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OCTOBER 13,  2016

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

WE'RE GOING NUTS – FROM BLOOMBERG:  There’s good news for Americans who find themselves waking up in a cold sweat at 3 a.m. to check the latest polls: You are not alone.  More than half of you—on both sides of the aisle—say the 2016 election is a major source of stress, according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association. “Historically, work, money, and the economy are the top three,” said clinical psychologist Lynn Bufka, part of the APA’s Stress in America team, which has been conducting surveys of what freaks us out the most for 10 years. “Now it’s right up there.”   In addition to the overall pervasiveness of news about the presidential election—non-stop coverage for more than a year now—Bufka cites several potential reasons Americans are more worried this year. To start, there’s the tenor of the campaigns, which are arguably more negative and accusatory than any other in modern history. “In general,” she said, “humans like harmony.” Not a lot of that going around this year.  Most people I know just wish the campaign was over.  It's the most depressing and unsatisfying campaign I've experienced.  Just once I'd like to hear Ronald Reagan say, "Well, there you go again."  No need for hatred.

HOW ENCOURAGING – FROM LONDON'S DAILY MAIL:   Qatar, an Islamist state in the Persian gulf, gave former President Bill Clinton $1million for his birthday in 2012, according to emails released by WikiLeaks.  According to a message that was released in the leak of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails this week, Ami Desai, director of foreign policy for the Clinton Foundation, told several other staffers about the check.   '[Qatar] Would like to see WJC "for five minutes" in NYC, to present $1 million check that Qatar promised for WJC's birthday in 2011,' Desai wrote.  I'm sure it was all about warmth and charity.  Why, President Hillary won't even remember it.

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – FROM NEWSFIX:    HOUSTON -- A 911 operator is accused of intentionally hanging up on callers during emergencies simply because she was not in the mood to help, according to Houston police.  Crenshanda Williams has been charged with interference with an emergency telephone call.  Williams had been employed as a telecommunicator with the Houston Emergency Center since July 2014, and supervisors began to notice that her logs revealed an abnormally high amount of "short calls," with a duration of less than 20 seconds.  Supervisors investigated the recorded call logs, and found that thousands of calls had been disconnected by Williams between Oct. 2015 and March 2016.  At least one of the calls was for a robbery and homicide, and two were regarding speeding vehicles.  I wonder how many of those lives were lost, and how many mattered.

October 13, 2016       Permalink

WHAT IF SHE WINS? – AT 10:09 A.M. ET:   If Hillary Clinton becomes president, will her legal troubles be over?  Possibly not.  There's a revolt brewing in federal law enforcement:  From Fox:

The decision to let Hillary Clinton off the hook for mishandling classified information has roiled the FBI and Department of Justice, with one person closely involved in the year-long probe telling FoxNews.com that career agents and attorneys on the case unanimously believed the Democratic presidential nominee should have been charged.

The source, who spoke to FoxNews.com on the condition of anonymity, said FBI Director James Comey’s dramatic July 5 announcement that he would not recommend to the Attorney General’s office that the former secretary of state be charged left members of the investigative team dismayed and disgusted. More than 100 FBI agents and analysts worked around the clock with six attorneys from the DOJ’s National Security Division, Counter Espionage Section, to investigate the case.

“No trial level attorney agreed, no agent working the case agreed, with the decision not to prosecute -- it was a top-down decision,” said the source, whose identity and role in the case has been verified by FoxNews.com.

A high-ranking FBI official told Fox News that while it might not have been a unanimous decision, “It was unanimous that we all wanted her [Clinton’s] security clearance yanked.”

“It is safe to say the vast majority felt she should be prosecuted,” the senior FBI official told Fox News. “We were floored while listening to the FBI briefing because Comey laid it all out, and then said ‘but we are doing nothing,’ which made no sense to us.”

COMMENT:  Made no sense to a lot of us.  But there is a legal cloud hanging over this election, and we wonder what effect it will have on a new Clinton administration, especially if the GOP retains the House and has the power to launch investigations.

October 13, 2016        Permalink

AND LOOK AT THIS – AT 9:50 A.M. ET:  The Nobel Prize in literature has just been announced.  Hey man, this is cool.  From CNN:

(CNN) The 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, for "having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition."

The Swedish Academy's permanent secretary, Sara Danius, said Dylan, 75, "is a great poet in the English-speaking tradition." She drew parallels between his work and that of ancient Greek poets.

COMMENT:  Whether one is a Dylan fan or not, I think it's terrific when an American artist is honored this way.  And I love, absolutely love, the phrase "the great American song tradition."  When you consider the songs that this nation has given to the world since the start of the 20th century, you just get blown away.  We have produced great composers and lyricists – George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, Johnny Mercer, Harold Arlen, Duke Ellington – the list goes on and on.  No nation can top that. 

Congratulations to Bob Dylan, and the great American songbook.

October 13, 2016       Permalink

IS THIS RIGHT? – AT 9:24 A.M. ET:  Once again we caution readers about accepting the results of one poll, but the trend in the experienced Rasmussen poll must be noted.  From Rasmussen: 

The full results from Sunday night’s debate are in, and Donald Trump has come from behind to take the lead over Hillary Clinton.

The latest Rasmussen Reports White House Watch national telephone and online survey shows Trump with 43% support among Likely U.S. Voters to Clinton’s 41%. Yesterday, Clinton still held a four-point 43% to 39% lead over Trump, but that was down from five points on Tuesday and her biggest lead ever of seven points on Monday.

Rasmussen Reports updates its White House Watch survey daily Monday through Friday at 8:30 am Eastern based on a three-day rolling average of 1,500 Likely U.S. Voters. Monday’s survey was the first following the release of an 11-year-old video showing Trump discussing women in graphic sexual detail but did not include any polling results taken after the debate. All three nights of the latest survey follow Sunday’s debate.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has dropped slightly to six percent (6%) support, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein holds steady at two percent (2%). Four percent (4%) still like some other candidate in the race, and another four percent (4%) remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Eighty-four percent (84%) now say they are certain how they will vote in this year’s presidential election, and among these voters, Trump posts a 49% to 46% lead over Clinton. Among voters who say they still could change their minds between now and Election Day, it’s Clinton 40%, Trump 37%, Johnson 19% and Stein four percent (4%).

COMMENT:  If the trend reflected by Rasmussen is correct, Trump is rising again in the polls, probably as a result of his solid debate performance, and perhaps also a sense by the American public that he is being treated unfairly.  Too much piling on.  Too many seemingly coordinated stories meant, not to report the news, but to bring him down.

But it is really too early to base too much on one poll ...although the Los Angeles Times tracker is also showing Trump slightly ahead. 

The final presidential debate will be held Wednesday, October 19th, six days from today.  It will be critical.  Another good performance by Trump can upset the race. 

October 13,  2016     Permalink

OCTOBER 12,  2016

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

US MILITARY ACTION IN YEMEN – FROM ABC NEWS:   U.S.-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory on Yemen's Red Sea Coast early Thursday, officials said, a retaliatory action that followed two incidents this week in which missiles were fired at U.S. Navy ships.  The strikes marked the first shots fired by the U.S. in anger against the Houthis in Yemen's long-running civil war. The U.S. previously only provided logistical support and refueling to the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies, including supporters of Yemen's former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.  While the U.S. military has been focused on al-Qaida in Yemen, the Houthis had not been a primary target of American forces until the missile launches from Houthi-controlled territory this week.  I'd watch this carefully.  It can escalate.  But I see very little attention paid.  Not as big a ratings grabber as Donald Trump's tape.

A BIG DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR CAVES – FROM CBS LOCAL:   Gov. Mark Dayton made a stunning admission on Wednesday about rising health insurance costs and the future of MNsure.  “Ultimately I’m not trying to pass the buck here but the reality is the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable,” Dayton said.  Dayton says changes to the program are critical, as he stepped away from one of his signature political platforms.  “The Affordable Care Act has many good features to it, it has achieved great success in terms of insuring more people, 20 million people across the country and providing access for people who have pre-existing conditions alike, but it’s got some serious blemishes right now and serious deficiencies,” Dayton said.  Premiums for 250,000 Minnesotans, or 5 percent of the population, insured under MNsure will skyrocket by 50 percent or more on some health plans.  Obamacare is an enormous deception.  It may formally insure some people, but it is causing enormous hardship for others.  It was poorly designed because no one particularly cared about the details.  It was the headlines, and the name, that mattered.

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED – FROM DAILY CALLER:   The massive trove of emails by Clinton confidant John Podesta released by Wikileaks has exposed journalists from a variety of media organizations who are “with her.”  CNBC chief Washington correspondent and New York Times political writer John Harwood is the most prominent journalist who is cozy in the emails with the Clinton camp. The CNBC anchor is also the one who should arguably be the most embarrassed.  Harwood in several emails to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta showers Hillary in praise. Harwood in one email to Podesta says “[Hillary] was good here” after an event and in another describes her as “pretty strong.”  Worse than just showing his love for Hillary, Harwood in the emails helps the campaign. The CNBC anchor describes a story he is writing about Hillary as one “she wants. "  Harwood should be fired, but won't be.  This kind of corruption is, incredibly, accepted in some journalistic circles.

October 12, 2016       Permalink

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? – AT 10:44 A.M. ET:  Religious bigotry is alive and well in the Democratic Party.   Only "Islamophobia" is condemned.  From Fox: 

A top spokeswoman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign mocked Catholics and evangelical Christians in a 2011 email exchange exposed by WikiLeaks this week.

In the exchange reported Tuesday night on Fox News Channel's "The Kelly File", Jennifer Palmieri, now the Clinton campaign's director of communications, says that politically conservative Catholics "think [Roman Catholicism] is the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion. Their rich friends wouldn't understand if they became evangelicals."

Palmieri was responding to a message from John Halpin, a fellow at the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. Halpin remarked on a magazine article that discussed 21st Century Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch's decision to raise his children in the Catholic faith.

"Ken Auletta's latest piece on Murdoch in the New Yorker starts off with the aside that both Murdoch and Robert Thompson, managing editor of the [Wall Street Journal], are raising their kids Catholic," Halpin wrote. "Friggin' Murdoch baptized his kids in Jordan where John the Baptist baptized Jesus."

"It's an amazing bastardization of the faith," Halpin added. "They must be attracted to the systematic thought and severely backwards gender relations and must be totally unaware of Christian democracy."

The exchange was included in a batch of Clinton adviser John Podesta's hacked emails. Podesta was copied on the exchange between Palmieri and Halpin, but did not comment.

COMMENT:  Pretty sickening stuff.  As usual on the left, there is a clear assumption that liberals are just superior people, no doubt about it.  And all those peasants out there are merely pegs on a political board.

At one time Catholics were valued participants in the Democratic Party.  Now they are ridiculed.  On the left they call that progress.

October 12, 2016       Permalink

THE PRESS AND THE DONALD – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 9:45 A.M. ET:  No matter what you think of Donald Trump and, as readers know, my enthusiasm is limited, he has been treated horribly by a corrupt and biased press, especially by the deteriorating New York Times.  From one of the best columnists around, Michael Goodwin, of the New York Post:   

Dean Baquet, the Gray Lady’s boss for two years, recently claimed that Trump’s campaign had forced the paper into a new way of covering politics.

“I think that he’s challenged our language,” Baquet told an interviewer. “He will have changed journalism, he really will have.”

The claim is presented as one of those chin-stroking insights about a new paradigm that liberals spot around every corner. In fact, it is just another example of the Times getting it all wrong.

Trump didn’t change the Times — Baquet did. He’s the one who authorized reporters to abandon the paper’s standards when covering Trump and express their personal political opinions.

Or, as Baquet said in the interview with Nieman Lab’s Ken Doctor, the struggle for fairness is over. “I think that Trump has ended that struggle,” Baquet boasted. “I think we now say stuff. We fact-check him. We write it more powerfully that it’s false.”

Fact-checking, of course, is often in the eye of the beholder, and quickly morphs into opinion when there is no restraint or neutral standard. The result is the paper’s relentless, daily assault on Trump, to the advantage of Hillary Clinton.

Opinions, all uniformly anti-Trump, now ooze from the paper’s every pore, with headlines on front-page “news” articles indistinguishable from daily denunciations on the editorial and op-ed pages.

This is not a mere continuation of the old liberal bias that infected the Times, the Washington Post and the broadcast networks for years. This is a malignant strain of conformity that strips away any pretense of fairness in favor of strident partisanship.

COMMENT:  Read the entire piece.  It's excellent, and damning.  Baquet, with the full permission of his boss, Times publisher "Pinch" Sulzberger, has destroyed the paper.  Its news department is compromised.  Its editorials, over which Baquet does not have control, are written on the intellectual level of high-school students who've been put back a grade. 

And the disease is spreading throughout journalism. 

A recent Gallup survey reported that respect for the American press is at an all-time low.  I am not shocked.  The people are on to the racket.

October 12, 2016       Permalink

LATEST POLL – 9:16 A.M. ET:  According to Rasmussen, the race is tightening again, with Trump down only four against Clinton.  From Rasmussen: 

The race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continues to tighten as the results following Sunday’s night debate keep coming in.

Clinton still holds a four-point lead over Trump - 43% to 39% - among Likely U.S. Voters in Rasmussen Reports’ latest White House Watch national telephone and online survey. But that’s down from five points yesterday and her biggest lead ever of seven points on Monday.

Rasmussen Reports updates its White House Watch survey daily Monday through Friday at 8:30 am Eastern based on a three-day rolling average of 1,500 Likely U.S. Voters. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.5. Monday’s survey was the first following the release of an 11-year-old video showing Trump discussing women in graphic sexual detail. Tuesday’s survey was the first to include a full night of results following Sunday’s debate; two out of the three nights in the latest survey follow the debate.

The latest White House Watch shows Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson remaining at seven percent (7%) and Green Party candidate Jill Stein holding steady at two percent (2%). Four percent (4%) like some other candidate, and five percent (5%) remain undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Eighty-two percent (82%) of voters now say they are sure how they will vote. Clinton holds a narrow 48% to 46% lead over Trump among these voters. On Monday, she was ahead 51% to 45% in this group. Johnson now picks up for percent (4%) support and Stein two percent (2%) among those certain of how they will vote.

Among voters who say they could still change their minds between now and Election Day, it’s Clinton 45%, Trump 28%, Johnson 23% and Stein five percent (5%).

COMMENTS:  This could still be a close election despite Trump's largely self-inflicted wounds and the obvious press bias.  But Trump will have to put on a spectacular display in the four weeks remaining to the election, and he just isn't doing it.  He's back to his old style, running against the Republican Party rather than against Hillary Clinton.  He is doing nothing to expand his base.  His advisers must be exasperated. 

October 12,  2016       Permalink