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MARCH 12,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:52 P.M. ET: 

CRUZ TAKES WYOMING – From the New York Post:  CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Taking time to campaign off the beaten path helped Ted Cruz dominate Republican county conventions in Wyoming, where he won nine of 12 national delegates at stake Saturday.  Good for Ted.  But the major contests are Tuesday, and may determine the rest of this race.  Ohio and Florida vote.  There is no way to determine what impact the drama surrounding the Trump rallies this weekend will have on the vote.  Some Trump people are suggesting that Trump will gain public sympathy and thus support.  Other analysts are saying that many voters may be repelled by the atmosphere at Trump events.

GOOD MOVE, OR NOT? – Both Marco Rubio and John Kasich are now suggesting that they may not back Donald Trump if he becomes the GOP candidate because of the atmosphere of tension, anger and occasional small-scale violence that has marked his campaign.  And Cruz has come down hard on Trump as well.  As we've noted, Trump can be seriously faulted for lapses in taste and language, and voters have a responsibility to weigh these matters when they decide.  However, I wish more emphasis would be placed on the real culprits – the violent leftists, anarchists, and "revolutionaries" who come to Trump rallies and provoke most of the trouble.  The coverage I've seen since yesterday, especially on CNN, has been militantly anti-Trump.  He's doing all this!  Not much probing into the motives and ideologies of the clowns who suddenly show up.  We've learned in earlier election cycles that, as the season moves along, the mainstream journalists fall into familiar patterns, and most go left.

RUBIO TAKES D.C. – Marco Rubio has won the District of Columbia caucuses, which voted today.  Trump came in third in D.C., as he did in Wyoming.  If truth be told, however, he didn't put much emphasis on either location.   Trump had no bragging rights at all today.  And this, from The Politico:   Hillary Clinton has won the Northern Mariana Islands Democratic caucus, winning 54 percent of the vote to Bernie Sanders 34 percent.  Clinton's win is worth 4 pledged delegates, according to the Associated Press vote data. Sanders collected 2 pledged delegates.  Actually, it was the Marines who won the Northern Marianas, but in the name of cultural harmony, we'll let it pass.

March 12, 2016       Permalink

GETTING UGLY – AT 12:45 P.M. ET:  The Secret Service had to intervene to protect Donald Trump at a rally today.  From the New York Post: 

Four secret service agents surrounded Donald Trump as a demonstrator rushed his podium near the end of his campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio Saturday morning.

Secret Service agents surround Donald Trump during a disturbance at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.Photo: Reuters

The unidentified individual moved towards Trump from behind shortly before noon while Trump was ridiculing another protester.

“Get him out of here folks! Why is he angry? I’m just saying we’re going to make good trade deals,” Trump asked as security led a young man in a gray hoodie away through the crowd.

“Go back home to mommy. This guy looks like he’s 15 years old. Take him back home and lock him in his bedroom.”

Seconds later, as someone approached the stage, a startled Trump made a quick half-turn as if trying to glimpse the disturbance behind him.

The stage itself shook.

Surrounded by the agents, Trump held out his arms and gave a thumbs-up signal.

COMMENT:  It was bound to happen.  The mainstream media is pushing the line that this is all Trump's fault, that he's "inflammatory."  Yes, he can be over the top, but maybe the mainstreamers should examine some of Trump's opponents, and the groups they represent.

As readers know, I am not a Trump supporter.  However, he has a right to be heard, and his fans have a right to hear him.  His opponents have a right to denounce him, in a civilized manner.  The "narrative" now developing that Trump is "encouraging" violence is somewhat similar to the traditional leftist argument that terrorists are merely innocent people who are "provoked" by (check one or more) Amerika, Israel, the West, capitalism, Fox News, high-sugar diets, or professional football.

March 12, 2016       Permalink 

UNBELIEVABLE – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  Increasingly the message from the left is that Barack Obama is not left enough.  Now the left is even attacking a possible Obama Supreme Court pick.  From The Hill: 

Sri Srinivasan is on President Obama’s short list for the Supreme Court, but his representation of corporate clients is causing heartburn for the left.

Srinivasan is an attractive candidate for Obama, who wants to make Republicans look as bad as possible if they follow through on their vow to blockade any nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Confirmed to the D.C. Circuit in 2013 by a vote of 97-0, Srinivasan is a friend of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and would seem to be a difficult nominee for Republicans to object to given their past, unanimous support.

He’d also be the first Indian-American and Hindu to serve on the Supreme Court.

The problem?

As an attorney for O’Melveny & Myers, he defended ExxonMobil and mining giant Rio Tinto for allegations of serious human rights abuses in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

“It’s hard to find a worse client than defending Exxon Mobil against allegations of torture and war crimes,” Jamie Henn, communications director for 350.org, a group that advocates for a safe climate and a just, prosperous and equitable world.

He accused Srinivasan of helping corporations “dismantle human rights law,” and called his record “deeply disturbing.”

“Unless he can clarify that he no longer stands behind these arguments, he should be disqualified,” he said.

COMMENT:  I am not an expert on Supreme Court candidates, but, from everything I read, Srinivasan is considered an outstanding and fair-minded judge.  He would probably be Obama's best pick.  And, yes, it would be hard for Republicans to turn him down.

The left, which also is behind the Bernie Sanders movement, is growing increasingly militant, especially within the Democratic Party.  We can't expect a conservative Supreme Court choice from Obama, but we have a right to expect a nominee who reflects the fact that the Senate, which must confirm the president's pick, is in Republican hands and insists on its role to advise and consent. 

There is some reporting that says that the president will announce his choice within weeks.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pledged that the Senate will not consider any nominee until the next president is chosen.  We'll see if that pledge is kept.

March 12, 2016       Permalink

GREAT MOMENTS IN EDUCATION – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  You can measure the deterioration of American education day by day.  From the College Fix: 

A St. Paul, Minnesota high school teacher has been placed on “paid administrative leave” after the local Black Lives Matter organization threatened a “shutdown action” over a Facebook comment he had made.

Theo Olson of Como Park High School had complained about the lack of support teachers were getting in matters of student discipline.

On local BLM organizer Rashad Turner’s Facebook page, Olson “expressed frustration over the district not providing enough support to deal with ‘kids who won’t quit gaming, setting up fights, selling drugs, whoring trains or cyber bullying.’ The term ‘whore train’ is a reference to ‘inappropriate sexual activity.’”

Although Olson never mentioned race in his comments, Turner subsequently referred to him as a “white supremacist teacher.”

Turner and other members of BLM met with the district superintendent, Valeria Silva, this past Monday. Olson’s leave began on Wednesday.

And...

If Olson is a white supremacist, he has a funny way of showing it. For, in addition to his comments about discipline, Olson had written on Turner’s Facebook page that he follows BLM on social media, “and that he had marched with Turner at a protest on University Avenue.”

COMMENT:  Read the whole piece.  It's absolutely fascinating.  It isn't only white teachers who are threatened.  It's also black teachers who dare bring up the issue of student discipline.

The truth will not matter in the outcome of this case.  Political correctness, and the spinelessness of educators, will determine things.

March 12,  2016     Permalink

MARCH 11,  2016

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

BACK TO 1968 – Donald Trump canceled a major campaign speech in Chicago tonight after a large mob of protesters appeared on the University of Illinois campus, where the speech was to be delivered, apparently to shut Trump down before he began.  Trump canceled his speech, citing safety concerns.  This is the first time during the campaign that Trump has had to withdraw.  Some TV journalists tried to twist things around, claiming that Trump brought this on himself with his "inflammatory" rhetoric.  I doubt that.  I think it was the left doing what the left does best – shutting down anyone who disagrees.  The scene reminded me of the rioting outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968.

LIFE IN THE SOCIALIST PARADISE – From London's Daily Mail:  The streets are deserted after dark in a sleepy Swedish town which is a now no-go zone for women after eight sex attacks in three weeks.  Women have been warned by police not to walk alone at night after the once peaceful town of Östersund was shaken to its core by a string of vicious attacks on females and even children by groups of young men of 'foreign origin'.  First, two 10-year-old girls were groped at a bus stop by a gang of men who threatened to rape them.  The following day, a woman told police she was punched in the face, splitting her eyebrow, by a man who threatened to kill her after he made a rude comment to her.  Just five days later a woman walking on her own was attacked by three men, beaten and pushed to the ground.  Notice the deep interest of "feminist" groups.  They take their orders from their leftist masters, and will say nothing that will diminish the left's drive for multiculturalism.  Women's rights are far behind. 

A HOLLYWOOD STORY – From the Daily Beast:  After California’s Girl Scout Troop 5215 sold an alleged $65,000 worth of cookies at the 2016 Academy Awards, that money is reportedly nowhere to be found, the local organization says. Celebrities in the audience bought a variety of cookies, but TMZ reports that the local chapter—which would only get about $1,000 of the money—hasn’t seen a cent. The National Girl Scout Council told the troop that the Academy would donate the money to the Greater L.A. Council, but that allegedly hasn’t happened. A representative for Girl Scouts of America told reporters: “The donation process is determined by local councils.”  Even the Girl Scouts get ripped off in Hollywood.  But at least it's not Sweden. 

March 11, 2016       Permalink

IF TRUE, IT'S IMPORTANT – AT 10:12 A.M. ET:  We're seeing reports like this from a number of states.  Obviously, they have to be looked at with caution.  Cause-effect relationships in politics are very hard to prove.  But the claim is that Donald Trump is attracting many new voters to the Republican Party.  From CBS Pittsburgh: 

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Nearly 46,000 Pennsylvania Democrats have switched to Republicans since the beginning of the year.

According to Penn Live, some experts attribute the mass exodus to Donald Trump.

There’s even a title for the movement. It’s called “Ditch and Switch” and calls for lifelong Democrats to abandon the party, register Republican, and help ensure Trump’s place in the general election.

Professor of Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College, Dr. G. Terry Madonna, tells the paper he has a theory behind the switch.

“With the increase in support in exit polls for Trump among working class, blue-collar Democrats, it is my belief that these are people who fall into that genre,” said Madonna.

The numbers are similar in other states as well.

The paper says in Massachusetts, as many as 20,000 Democrats have gone from blue-to-red this year with Trump cited as a primary reason. And in Ohio, as many as 1,000 blue collar workers have promised to switch parties and vote for Trump.

Numbers show that some Republicans are also switching to the Democratic party, but nowhere near the numbers that are switching to Republican.

COMMENT:   We won't know the full truth of this until after the November election, when all the statistics are analyzed.  However, we appear to be seeing the return of the Reagan Democrats, who helped Ronald Reagan get elected in 1980.

March 11, 2016       Permalink   

CARSON ENDORSES TRUMP – AT 9:27 A.M. ET:  As was leaked yesterday, Dr. Ben Carson this morning endorsed Donald Trump.  And his reasoning?  Read on.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Dr. Ben Carson officially announced his endorsement of Donald Trump Friday morning, one week after he suspended his presidential campaign.

"Some people have said, well, why would you get behind a man like Donald Trump?'" Carson told reporters alongside Trump. "I've come to know Donald Trump over the last few years. He is actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America."

"There are two different Donald Trumps. there's the one you see on the stage, and there's the one who's very cerebral, sits there and considers things very carefully, you can have a very good conversation with him, and that's the Donald Trump that you're going to start seeing more and more of right now," Carson said.

The famed neurosurgeon made his announcement during a press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. The endorsement arrives only four days before the winner-take-all primary states begin voting on Tuesday, which includes Ohio and Florida, where Carson lives.

And...

Of their past fighting during the campaign, Carson added, "We buried the hatchet."

"Some people said, but, well, you know, he said terrible things about you. How could you support him? First of all, we buried the hatchet," Carson said. "That was political stuff. And that happens in American politics. The politics of personal destruction, all that, it's not something that I particularly believe in or anything that I get involved in. But I do recognize it is a part of the process. We move on, because it's not about me, it's not about Mr. Trump. It's about America, and this is what we have to be thinking about."

COMMENT:  I see a vice-presidential nomination here, don't you?  And it would be a brilliant choice.  Trump would say that, with Ben Carson, a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, America's children will have a place at the table. 

If that happens, it will be fascinating.  I look forward to seeing how this plays out.  

March 11,  2016     Permalink

THOSE PEACEFUL IRANIANS – AT 9:10 A.M. ET:  Why, they're just wonderful, misunderstood souls, victims of Western imperialism and the people who made MGM musicals.  From CNN:

Washington (CNN) The Obama administration is preparing to publicly attribute a 2013 cyber attack against a New York dam to Iranian hackers, according to U.S. officials familiar with the investigation.

The Justice Department has prepared an indictment against people thought to be behind the attack, according to the officials. An announcement could come in the next week.

The intrusion at the Bowman Avenue Dam, around 30 miles north of New York City in suburban Rye Brook, New York, isn't considered sophisticated -- the hackers managed only to get access to some back office systems, not the operational systems of the dam, U.S. officials say. U.S. investigators quickly determined the attack was carried out by hackers working for the Iranian government.

But the attack alarmed Obama administration officials who have voiced concerns about the vulnerability of U.S. infrastructure to cyber attacks.

White House and Justice Department spokesmen declined to comment on plans to attribute blame for the attack. But Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said in a statement that the agency takes "malicious activity in cyberspace seriously, and we will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to prevent, deter, detect, counter and mitigate such activity."

The public attribution of the dam attack is part of a U.S. strategy shift in recent years to publicly "name and shame" countries and, if possible, people behind the proliferation of cyber intrusions targeting U.S. companies and government networks.

COMMENT:  The dam is about eight miles from where Urgent Agenda is written.  So the Islamic regime of Iran is in our neighborhood.  If they were nicer guys, I'd show them the best Chinese restaurant.  But they're not nicer guys. 

I'd take this seriously.  Cyber attacks are getting more and more sophisticated, and most of America's major facilities and transportation networks are now dependent on computers.

March 11,  2016     Permalink