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FEBRUARY 14,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

TV SLUMP – FROM BLOOMBERG:    Television-advertising sales in the U.S. fell 7.8 percent to $61.8 billion last year, the steepest drop outside of a recession in at least 20 years, while sales at cable networks slumped for the first time in almost a decade. And there’s no sign of a pickup in 2018, excluding cyclical events like the Olympics and the midterm elections, according to data from Magna Global.  The decline in TV viewership is accelerating as online rivals Google and Facebook have increased their investments in video, capturing almost every new advertising dollar entering the marketplace. Television ad sales have fallen even as global advertising grows, leading research firms and analysts to predict that the business may never recover.  This goes along with declines in NFL ratings.  My own sense is that new technology and social media play a role, but that the increasing politicization of television plays a significant role as well.  People get fed up and tune out.

SICKENING – After today's outrageous killings at a Florida high school, some Democratic senators couldn't wait to make political hay out of the horror.  They naturally called for new gun control legislation, as if that would have saved lives in Florida.  I also was repelled by self-indulgent Florida officials who seemed to think the main story was how they felt about the murders.  I'm sure the anti-Trump media will go to town tomorrow morning, and will tie the president to these events.  I hope the White House is disciplined enough not to say anything foolish.  I also hope the investigators will look into the possibility that the killer, who had a troubled history, was radicalized by online groups. 

THE WRONG WAY – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  Georgetown University leaders have done much in recent times to make amends for the institution’s involvement in slavery, but after a cadre of slave descendants recently said those efforts are not enough — they still want cash — campus leaders have pledged to continue to work “toward reconciliation.”  “Following many conversations and dialogue with members of the Descendant community, the University and the Jesuits earlier this month reached out to members of the Descendant community to propose a framework for long-term dialogue, partnership and collaboration,” a campus representative told The College Fix in an email.  Slavery ended 153 years ago.  Reparations to descendants of slaves from colleges and universities hardly seem justified.  Scholarship programs would be a better choice.  Eric Hoffer, the "longshoreman philosopher" of the 1950s, once wrote that all causes become businesses, then they become rackets.  The "reparations" movement is growing on college campuses, and appears to be an example of just what Hoffer was saying.

February14, 2018       Permalink

OH, ISN'T THIS CHOICE?  ANOTHER SELF-INFLICTED WOUND FOR THE LEFT – AT
12:22 P.M. ET:    What are the fools up to now?  Why, trying to restrict military voting, that's what.  I guess this has great appeal to the Hamas wing of the Democratic Party.  From The Washington Times:

DENVER — After years of accusing states of “voter suppression,” the Center for American Progress wants to make it tougher for overseas military to vote in the name of election security.

The left-wing public-policy group issued Monday a report, “Election Security in All 50 States,” that called for stricter standards to prevent cyber-meddling in elections by foreign governments, including banning military stationed abroad from submitting ballots via email or fax.

One state that allows such vote-casting is Colorado. The center called on the state to “prohibit voters stationed or living overseas from returning voted ballots electronically.”

“Regardless of the state’s secure ballot return system for electronically voted ballots, we recommend that all voted ballots be returned by mail or delivered in person,” said the 245-page report.

Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams defended the practice, saying the state has incorporated safeguards to protect the integrity of ballots cast by military personnel living overseas.

“They don’t believe someone who works on a submarine should be allowed to vote. We do,” said the Republican Williams in a statement.

Conservatives were quick to blast the report’s recommendation as unworkable and politically motivated.

“Perhaps they think that Navy SEALS can swim ballots ashore, hand them off to Army paratroopers who can parachute into Colorado to drop off the ballots?” asked the conservative website Colorado Peak Politics.

COMMENTS:  The Center for American Progress is backed by the very same folks who oppose voter I.D. programs,those common-sense procedures for avoiding voter fraud.  They're the same wonderful guys who deny there's any problem with fraud in our big cities, even though we've seen cases of more people voting in a precinct than live there. 

Now they're going after the troops.  Smart move.  GOP ad planners please note.

February14, 2018       Permalink

KA-BOOM – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:   New polling shows the GOP rising.  No guarantees about the future, of course, but a smile is good.  From The Politico: 

Republicans have erased the Democratic advantage on the generic congressional ballot in a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll that, for the first time since April, also shows President Donald Trump’s approval rating equaling the percentage of voters who disapprove of his job performance.
Fully 39 percent of registered voters say they would support the GOP candidate for Congress in their district, while 38 percent would back the Democratic candidate. Nearly a quarter of voters, 23 percent, are undecided.

Voters are split almost evenly along party lines. Democratic voters break for their party, 85 percent to 5 percent, while Republicans similarly favor the GOP, 84 percent to 8 percent. Among independent voters, 26 percent would vote for the Democrat, 25 percent for the Republican and nearly half, 49 percent, are undecided.

The GOP’s 1-point advantage comes after three months of tracking in which Democrats maintained a lead ranging between 2 and 10 points on the generic ballot. That has been generally smaller than the party’s lead in other public surveys: The most recent RealClearPolitics average shows Democrats ahead by 7 points on the generic ballot, though that’s down from a high of 13 points late last year.

The new year has also produced a Trump polling bump. In the new poll, 47 percent of voters approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while the same percentage disapprove.

Among Democrats, 16 percent approve of Trump’s job performance and 80 percent disapprove. The numbers are almost exactly inverted among Republicans: 82 percent approve, while 16 percent disapprove. Trump is still underwater among independents: 39 percent approve and 49 percent disapprove.

COMMENT:  Nothing like a tax cut and a strong economy to win support.  Naturally, the politically correct press is trying to counter the Republican rise by an all-out attack on the White House.  CNN has completely lost the soul it barely had. 

But, as with Ronald Reagan, many people are looking past the press at actual events, and they are seeing a president and Republican Congress which, despite many faults and shortcomings, are doing a solid job, if not yet a great one.

And the self-inflicted wounds of the party of Nancy Pelosi should not be ignored.  Every Democrat in Congress voted against the tax cut.   Imagine what that will sound like in the fall's political ads.  "If your member of Congress is a Democrat, he or she voted against you."  Try countering that, Nance.

February14, 2018       Permalink

VALENTINE'S DAY GREETINGS – AT 10:08 A.M. ET:  Brought to you by the wonderful, mature, thoughtful students of Yale University.  From Daily Caller: 

A group of Yale University students have come together to host an anti-Valentine’s Day event that takes aim at “a tradition rooted in capitalism and heteronormativity” and bashes fraternities because they don’t let females join.

That borders on the hilarious.  They hate capitalism and something called "heteronormativity," but they want to join fraternities.  What's wrong with that picture?

“Are you going out this Wednesday out of respect a tradition rooted in capitalism and heteronormativity? Or have you slipped through the cracks to suffer the awkward, social consequences of aloneness on Valentine’s?” the anti-Valentine’s Day event organizers ask.

Hosted by the women’s and LGBTQ group Engender, the event will show “This World: Frat Boys,” a documentary that looks at the dark side of fraternities. The group makes its mission “to advocate for gender integration of Yale’s all-male fraternities given their disproportionate control over campus social life,” according to its website. The group pushes fraternities to accept women but does not display a similar fervor for integrating sororities.

COMMENT:   I don't know how you wish to deal with that somber message.  Cancel flowers?  Dinner?  Loving emails?  I just don't know.

Frankly, I'm going on with my traditional Valentine's Day wishes.  I'm prepared for the consequences.

February 14,  2018     Permalink

FEBRUARY 13,  2018

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:14 P.M. ET: 

IN CASE GOD DOESN'T SAVE THE QUEEN – FROM BBC:  The Commonwealth has secretly begun considering who might succeed the Queen as its head, the BBC has learned.  The issue is hugely sensitive because the role is not hereditary and will not pass automatically to the Prince of Wales on the Queen's death.
The Commonwealth has set up a "high level group" to look at the way the international organisation is governed.  This group is meeting later, officially to review how the Commonwealth is run by its secretariat and governors.  It said the issue of the succession of the head of the Commonwealth was not part of the group's mandate, but described the day-long discussions as "open".  However, senior sources added that the gathering in London would also consider what happens when the Queen, who turns 92 in April, dies.  Send your nominations in.   Look, bottom line, this would be a great way to get Hillary out of our hair.  And she'd finally have the gold carriage she's always wanted.  Maxine Waters is reportedly interested.

CRAZY, MAN – FROM BREITBART:  California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is threatening to sue if the Trump administration includes a question regarding citizenship on the 2020 census.  The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Becerra worries citizenship questions will dissuade some California residents from taking the census, thereby under-representing themselves and running the risk of a loss of federal funding for certain parts of the state.  Becerra is part of a coalition of 19 attorneys general who fighting against inclusion of a citizenship question. They sent a letter to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross on Monday, in which Becerra described counting everyone, citizen or not, as a “sacred responsibility.”  What an absurd position.  Doesn't a country have the right to know how many actual citizens it has within its borders?  I guess we're just a little old-fashioned at Urgent Agenda. 

WORRISOME – FROM THE HILL:   Democrats on Tuesday won yet another special election for a state legislative seat once held by a Republican, this time in a battleground seat south of Tampa, Fla.  With all precincts reporting, attorney Margaret Good (D) took 52 percent of the vote, ousting Sarasota real estate agent James Buchanan (R).  President Trump carried the state legislative district by a 5-point margin in 2016. It opened when the incumbent Republican quit to spend more time with her family and building her business.
 Good won despite Buchanan's well-known name: His father, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R), owned some of the largest car dealerships in the area. He now represents a district in Congress that includes the legislative seat in which his son ran.  There have been too many of these cases recently.  The GOP had better get its act together, especially in vulnerable districts around the country. 

February 13, 2018       Permalink

THE WRONG LIST TO BE ON – AT 6:25 P.M. ET:  Look, not everyone can be nominated for an Oscar.  From the Washington Times: 

Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley are used to being ranked among America’s top colleges, but a ranking issued by a campus watchdog on Monday isn’t much to write home about.

Both schools are included on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s annual list of the 10 worst colleges for free speech.

The foundation’s executive director, Robert Shibley, said students, faculty and administrators are going to “greater and greater lengths to justify muzzling expression on campus.”

“This type of censorship makes for a sterile environment where lively debate and discussion can’t thrive,” Mr. Shibley said in a statement. “The public deserves to know which colleges will defend free expression — and which ones will go to seemingly any length to silence it.”

Rounding out the top 10 in no particular order are Fordham University in New York City; Albion College in Michigan; Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington; Drexel University in Philadelphia; Northwestern University in Evanston, Illionis; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York; Los Angeles Community College District; and Texas State University in San Marcos.

COMMENT:  I hope the colleges are humble as they accept the honor – it's an honor on the left – of being placed on this list.  Many are called, few are chosen.

February 13, 2018       Permalink

SAD DAY – AT 12:36 P.M. ET:    No matter how you feel about guns, and I can understand a variety of feelings, it's sad when an old, respected name is in trouble.  From Fox: 

U.S. firearm manufacturer, Remington Outdoor Company, said it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but stay in business throughout the process.

"Difficult industry conditions make today's agreement prudent," said Jim Geisler, Remington's executive chairman, in a statement released by the company on Monday.

The company has been dogged by falling sales after one of its rifles was used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre of 2012.

The restructuring will help the company to cut its debt by around $700 million and inject $145 million in new capital into its different units.

Remington said its business operations will not be affected by the restructuring.

Remington is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, but according to reports, once the restructuring process is over, the private equity firm will no longer own the company.

COMMENT:  We need a capable arms industry for national defense.  Yes, there are legitimate issues regarding guns in wrong hands, but they're not going to be addressed by putting a company out of business.

February 13, 2018        Permalink

IRAN THREATENS, BIG TIME – AT 11:54 A.M. ET:  We are focusing on North Korea right now, but Iran is crawling all over the Mideast.  Last week an Iranian stooge group sent a drone into Israel, setting off a brief but violent air battle.  This is a reminder of the real world.  From the Washington Free Beacon:

Iran unveiled a series of new homemade nuclear-capable ballistic missiles during military parades held over the weekend, a move that experts view as a bid to bolster the hardline ruling regime as dissidents continue efforts to stir protest.

On the heels of an encounter between an Iranian drone and Israeli forces, Iranian military leaders rolled out the latest ballistic missile technology, which includes a nuclear-capable medium-range missile that appears to share similarities with North Korean technology, according to experts.

The missiles are capable of reaching Israel even when fired from Iranian territory, raising concerns about an impending conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state that could further inflame the region.

Iranian military leaders bragged the ballistic missile "can be launched from mobile platforms or silos in different positions and can escape missile defense shields due to their radar-evading capability," according to reports in Iran's state-controlled media.

The latest technology could further inflame tensions between Israel and Iran, which funds and controls terror organizations operating along Israel's border. Concerns that this nuclear-capable technology could be shared by Iran with its terrorist proxies are fueling longstanding concerns among the Israelis that an attack is imminent.

COMMENT:  Iran is on Israel's borders, and Russian troops are in Syria.  Gee, you don't think the Obama foreign policy was a failure, do you?  Why, you warmonger!

February 13,  2018     Permalink