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DECEMBER 30,  2016

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

OBAMAN WEAKNESS – FROM FOX:  For the next week, not only will there be no U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Middle East, but there will be no American aircraft carriers deployed at sea anywhere else in the world, despite a host of worldwide threats facing the United States.   Think about that, and what it says about the national-defense policy of our outgoing president.  Absolutely pathetic.

LATEST POLITICAL BULLETIN – FROM DAILY CALLER:   A taxpayer-funded political science professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has concluded that political conditions in North Carolina are comparable to political conditions in totalitarian nations such as Cuba, Venezuela and Iran because Republicans are too politically successful.  The professor, Andrew Reynolds, aired his 936-word grievance last week in The News & Observer, a newspaper out of Raleigh.  North Carolina “can no longer be classified as a full democracy,” Reynolds declares, because the statewide Republican Party has been too successful at winning the state’s winner-take-all elections.  We must remain vigilant against all successful Americans, including Republicans.  If they're successful, they must be criminals, and capitalist warmongers.

THE PRESIDENT'S HOME TOWN, AS HIS TERM ENDS – FROM THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE:  A persistent reality for some of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, violence unnerved far reaches of the city in 2016 as shootings and homicides soared. Not since the drug-fueled bloodshed of the mid-1990s had the city witnessed such a toll.  Some neighborhoods, already scarred and gutted by years of violence, suffered inordinately. But the danger spread into more neighborhoods, too, and randomness became an all-too-familiar element to many shootings.  Grim milestones added up: The deadliest month in 23 years. The deadliest day in 13 years. 4,300 people shot. As the year wound down, with the promise of a new year coming soon, a violent Christmas Day.  "It's a shame. It's a shame," said Rafi Peterson, a community activist in the Chicago Lawn community on the Southwest Side. "Those lives cannot be replaced."   But those lives don't matter to radical activists, who see human life as trivial, unless it can be used to advance a political objective.  The president of the United States does not seem much bothered.

December 30, 2016       Permalink

AS MINNESOTA GOES – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  Please note that there's another major election in two years, and the pros are already preparing for it.  The 2018 midterms could be decisive in determining whether the Democratic Party has any realistic chance of surviving as a major national organization, or whether the years of Obama's political mismanagement will prove impossible to overcome. 

One of the most fascinating ingredients in today's national politics is the state of Minnesota.  Normally a safe Democratic stronghold, it edged close to redness in the recent election.  Ace reporter ß Zito, who is finally getting the recognition she deserves as one of the best political reporters around, examines Minnesota's prospects.  From the Washington Examiner:   

One of the most underreported stories of this year's election cycle was how darn close the race finished in Minnesota for Donald Trump.

Yes, Minnesota.

The president-elect did not win the North Star State on Election Day, but he was 44,000 votes shy in a state he was supposed to lose by a predicted 8 percentage points.

That near-miss shows how red Minnesota has become and illustrates how much the entire Great Lake Rust Belt has changed. Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania all flipped their support from President Obama to Trump.

Underreported, too, is how muscular the Republicans have become in the state legislature. The GOP expanded its Minnesota state House majority and won control of the state Senate for the first time in six years.

Minnesota is definitely on the same path that Wisconsin was in 2009 when Reince Priebus took over as state party chairman, explained Brad Todd, a Republican strategist and founding partner of OnMessage.

"A lot of that trajectory has been accelerated by the unpopularity of what is called MNcare (MinnesotaCare) which is basically Obamacare on steroids," said Todd.

In short, MNcare is a result of Democrat Gov. Mark Dayton taking Medicaid expansion to the furthest extreme possible, a move that has wrecked the insurance market for good private coverage and has served as an example of liberalism gone wild.

The Democratic Party in Minnesota has always been more populist than liberal. In fact, its name is technically the Democratic Farmer Labor Party.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  This is excellent reporting, and makes one wonder whether the Democratic Party has seen its best days.

December 30, 2016       Permalink

CHINA ON THE MARCH – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:   For some reason we seem not to focus often on the dramatic strides China is making in military strength and technological quality.  Most Americans are probably not aware that China has an active, imaginative space program.  From Parabolic Arc: 

A white paper outlining China’s space policy for the next five years calls for a sample return mission to the moon, a landing on the far side of Earth’s closest neighbor, and the launch of an orbiter and lander to Mars by 2020.

China will also begin constructing a permanent space station and research and development work on a heavy-lift launcher, reusable boosters and satellite servicing systems.

The nation also wants to expand international cooperation in areas that include remote sensing, space applications, lunar and planetary exploration, and human spaceflight.

“In the next five years China will, with a more active and open attitude, conduct extensive international exchanges and cooperation concerning space,” the white paper states.

Because Chinese officials have been much more open about the nation’s space plans in recent years, the document does not contain much that’s new. It does provide a comprehensive overview of the country’s plans for the next five years.

COMMENT:  The Chinese are ambitious, and have built an enormous industrial base.  While China is plagued with many problems, its sheer size and competence give the Chinese the means to challenge American hegemony in the Western Pacific, and to threaten American allies like South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.

President Obama promised a "pivot" to Asia in his foreign policy, but I haven't seen much of it.  We will need a larger Navy to increase our leverage in the region, and that has been pledged by President-elect Trump. 

December 30, 2016       Permalink

SARAH?  AGAIN? – AT 9:21 A.M. ET:  Sarah Palin is apparently under consideration to be secretary of veterans affairs.  From ABC News: 

Sarah Palin is under consideration for secretary of veterans affairs, a close Palin aide and a top Donald Trump transition official told ABC News.

The Palin aide said that Palin recently told Trump transition officials, "I feel as though the megaphone I have been provided can be used in a productive and positive way to help those desperately in need."

The Department of Veterans Affairs is the largest government agency, with over 300,000 federal employees and a budget of $182 billion for 2017.

Palin's son-in-law and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer posted a SarahPAC video to his Facebook page earlier this week, with excerpts from a speech she gave that heavily focuses on her work with veterans and her connection to the community. Her eldest son, Track Palin, served in Iraq in 2008. The video, which is not new, seems to clearly show her interest in the position, and in he speech she hits the VA "bureaucracy," saying it is "killing our vets."

The speech includes Sarah Palin's ideas on reforming the VA, including improved health care, using military skills to return to the workforce and securing their benefits. The speech also includes a criticism of Barack Obama.

COMMENT:  Obviously, eyebrows will be raised.  Sarah has a way of being controversial, and has brought some legitimate criticism on herself. 

But consider:  She was governor of Alaska, an executive position, with remarkably high approval ratings.  She has a demonstrated commitment to vets.  Her son is a veteran.  Her son-in-law has received the nation's highest medal.  True, her campaign for vice president in 2008 showed her unready for the national political stage, but her managerial record is fine, her passion is in the right place, and, when properly prepared, she is a great communicator. 

Confirmation might be a problem, and a serious one.  Dems would probably vote against her as a solid bloc.  And Sarah's lesser antics could chip away enough GOP votes to deny her the position.  I personally think she'd do a capable job, but Trump might understandably decide that the controversy wouldn't be worth it.

December 30,  2016     Permalink

DECEMBER 29,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:07 P.M. ET: 

PROTECTION – FROM BRITAIN'S EXPRESS:  MASSIVE lorries weighing 35 tonnes will surround Manhattan’s Times Square on New Year’s Eve in security measures designed to prevent a deadly Berlin-style truck attack.   New York Police Department will station 65 of the hulking vehicles – weighing 20 tonnes on their own and loaded with an extra 15 tonnes of sand – at intersections surrounding the iconic celebration in New York due to take place on Saturday evening.  The celebration is already a heavily policed event, with 7,000 officers deployed every year, including armed anti-terror units and bomb-sniffing dogs.  At least the NYPD takes these things seriously.  New York is still considered a major terrorist target.

CHARITY...OR SOME GIMMICK? – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   The Clintons are redoubling their commitment to their family foundation — pledging to donate $200,000 to their family charity after Donald Trump pulled off a stunning victory over Hillary Clinton in the November presidential election.  Clinton Foundation chairman Bruce Lindsey, a longtime Clinton crony, announced the family’s latest move in an email Wednesday to supporters.  “As we prepare for a new year, President Clinton and Chelsea remain dedicated to our work providing everyone a chance to succeed,” Lindsey wrote.  The email message asked for donations, claiming Bill Clinton would personally triple “every gift” up to $200,000.  Look, if they do some good, I'm all for it.  But why do I suspect there's some political motive here?  We'll find out.  Remember, 2020 is only four years away.

CHANGING TIMES – FROM MARKETWATCH:  In recent years, somewhere between endless Tinder swipes and countless OkCupid matches, the dinner date has fallen by the wayside.  As online dating surges in popularity, few millennials have the time, money, or desire to sit with a stranger over a long meal. Only 7 in 10,000 messages in a recent OkCupid IAC survey suggested “grabbing some dinner” and a somewhat less scientific survey this reporter conducted of several dozen actively dating 20-somethings found that dinner has become a highly taboo first date. Last month, Moody’s Investors Service slashed its operating-profit growth forecast for the restaurant sector. (This appears to complement another trend noted by market researcher NPD Group that suggests 57% of meals In the U.S. are eaten alone.)  There’s good reason why people don’t want to sit through a meal with a stranger for an hour or, often times, longer. One singleton this reporter spoke to called it her “worst nightmare” and another said the idea of sitting through an unspecified number of hours of food, drinks or dessert makes her anxious. A recent article in Cosmopolitan detailed, “Why First-Date Dinners Suck,” listing similar reasons: the date category is antiquated, the time frame of the event is too long if there is no chemistry, and eating is too “intimate.”   Okay, okay I get it.  There may be good reasons.  But I sense the influence of anti-romantic left-wing intellectuals.  Resist!  Resist!

December 29, 2016       Permalink

DEBBIE REYNOLDS – AT 10:56 A.M. ET:   The death of Debbie Reynolds, coming just a day after the untimely passing of her daughter, Carrie Fisher, is heartbreaking enough.  But Debbie Reynolds also leaves an important film legacy. 

Until her death yesterday, Debbie was one of only two surviving stars from the great age of MGM film musicals.  Now, only Leslie Caron lives.  She played Gigi in the last of the MGM musical classics, and earlier starred opposite Gene Kelly in "An American in Paris."  Both films won the Academy Award for best picture.  No, they don't make films like that anymore, and how sad.

The MGM musicals were produced by the "Freed unit," run by Arthur Freed, himself an accomplished lyricist. 

Debbie Reynolds was known primarily for her starring role (with Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor) in "Singin' in the Rain," considered by many to be the most perfect screen musical ever produced.  When it was released in 1952, it made little noise, got no awards, and faded away.  But over the years the audience for the movie grew, helped by exposure on television, and it made Debbie an enduring star.  She recalled how grueling the work was – and how Fred Astaire privately taught her the finer points of screen dancing. 

Her film stardom did not last long.  Although she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as the lead in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (1964), film musicals were falling out of favor, and her image as the innocent "America's sweetheart" was being challenged by a new generation of assertive women.  Her offscreen life seemed to get more attention than her roles, especially her being dumped by husband Eddie Fisher, who proceeded to marry Elizabeth Taylor.  Debbie got public sympathy, but little else.  Eddie Fisher got Elizabeth Taylor for a short time, and little else. 

She worked to the end, running a hotel and a film museum in Las Vegas, celebrating a glorious but past age.  She had pleaded with the "businessmen" who ran MGM in the 1970s to preserve their back lots, still filled with film sets, as a tourist destination, but they didn't see the potential that Debbie saw, and sold the land at the bottom of the market.   

Debbie is gone now, but Leslie Caron still lives.  And we will always have those movies, and that music.

December 29, 2016       Permalink  

MORE TRUMP EFFECT – AT 10:31 A.M. ET:   It must be frustrating to be a Democrat and watch President-elect Trump have an impact even before he takes office.  But it does appear that companies are now trying to outdo each other in showing that they can create jobs in the United States.  A great new form of competition.  From Fox: 

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday the addition of roughly 8,000 new jobs for Americans, including 5,000 that telecommunications giant Sprint will bring from “all around the world.”

“They’re coming back to the United States, which is a nice change,” he said.

Trump, who takes office January 20, said the other 3,000 jobs will be hires from a new company called One Web.

Trump was elected in part on the promise to return to the United States jobs that American companies had moved overseas, in search of cheaper labor costs.

Last month, he announced that Carrier would keep roughly 1,000 jobs in Indiana, after months of criticizing the air-conditioning corporation on the campaign trail for plans to move the jobs to Mexico.

Trump spoke Wednesday from his Mar a Largo estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

COMMENT:  A real leader can create a mood, an atmosphere, a level of excitement, that can lead to visible progress.  Churchill understood that language is a weapon.  Well, Trump isn't exactly Churchill, but he understands the importance of words, of ideas, in moving a country forward. And things are starting to happen. 

I wonder if the mainstream media will give Trump any credit.  The answer is no.

December 29, 2016       Permalink

OBAMA'S AMERICA – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  We are still in the midst of holiday season, and there is fear as to what might happen in American malls this weekend.  From the Chicago Tribune:

CHICAGO — An unusually high number of teen fights at shopping centers across the U.S. over the Christmas weekend is prompting some mall operators to re-examine security policies and consider controversial restrictions on when and how teens may shop.

Security task force members from malls across the U.S. conducted a conference call Tuesday to discuss strategies for preventing mayhem, which may include more mall security or even bans on teens coming to malls alone, after multiple reports of teen fights over the four-day holiday, said Stephanie Cegielski, vice president of public relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers.

The need for more restrictions is “becoming somewhat more of a reality,” Cegielski said.

Still, mall operators worry expanding or initiating new limits could hinder retailers’ efforts to woo consumers away from internet shopping carts and back to the malls.

“There are a lot of properties that are hesitant to do it,” Cegielski said. “We’re all cognizant of what online shopping is doing and they want to keep people coming in. They don’t want to stifle that foot traffic at all.”

In Aurora, Ill., eight teens have been charged after what police described as a “large disturbance” that temporarily closed Fox Valley Mall Monday night. On Dec. 24, another fight broke out at the mall that did not appear to be related, according to a statement from Dan Ferrelli, an Aurora Police Department spokesman.

And on Christmas Eve in Gurnee, Ill., two small groups started fighting each other at Gurnee Mills. All the suspects were identified through security video, but no arrests have been made yet, authorities said.

While security task force members for the ICSC noted that Dec. 26 historically prompts an increase in fights, this year’s incidents seemed more prevalent perhaps because Christmas fell on a Sunday, offering teens and other shoppers one extra day to run into trouble, Cegielski said.

The incidents are prompting some mall operators to beef up security in anticipation of the upcoming long New Year’s weekend. Others are debating the need for parental guidance policies — rules that require children under the age of 18 to be accompanied by a parent. About 100 shopping centers already have some kind of teen restrictions, the ICSC said.

COMMENT:  Of course, any new crackdown on teen mobs will immediately be denounced by the usual suspects as "oppression."  There will be panels on CNN pointing to lack of opportunity, the election of Donald Trump, and even the impact of Israeli apartments in Jerusalem.

I suspect most mall customers would appreciate beefed up security so they can freely go to stores rather than simply order online.  They shouldn't have to risk their lives to do so.

December 29,  2016     Permalink