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MAY 24,  2016

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

TRUMP RALLY DISRUPTED – FROM THE L.A. TIMES:   Despite the outbursts of hundreds of protesters who overran barricades outside his rally, Republican Donald Trump told thousands of supporters that he was glad he stopped in New Mexico and he vowed to be back before the general election in November.  Trump's remarks were interrupted repeatedly by protesters, who shouted, held up banners and resisted removal by security officers. Among the messages were banners that read, "Trump is Fascist" and "We've heard enough."  Trump responded with his usual bluster, instructing security to remove the protesters and mocking their actions.  "Go home to mommy," he said.  "How old is this kid?" Trump asked in response to another demonstrator. "Still wearing diapers," he said.  His supporters responded with chants of "Build that wall!"  Outside, a group of protesters rushed the convention center where the rally was being held. Police outfitted in riot gear blocked them as they tried to advance.  Smoke filled the air as others burned T-shirts and items labeled with Trump's catchphrase "Make America Great Again."  We will always recall the elegance of this campaign, on both sides.  They'll never call this the golden age of politics.

NO MORE DEBATES FOR HILLARY –  FROM THE HILL:  Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is declining to debate rival Bernie Sanders in California ahead of the state’s June 7 primary.  “We have declined Fox News’s invitation to participate in a debate in California,” Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, said in a statement. “As we have said previously, we plan to compete hard in the remaining primary states, particularly California, while turning our attention to the threat a Donald Trump presidency poses.”  “We believe that Hillary Clinton’s time is best spent campaigning and meeting directly with voters across California and preparing for a general election campaign that will ensure the White House remains in Democratic hands,” she continued.  The Vermont senator had been pushing Clinton to debate before the June 7 primary. California offers 475 pledged Democratic delegates, the largest prize of any state. Sanders will attack Clinton for her decision, but it's probably correct.  She can't gain anything from a debate.  She's too well known.  She can only lose, especially if she makes an error.  June 7th is two weeks from today. 

SHEER CORRUPTION – FROM MEDIAITE:   NPR backtracked its claims last week that it never cancelled interviews on the Iran Deal with Republican Congressman Mike Pompeo after staffers for the Kansas congressman produced emails proving that it had happened.  An Associated Press story Friday reported that NPR accepted $100,000 from a a White House-allied pro-Iran deal organization called the Ploughshares Fund in order to fund “national security reporting that emphasizes the themes of U.S. nuclear weapons policy and budgets [and] Iran’s nuclear program…” Ostensibly, NPR policy did not allow that grant to slant coverage, but the arrangement received renewed scrutiny after Obama national security advisor Ben Rhodes named the organization as one of the tools the administration used to echo their talking points.  Absolute shame.  The fact that there's no uproar in journalism over this collusion indicates just how low the news business has sunk.  There is really no shame left. 

May 24, 2016       Permalink

A PUBLIC SERVANT? – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:   You cannot possibly make this up.  Is this man a public servant?  From Fox:

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Monday compared the length of time veterans wait to receive health care at the VA to the length of time people wait for rides at Disneyland, and said his agency shouldn't use wait times as a measure of success because Disney doesn't either.

"When you got to Disney, do they measure the number of hours you wait in line? Or what's important? What's important is, what's your satisfaction with the experience?" McDonald said Monday during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast with reporters. "And what I would like to move to, eventually, is that kind of measure."

McDonald's comments angered House Speaker Paul Ryan, who tweeted out Monday afternoon, "This is not make-believe, Mr. Secretary. Veterans have died waiting in those lines."

COMMENT:  It is simply incredible that the VA secretary, who inherited a crisis in VA hospitals, doesn't understand that it's a real crisis.  But his lack of urgency reflects the attitude of the administration, which has never been very high on our armed forces or its veterans.

This man should be discharged immediately, but won't be.  If he insisted on a restroom for women only, he'd be gone in a second.

May 24, 2016       Permalink

ANOTHER POLL CONFIRMS THE TREND – AT 9:28 A.M. ET:  What we're seeing now is one confirming poll after another.  What the polls are telling us is that 1) this presidential race is very close and 2) the American people don't like the choices they're given.  From The Hill: 

Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are disliked by a majority of Americans, according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey poll released Tuesday.

Nearly six in 10 respondents said they either “dislike” or “hate” Clinton, while 63 percent said the same about Trump.

In a hypothetical general election match-up, Clinton leads Trump 47 to 43 percent, a result unchanged from last week.

The former secretary of State also continues to dominate among women, leading Trump by 18 points (54 to 36 percent). She’s also favored by African Americans by an 82-point margin (88 to 6 percent), and leads among Hispanics by 35 points (64 percent to 29 percent).

Still, Trump is winning over a majority of white voters, leading Clinton, 52 to 38 percent.

The online poll of 16,710 people, from May 16 to May 22, has a margin of error of 1 percentage point.

COMMENT:  Those negatives are so staggering that you'd think there'd be many contenders for a third way, a new party or an independent candidate.  It's a steep hill to climb, and raising money would be difficult, but a good third candidacy can shake things up quite a bit this year.  As we've noted before, if a third candidate wins just a handful of states, he or she could make it impossible for anyone to have a majority in the Electoral College, throwing the election into the House of Representatives, which can elect any one of the top three candidates that the Electoral College considered.

Sometimes the people's voice speaks in strange ways, but this year I think the message is clear.  In my lifetime I have never seen such discontent with the presumed nominees.  And I don't think Bernie Sanders would improve things for the Dems should Hillary fall completely apart.  When people find out what he really stands for, and when his mean-spiritedness becomes evident, his negatives would soar.

I was at a meeting yesterday of politically active and knowledgeable people.  I've never seen such despair, and even shock, at what is happening.

May 24, 2016       Permalink

CLINTON ALLY FEELS HEAT – AT 9:08 A.M. ET:  If she is to win the presidency, Hillary Clinton probably needs Virginia.  And her key to Virginia is its governor, Terry McAuliffe, a longtime Clinton ally and fixer.  He could organize the state politically for the Clinton campaign.

Uh, but wait a minute.  McAuliffe suddenly has a problem that seems similar to problems that the Clinton crowd has regularly.  From Fox: 

Federal officials are investigating whether Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's 2013 campaign accepted illegal campaign contributions, sources familiar with the investigation confirmed Monday to Fox News.

The Democratic governor and Clinton ally is the target of a Justice Department investigation into whether he violated campaign finance laws.

Would that be Barack Obama's Justice Department?  Just askin'.

The probe, first reported by CNN, involves a $120,000 donation from Chinese businessman Wang Wenliang through his U.S. businesses. U.S. election law prohibits foreign nationals to donate to political races.

McAuliffe's attorney, Marc Elias, said in a statement his office was not aware of the investigation, but would cooperate if contacted by federal officials.

"We cannot confirm the CNN report. Neither the Governor nor his former campaign has knowledge of this matter, but as reported, contributions to the campaign from Mr. Wang were completely lawful," Elias said. "The Governor will certainly cooperate with the government if he is contacted about it."

A spokesman for Wang told CNN the businessman holds permanent resident status in the U.S.

Wang also has been a donor to the Clinton foundation, pledging $2 million, CNN reported.

COMMENT:  In the immortal words of the late Gilda Radner, "It's always something."  Where the Clintons go, questions about corruption follow.

If McAuliffe is sidelined or damaged by this probe, it could have a profound effect on Hillary's campaign.  If the race is very close, as expected, it could even cost her the election. 

And, of course, there is also the FBI probe into Hillary herself.  We should be getting some news about that fairly soon.

For Hillary, this was supposed to be a smooth ride.  It's not.

May 24,  2016     Permalink

MAY 23,  2016

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

COURSE CHANGE – FROM THE COLLEGE FIX:   A “Men in Literature” course taught successfully for eight years at Springfield College has now been canceled after campus officials complained the class was too focused on men.  The popular humanities department-approved course was taught by Dr. Dennis Gouws. Campus leaders, prior to axing the course, accused the scholar of turning the English class into something of a men’s gender studies class.  I'm so relieved that they finally got rid of this abomination.  Men in literature?  How dare they.

MADNESS – FROM JUDICIAL WATCH:  The Obama administration has ordered the nation’s colleges and universities to stop asking applicants about criminal and school disciplinary history because it discriminates against minorities. Institutions are also being asked to offer those with criminal records special support services such as counseling, mentoring and legal aid once enrolled. The government’s official term for these perspective students is “justice-involved individuals” and the new directive aims to remove barriers to higher education for the overwhelmingly minority population that’s had encounters with the law or disciplinary issues through high school.  Sure, we should help people get back into society, but not asking about criminal backgrounds is sheer madness.  What about sex predators?  Men with a history of assaulting women?  Don't colleges have a right to know the full backgrounds of their students? 

INEVITABLE – FROM DAILY CALLER:   A female security guard working at a Washington, D.C. grocery store was arrested Monday afternoon for physically escorting a man out of the women’s restroom after he refused to leave because he identifies as a woman.  The shopper — a young, African-American male who identified himself as Ebony Belcher to local news outlets — reportedly passed the security guard on his way into the women’s restroom at a Giant grocery store in Northeast D.C.  After seeing Belcher walk into the women’s restroom, the security guard followed him in and ordered the man to leave. When he refused, the security guard had to physically escort him out of the women’s restroom.   Upon leaving the store, Belcher called police to have the security guard arrested. D.C. police confirmed to NBC4 Washington that the woman was arrested and charged with simple assault. D.C. police told TheDC that they are treating the incident as a “suspected hate crime.”  Belcher told NBC4 that the security guard told him: “You guys cannot keep coming in here and using our women’s restroom. They did not pass the law yet.”  The security guard was acting reasonably.  But political correctness governs all.  Don't expect the "women's movement" to come to this guard's assistance, even though she was protecting women.  Left-wing politics comes first.

May 23,  2016     Permalink

REOPENING  OLD WOUNDS – AT 8:24 A.M. ET:  The United States makes a major gesture toward Vietnam, but many veterans will not be happy.  From The New York Times: 

HANOI, Vietnam — President Obama said at a news conference on Monday in the Vietnamese capital that the United States had agreed to lift completely its embargo on lethal weapons sales.

“The United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam that has been in place for some 50 years,” Mr. Obama said.

Vietnam had long asked for the embargo to be revoked. The decision involved weighing Vietnam’s human rights record against the country’s need to defend itself against an increasing threat from China, its neighbor.

COMMENT:  It would have been so much better if Vietnam were a democracy, with strong ties to the United States.  It was heading that way in the late 1960s, with the United States and its South Vietnamese allies winning every major military engagement of the Vietnam War.  But, the political will in the United States collapsed, under the barrage of relentlessly negative reporting that often exaggerated our problems and minimized our successes.

Today Vietnam is a complete dictatorship, its people denied the better life they would have had if America hadn't withdrawn from Vietnam under the fiction that all was lost, and had continued material aid to those who had fought with us. 

It is 41 years since Americans watched on television as helicopters evacuated, in conditions of chaos, the last of our people from the United States Embassy in Saigon.  And we still are left with the question:  How does a country win every battle and lose a war?  Only one institution can truly answer that question – the American media, and that media has been silent, refusing to close a gaping wound, preferring instead to continue the fiction that the war was unwinnable.

May 23, 2016        Permalink

MORE ECONOMIC TROUBLE – AT 8:16 A.M. ET:  We are seeing more and more signs every day of a weakening economy, something that can profoundly affect the presidential campaign.  From
msm.com:

One of the labor market’s early-warning signs may be flashing trouble.

Hiring by staffing agencies has ground to a halt so far in 2016, a worrisome sign because the category fell off before a broader job-market slowdown ahead of the past two recessions. Many economists look at the sector as a leading indicator because cautious firms tend to first hire temps when an expansion begins and dismiss those nonpermanent workers when they sense the economy is faltering.

The question now is whether the recent flattening in temp employment points to another economic downturn or is just respite for an industry that has capitalized on a shift toward flexibility for workers and firms.

COMMENT:  If the economy was really healthy, as Chief Economist Barack Obama claims, you'd feel it around you.  Instead, we see a lot of struggling, stagnant wages, and pessimism.  There may be hot markets in luxury goods and million-dollar homes, but there doesn't seem to be much expansion elsewhere. 

We've seen recently a restlessness in labor unions, with some unions openly turning against their usual home, the Democratic Party, which, they charge, has lost touch with the working man or woman.   Donald Trump may have a unique opportunity here, if he learns how to exploit opportunities rather than turn voters away.

May 23, 2016       Permalink

BERNIE THE VICIOUS – AT 8:07 A.M. ET:  It is simply remarkable to see the level of viciousness in the Sanders campaign.  Even though he has almost no chance of getting his party's nomination, Sanders is escalating his attacks on his party's presumptive nominee.  I think he's starting to believe his own press clippings.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Bernie Sanders is turning the negative heat up on Hillary Clinton, highlighting her high unfavorability ratings to make the case for his candidacy.

Sanders, who spoke during an interview with ABC News' "This Week" to be broadcast Sunday, is letting the vitriol flow even as establishment Democrats hope to start uniting the party behind Clinton.

"We need a campaign, an election, coming up which does not have two candidates who are really very, very strongly disliked. I don't want to see the American people voting for the lesser of two evils," the senator told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. "I want the American people to be voting for a vision of economic justice, of social justice, of environmental justice, of racial justice."

Asked by Stephanopoulos whether he would describe Clinton as the lesser of two evils against Donald Trump, Sanders responded, "No, I wouldn't describe it, but that's what the American people are saying."

COMMENT:  At this stage in a campaign, most contenders tone down their attacks if it's clear someone else will get the party's nod.  Better to be seen as a team player and fight another day.  Bernie isn't a team player, and probably views this election season as his only chance for national office.  He is also a socialist, a political extremist, and he doesn't play by the rules.

May 23,  2016     Permalink