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MARCH 25,  2018

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

MARCH CROWD DISAPPOINTS – FROM DAILY CALLER:  Around 200,000 people attended the March For Our Lives gun control event in Washington, D.C. Saturday afternoon, CBS News reported. The number is well below the 500,000 number organizers of the event expected and 600,000 less than initially reported by many news outlets immediately following the celebrity-fueled march and rally. The march took place between noon and 3 p.m. on Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd Street NW and 12th Street NW.  The crowd-size estimates were bizarre, with some reporters trying to compare the size of the crowd to the turnout for President Trump's inauguration.

MAJOR ADVANCE IN EDUCATION – FROM COLLEGE FIX:  Meet the Stanford Student Alliance for Justice in Education, the student organization that wants its peers to be aware of how they’re taught “by empowering groups that are marginalized in educational settings.”  According to The Stanford Daily, the group’s focus is “decolonality,” just the latest in postmodern edu-jargon which is defined as — ready? — “the process of analyzing the ways through which education and accepted ideas reflect remnants of Western colonial thought and challenge the power structures and institutions of the modern world which have been shaped by colonialism.”  Or, in other words, “disrupting the dominance of Western schools of knowledge.”  I'm sure there's a big market out there for graduates of this program, especially for honor graduates.

AN OUT-OF-CONTROL EGO – FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:  Former President Barack Obama talked about his future plans for his post-presidency life at a conference Sunday in Japan, addressing how he might shape "a million" new, young leaders in his mold.  The wide-ranging discussion repeatedly touched on the Obama Foundation's efforts to engage the digital space to help young people in the U.S. and across the world get connected.  "If I could do that effectively, then -- you know -- I would create a hundred or a thousand or a million young Barack Obamas or Michelle Obamas," Obama said.  One was enough.

March 25, 2018       Permalink

OUTRAGEOUS – AT 2:51 P.M. ET:  You all saw the coverage of yesterday's "anti-gun" march in Washington, starring a bunch of teenagers who, I'm sure, consumed much pizza and very little knowledge.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I'm delighted to see young people engaged, but in this case it was clear they were thoroughly manipulated.  It was strictly a left-wing march.  No conservatives wanted.  And, certainly, no conservative solutions wanted.  Some people with direct connection to the tragedy in Florida, were conspicuously kept out.  From Breitbart: 

Hunter Pollack, the brother of Meadow Pollack, who was shot and killed in the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, says he was denied an opportunity to speak at the March for Our Lives in Washington, DC.

Pollack’s father Andrew said they tried for two days to work with organizers for a chance to speak at the march but that organizers denied the request.

“At first they told him, yes, then it turned to no,” Pollack told Breitbart News. “They claimed no time.”

“I was going to give a speech about Meadow and how devastated I am and how we need to make change, but they won’t allow me to put my voice out,” Hunter said in an interview. “I feel that they don’t really care about the victims’ families. If they did, they would have let me speak, and they didn’t. I don’t know what this is about.”

What it's about, Hunter, is left-wing politics.  This is the way they play the game.

Hunter read part of his prepared speech on camera, which was shared on Facebook:

Hunter’s father, Andrew Pollack, shared his frustrations in a Facebook video on Saturday.

“My son, he got denied to speak at the march, so I’m not going to the march,” Pollack said. “He was pretty disappointed that he didn’t get to speak at this march. I guess he’s got a different agenda than their agenda.”

COMMENT:  I doubt if the grovelers at CNN will cover this story.  There were also Second Amendment supporters demonstrating in some cities yesterday.  Haven't seen any coverage.  If you have, please alert me.

March 25, 2018       Permalink

AGAIN, A REMINDER OF THE REAL WORLD – AT 1:02 P.M. ET:  The terrorist threat, dramatically demonstrated in France yesterday, is presenting itself once more.  Eternal vigilance, my friends.  From Britain's Express: 

Counter-terror officials are hunting for Mathlouthi Atef, 42, after he was flagged up as a "possible bomber", according to local media.

A mugshot of the Tunisian suspect has been circulated over fears he could strike bars, train stations and shopping centres in Rome.

The alert came after the Italian embassy in Tunisia's capital, Tunis, received an anonymous letter claiming a man was "ready to attack the centre of Rome".

The chilling threat was "considered reliable", according to Rome-based newspaper Il Corriere della Citta.

Another newspaper, Il Giornale, reported that Atef is already known to police for drug dealing and "other minor crimes".

Italy's military police force, known as the carabinieri, declined to comment on the possible terror threat.

The Foreign Office website warns that "terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Italy" and warns British tourists to be vigilant. 

COMMENT:  Some will dismiss these chaps as "lone wolves."  There's no such thing.  A so-called "lone wolf" was radicalized by someone.  Expect more attacks.  Much of Europe is unstable and vulnerable.  The United States will always be the ultimate target.

March 25, 2018       Permalink

GOP GAINS – AT 12:15 P.M. ET:  We routinely get dire reports of an upcoming catastrophe for the Republicans in the midterm elections.  But the polls have actually been tightening, and the news for the GOP really isn't that bad at all.  From Fox: 

The latest Fox News poll finds a tightening race when voters are asked their candidate preference in this fall’s congressional election.

That’s good news for Republicans because Democrats were up by 15 points in October (50-35 percent) in the so-called generic ballot test.  Now, it’s a 5-point edge, as 46 percent of voters would back the Democratic candidate in their district and 41 percent the Republican.

"Just winning the popular national vote is not enough to flip the House," says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the poll with Democrat Chris Anderson.  "Given the GOP's districting advantages, data from 2012 and 2014 show the Democrats need an edge of at least five points to bring the majority into play."

“I like this question as a gauge of perceptions month to month,” says Anderson. “But its predictive power seven months from the election is dubious.” 

Anderson points out that in March of 2014, Democrats had a 2-point edge on the vote question and Republicans ultimately picked up 13 House seats that November.  And in March 2010, Republicans had a 4-point advantage and went on to win 63 seats.

COMMENT:  This is good.  But Republicans must run as if they're 20 points behind.  And they must get out the vote on election day.  Republicans historically have accepted defeat too easily, and, historically, have looked around for the worst possible candidates to run. We've seen some of those candidates go down to defeat in recent special elections.

But if the GOP gets its act together, and the Democrats keep their snobbish distance from the average voter, things may just turn out acceptably well in November.

March 25,  2018     Permalink

MARCH 24,  2018

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

SNOWFLAKES GALORE – FROM THE COLLEGE FIX:  Harvard is already penalizing students who belong to gender-affinity groups and a Christian student club that adheres to biblical sexuality.  Next on its list of enemies: instructors who make students “uncomfortable” or say “offensive” things in class.  The Harvard Crimson reports administrators are updating the Q guide, through which students evaluate their courses, to go beyond self-reported metrics such as class difficulty, work required and “lecturing acumen.”  They promised at a town hall meeting for undergraduates Thursday night to add the “uncomfortable” question and something similar to an “offensive” question that’s already available through Harvard’s School of Public Health.  Turn in your professor!  Become a certified fascist!

LONG OVERDUE – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  The Trump administration plans this summer to scrap a controversial Obama-era discipline rule forced on schools to close racial gaps in suspensions and arrests but that critics say pressures educators to turn a blind eye to escalating bad behavior.  The federal directive, issued jointly in 2014 by the US departments of Education and Justice, warned public school districts receiving federal funding — including New York City — that they could face investigation and funding cuts if they fail to reduce statistical “disparities” in discipline by race. On average, the administration noted, black students are suspended at three times the rate of their white peers.  The directive also discourages student arrests and holds districts liable for the actions of “school resource officers … or other law enforcement personnel.”  Let's not solve the crime problem in minority communities.  Let's just assume there isn't one.

NEW DIET FAD – FROM THE INDEPENDENT:  Scientists have been left baffled by a wild elephant caught on camera blowing out plumes of smoke while consuming smouldering lumps of charcoal.
Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) filmed the female elephant exhibiting the unusual behaviour at Nagahrole National Park in India.  In the video, the mammal can been seen picking up lumps of charcoal with its trunk, placing the coal in its mouth, and exhaling a large cloud of smoke.   Watch.  This will be the preferred diet in Beverly Hills by next week.  There'll be discussions about the wisdom of elephants.

March 24, 2018       Permalink

AND IN THE REAL WORLD – AT 2:04 P.M. ET:  We make it a practice to remind readers that, while we're doing the federal budget, others are planning to do us in.  The Chinese, for example, are relentless in developing a powerful new navy, designed to challenge American supremacy in the Pacific, and cut us off from our Asian allies.  From asia.nikkei.com: 

BEIJING -- China will build its first nuclear aircraft carrier, a major step in its push to become a strong naval power, the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. noted in a statement posted online.

CSIC has developed vessels including nuclear submarines in the past. The aircraft carrier was revealed in a strategy document dated Tuesday, alongside plans to build more nuclear subs and unmanned underwater vehicles.

No timeline was given for building the vessel. But the document states that the Chinese navy needs upgraded equipment in response to growing maritime security threats. CSIC will supply weaponry to meet the navy's goal of expanding its far-offshore capabilities by 2025, the document says, suggesting the carrier is to be deployed by that year.

The Chinese Communist Party-run Global Times reported on the CSIC document Wednesday, calling it "the first time a state-owned Chinese defense company has openly identified nuclear-powered aircraft carriers on its agenda."

China launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier in 2017, after deploying the Liaoning, a retrofitted carrier from the former Soviet Union, in 2012. A second homegrown carrier is said to be under construction in Shanghai.

Some have suggested a nuclear propulsion system could be installed on a third Chinese-made carrier expected to be built in the northeastern city of Dalian. Nuclear carriers can sail for longer than their conventional cousins, giving them a tactical advantage. Hong Kong media have also reported that China plans to introduce a fourth homegrown carrier by 2030, which may also be nuclear-powered.

COMMENT:  This country began employing aircraft carriers almost a century ago, but the Chinese are moving very quickly.  Their new carriers will probably be home to drones as well as piloted aircraft.

Some will debate whether big aircraft carriers will be useful in an era where a hypersonic missile might cut through defenses and cripple even a carrier-sized ship.  But in conventional confrontations, and to demonstrate the ability to project power, there's nothing quite like a carrier.  I'd imagine the Chinese have prestige as well as power in mind.

March 24, 2018       Permalink

THE MESSAGE IS SENT – FROM 1:08 P.M. ET:   The message being sent to Hillary Clinton is getting louder and clearer.  The question is whether the queen is listening, or even cares.  From Fox: 

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat and loyal Hillary Clinton supporter, said Sunday that the party’s 2016 presidential nominee’s recent comments regarding American voters, President Trump and her failed White House bid were “wrong” and “not helpful.”

“It’s not helpful at all,” Durbin, the Senate majority whip, told “Fox News Sunday.” “My friend Hillary Clinton is wrong. … But we’re moving on to the next chapter of American history. It will be a different cast of characters completely.”

During a recent trip to India, Clinton said Americans didn’t “deserve” Trump, suggested Americans who voted for her came from more economically prosperous parts of the country, some who voted for Trump held racist or misogynist views and that female voters caved to pressure from men to vote for Trump.

Clinton, who also lost a 2008 White House bid, said on the trip that Trump has “quite an affinity for dictators" and that he "really likes their authoritarian posturing and behavior."

The former secretary of state, senator and first lady has frequently tried to explain her 2016 upset loss while the Democratic Party has tried to look ahead to the 2018 and 2020 elections. Clinton even published a book last year titled, “What Happened.”

Durbin endorsed Clinton’s 2016 run, and attended campaign and fundraising events.

“Thirty percent of the people who voted for Donald Trump had voted for President Obama. Why? The same people who looked for change with President Obama thought there wasn’t enough as far as their personal lives were concerned and they supported Donald Trump,” Durbin also said Sunday.

“That is a reality that Democrats acknowledge.”

COMMENT:    It's a reality some Democrats acknowledge.  But the bottom line is that the Democratic Party, as a party, turned its back on many of its own voters, starting in the sixties.  Cardinal Dolan of New York just said that the party turned its backs on Catholics.  It turned its back on labor, on people who actually got things made during their working days.  It turned its back on the military it had once created.  It turned its back on the idea that America is a force for good. 

And the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy gave us Carter, Clinton, and Obama. 

March 24, 2018        Permalink

TRUMP CONFRONTS THE RUSSKIES – AT 12:33 P.M. ET:  The president is apparently about to take serious action against Moscow.  We hope he doesn't change his mind.  From Bloomberg: 

President Donald Trump is preparing to expel dozens of Russian diplomats from the U.S. in response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the U.K., two people familiar with the matter said Saturday.

Trump agreed with the recommendation of advisers and the expulsions are likely to be announced on Monday, the people said, though they cautioned that Trump’s decision may not be final. Trump is prepared to act but wants to be sure European allies will take similar steps against Russia before doing so, aides said.

The advisers reached recommendations for a U.S. response to the U.K. attack at a National Security Council meeting on Wednesday and honed the proposals on Friday. Trump discussed the issue Friday with U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, outgoing National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and others, two people said.

COMMENT:   Trump is right in insisting that European allies join us.  Britain, of course, is fully on board.  The others, especially Germany, may be a question mark.  We'll wait until Monday to see, but if Germany and others don't join us, then Trump must read the riot act to them.

This is a politically sensitive issue because, if Trump declines to take action against Moscow, for whatever reason, the cry of "soft on Putin" will undoubtedly be heard...from the very people who truly were soft on Putin when Obama was in office.

March 24,  2018     Permalink