows Hillary Clinton up nationally by eight points.  I have my doubts.  From The Hill:   

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton holds an 8-point lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump, according to a new NBC News/SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Online Tracking Poll.

Clinton is favored by 50 percent of registered voters, while Trump is backed by 42 percent, according to the poll.

Clinton held a similar 9-point lead in last week's poll.

The Democratic nominee has been consistently polling ahead of Trump in national polls since the Democratic National Convention last month.

In a four-way matchup, Clinton holds a 5-point lead over Trump, 43 percent to 38 percent. Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson has 11 percent support in that matchup, and Green Party nominee Jill Stein has 5 percent.

Clinton has a significant lead over the Republican nominee among black voters, 87 percent to 8 percent. She also leads among Hispanic voters, 73 percent to 22 percent and with Asian-American voters, 66 percent to 23 percent.

The Democratic nominee trails Trump among white voters, 41 percent to 50 percent...

...The survey was conducted Aug. 15-21 among 17,459 adults who say they are registered to vote. The margin of error is 1.1 percent.

COMMENTS:  My concerns:  The poll was started August 15th, some eight days ago, before the full impact of Trump's newly unveiled approach, sounding more presidential and delivering scripted policy speeches, could be measured.

Also, the poll was taken among registered voters, not likely voters.  Polls of likelies usually show more Republican support, as Republicans are more likely to vote.

Finally, the poll's examination of a four-way matchup should have been explained in more detail.  From what I understand, there will be a four-way matchup in most states on election day, so that result is extremely significant.  Clinton only leads by five points in a four-way match, and, again, this is among registered voters only. 

I'm guessing, and it's only an informed guess, that Clinton's actual lead is in the three- to four-point region.  But polling in the upcoming two weeks should refine our understanding of where we are.

August 23, 2016       Permalink

HILLARY'S HEALTH – AT 9:46 A.M. ET:  There is much talk about Hillary Clinton's health.  It is entirely justified, as would be any concern about a candidate's health.  It is the people's business, and she did have a serious illness, or fall, or whatever it was, in December of 2012.

I recall wincing, during the 1956 presidential campaign, when I first heard Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson use the term, "the president's health."  President Eisenhower had suffered a heart attack, but had apparently recovered well.  We really didn't talk about presidential health.  It wasn't accepted in traditional political discourse.  It was still, even by the press, considered a private matter.

Today we discuss it more openly, in part because we now know of serious, even devastating medical incidents in presidential history that had a direct impact on the leadership of the nation.  We would expect those incidents, if they'd occurred today, to be openly discussed.  Indeed, we have had, since 1967, the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for actions to be taken in the event of presidential incapacitation.

Woodrow Wilson suffered an incapacitating stroke on October 2, 1919, in the midst of his second term.  The American people were never told the extent of his illness.  While he rallied somewhat, he never fully recovered, and left office a very sick man on March 4, 1921.  During his illness his wife, Edith, acted as what she called the "steward" of his presidency, sometimes signing his name to documents without asking his approval.

In 1944, as the presidential election approached, it was clear to the inner political circle in Washington that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was weakening.  The vice president, Henry A. Wallace, was perceived as too far to the left to succeed him, and so it was agreed that he would be replaced on the Democratic ticket.  He was, by Harry S. Truman, who became president on Mr. Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945. 

In 1960, we were never told that Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy had Addison's Disease, a serious but treatable illness that can have effects that might affect performance in office.

In 1972 the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, had to leave the national ticket when it was learned he'd had elecro-shock treatment for a mental condition.

We are still not sure, and probably never will be, whether President Reagan experienced the onset of Alzheimer's Disease during his second term.

So this is a matter of the public's business.  We were reassured by CNN, the Clinton News Network, this morning that stories about Hillary Clinton's health are "unfounded conspiracy theories."  I'm glad to be reassured, but they aren't conspiracy theories.  No one is talking about a plot or conspiracy.  They are talking about possible illness.

Candidates these days normally submit a doctor's statement informing us that the individual will live forever, and the lack of a heartbeat is temporary.  It's entirely inadequate.  What is needed is for presidential and vice-presidential candidates to undergo a full medical checkup by a neutral medical team.  It should be required.

August 23,  2016     Permalink

AUGUST 22,  2016

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

GREAT GUY – FROM FOX:   Pole vaulter Sam Kendricks charged down the runway in Rio and was prepared to make his jump when he heard the strains of The Star-Spangled banner.  Kendricks, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and an Olympic athlete, abruptly stopped, dropped his pole and stood at attention in a dramatic moment caught on video that has since gone viral. The Army reservist's patriotic pause came during the qualifying round, and it was not clear if he was penalized.  On American college campuses he'll probably be accused of insensitivity to other cultures.

PEOPLE FIND OUT – FROM DAILY CALLER:   Black Lives Matter finds itself under fire for protesting the Baton Rogue shooting, but ignoring the Louisiana flood, reports the Washington Times.  A video of a Baton Rogue resident asking where the Black Panthers and the Black Lives Matter people are has gone viral.  “I have not seen not one Black Panther boat, not one Black Lives Matter boat, truck or nothing else. So with all the drama that was going on with the Alton Sterling killing, oh they came out with guns, ready to go to war. But here we go, all these people flooded out and truly in need of some help and you can’t find not one of them,” Jerry T Washington said in the video.  The only black lives that matter to Black Lives Matter are those that advance the career interests of these racketeers.

CHILLING – FROM REUTERS:   For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or catastrophe, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday.  Germany is currently on high alert after two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage by a mentally unstable teenager last month. Berlin announced measures earlier this month to spend considerably more on its police and security forces and to create a special unit to counter cyber crime and terrorism.  "The population will be obliged to hold an individual supply of food for ten days," the newspaper quoted the government's "Concept for Civil Defence" - which has been prepared by the Interior Ministry - as saying.  Does Germany know something that we don't know?  Like something about nuclear materials getting loose?  This kind of semi-mobilization should be seen as a major step.

August 22, 2016       Permalink

ISIS IN AMERICA – 10:53 A.M. ET:  This is absolutely chilling, yet I heard a CNN anchorwoman ridiculing the idea just this morning.  Doesn't fit the leftist party line.  From Bill Gertz at the Washington Free Beacon: 

Sunni extremists are infiltrating the United States with the help of alien smugglers in South America and are crossing U.S. borders with ease, according to a U.S. South Command intelligence report.

The Command’s J-2 intelligence directorate reported recently in internal channels that “special interest aliens” are working with a known alien smuggling network in Latin America to reach the United States. The smuggling network was not identified.

Army Col. Lisa A. Garcia, a Southcom spokeswoman, did not address the intelligence report directly but said Sunni terrorist infiltration is a security concern.

“Networks that specialize in smuggling individuals from regions of terrorist concern, mainly from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, the Middle East, and East Africa, are indeed a concern for Southcom and other interagency security partners who support our country’s national security,” Garcia told the Washington Free Beacon.

“There are major hubs that serve as entry points into the region for migrants from those areas of concern attempting to enter the U.S. along our border with Mexico,” she said.

The infiltrators from terrorist states and unstable regions exploit vulnerabilities in commercial transportation systems and immigration enforcement agencies in some of the countries used for transit, Garcia said.

“In 2015, we saw a total of 331,000 migrants enter the southwestern border between the U.S. and Mexico, of that we estimate more than 30,000 of those were from countries of terrorist concern,” she said.

Another problem in dealing with migrants from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia is a lack of information among the governments of the countries used by potential terrorists for transit.

COMMENT:  Nothing to see, nothing to see.  Field Marshal Obama and Grand Admiral Kerry will keep us safe. 

The 9-11 attacks were carried out by 19 people.  Imagine the cadre of ISIS supporters that is probably in the United States already.  And yet, there seems little interest in much of the mainstream press.  How important could this be compared with the right of boys who identify as girls to use girls' locker rooms?

August 22, 2016       Permalink

WILL TIME RUN OUT ON DONALD TRUMP? – AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  Trump has made some dramatic changes to his campaign in the last week.  There may be some uptick in a few polls already, although a new Ohio poll shows more slippage.  Even if the changes produce results, will they come in time?  From the great Andrew Malcolm at McClatchy: 

American politics just witnessed the launch of Donald Trump Campaign 3.0 as the billionaire sought to recover and retool his bid once again for the long slog to Nov. 8.

Aides say there’s plenty of time left for the unorthodox, unpopular candidate to build or regain momentum.

But here’s a news flash: It may be 11 weeks until the presidential votes are counted. But it’s only four weeks until voters by the millions begin casting their ballots.

Currently, 34 states allow early voting while three more do all voting by mail, negating that need.

The advent of early voting has exploded in U.S. politics – 1-in-5 votes were cast early in 2004, then 3-in-10 in 2008. Last time in the Romney-Obama tilt, fully 1-in-3 were all done before Election Day.

The proportion is expected to grow this year and beyond as Americans’ clear preference for anytime-everything grows – banking and shopping especially.

Early voting is changing the timing, tempo and content of what is already a truly awkward, expensive and cumbersome presidential selection process.

And...

Voting in crucial battleground Ohio begins Oct. 12, as does Arizona. Florida follows later that month as does North Carolina. Oregon, Washington and Colorado vote entirely by mail well before Nov. 8.

COMMENT:   Trump has consistently responded too late to problems in his campaign.  Will the clock run out on him?  The facts presented by Andrew Malcolm are stunning.  Trump has to turn this around in the next month.

August 22, 2016       Permalink

OH, THE ANGUISH – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton has based part of her e-mail defense on the idea that "everybody does it."  Her supporters have cited former Secretary of State Colin Powell as giving Clinton advice about e-mail use at the State Department.  Not quite true, Powell says.  From Fox: 

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is pushing back on Hillary Clinton's reported claims that he advised her to use a personal email account -- telling reporters that the Democratic presidential nominee is trying to "pin" the scandal on him.

The New York Times reported last week that Clinton told the FBI that Powell detailed to her his email practices under George W. Bush. The paper cited a passage from an upcoming book about Bill Clinton’s post-presidency that read, “Powell told her to use her own email, as he had done, except for classified communications, which he had sent and received via a State Department computer.”

Powell, in response, said in a statement he only sent her a memo about his email practices and had no recollection of this conversation with Clinton.

He elaborated on that statement to The New York Post, saying “The truth is she was using it (her personal email) for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did.”

He added that, “her people have been trying to pin it on me.”

Powell said it didn’t bother him, according to The Post.

COMMENT:  If it didn't bother him, why did he go public?  Of course it bothered him.  He now wears the Clinton taint:  She uses someone and lies about him.  And she may take the oath of office in five months.

August 22,  2016     Permalink