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FEBRUARY 8,  2017

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

A PROBLEM OF OUR TIME – FROM CBC:   Funeral directors in Quebec are discussing how to educate people that taking selfies over a corpse and posting it to social media may be considered disrespectful in some families.  The president of the corporation of funeral directors of Quebec, Denis Desrochers, said the act of taking photos at a funeral isn't new, but sharing those photos on social media is.  "There won't be a 'selfie police,'" he told Radio-Canada's Gravel le Matin, but said that among Quebec funeral directors there is a debate over how to educate people about what is respectful behaviour at a funeral parlour.  "In many funeral parlours we have very clear rules around limiting selfies. Or we tell the public that the families don't want selfies," he said.   And, if the practice grows, CNN will blame Trump.

TELL IT, LINDSEY – FROM THE HILL:   Senate Republicans's action to bar Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) from continuing to speak against Sen. Jeff Sessions Tuesday night was “long overdue,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.  “Because you’re reading a letter from somebody that defames the senator is not a reason to ignore it,” Graham told conservative radio host Mike Gallagher on Wednesday.  “The bottom line is, it was long overdue with her. I mean, she is clearly running for the nomination in 2020.”  The South Carolina senator said Warren’s fiery comments about Sessions, President Trump's nominee to be attorney general, are a sign of the uncertainty within the Democratic Party and the efforts being made by its most "extreme" members to seize control.  “The Democratic Party is being pushed really hard by the most extreme voices in their community, and they just don’t know how to handle it,” Graham said.  What also needs to be said is that the terminally obnoxious Warren is in political trouble in her own state of Massachusetts, where Democrats usually are usually assured a lifetime job in office.  She may not be re-elected in 2018, if the Republicans take the trouble to find a solid candidate. 

INSUFFERABLE – FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:  United Talent Agency is scrapping its annual Oscar party in favor of making a donation to a group that has been on the front lines of fighting President Donald Trump's executive order targeting travel from Muslim-majority countries.  "This is a moment that demands our generosity, awareness and restlessness," wrote UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer to staff. “Our world is a better place for the free exchange of artists, ideas and creative expression. If our nation ceases to be the place where artists the world over can come to express themselves freely, then we cease, in my opinion, to be America.”  The agency said it would be donating $250,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union, the group that has seen a temporary victory in legally challenging Trump's travel ban, as well as the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization.  It also will be hosting a pro-immigration rally at its Los Angeles office on Feb. 24, two days before the Oscars ceremony is broadcast on ABC. Already this awards season, nominees and winners have stepped up their political rhetoric over Trump's actions and have used their acceptance speeches to make pointed notes about inclusiveness.  I wonder if these worthies have the slightest interest in the condition of artists in the countries designated in President Trump's executive order.  Don't hold your breath.  Also, these rallies and alleged meetings are command performances.  People come because powerful agents want them to.  What they're thinking privately may well be another matter.

February 8,  2017     Permalink

THEY'RE STILL AROUND – AT 11:55 A.M. ET:   We don't do political dynasties in America.  Anyone from the Adams clan left in politics?  What about the Jeffersons?  And the Roosevelts?  Gone.

There is an important exception.  Very quietly, without any fanfare, a new generation of Kennedys is coming into electoral politics.   And now one is making a major move.  From Fox:   

CHICAGO – Democratic businessman Chris Kennedy said Wednesday he will run for Illinois governor in 2018, bringing the instant name recognition of his family's political legacy to what will likely be a sharply contested race to unseat Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner.

In an email and video sent to supporters, Kennedy, 53, said he's running because Illinois is heading "in the wrong direction."

"I moved to Illinois thirty years ago with an enthusiasm for business and a commitment to serve. Today, I am announcing my run for Governor because I love Illinois, but we have never been in worse shape," he said. "We don't need incremental improvement — we need fundamental change in state government."

Kennedy is the son of the late Sen. Robert Kennedy, who also served as attorney general, and Ethel Kennedy. He is the nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy.

The former chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, Kennedy founded and now leads Top Box Foods, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable, healthy food to Chicago neighborhoods.

He also serves as chairman of Joseph P. Kennedy Enterprises Inc., the Kennedy family's investment firm. He previously managed a real estate company whose holdings included Chicago's Merchandise Mart.

Kennedy, who lives in Kenilworth with his wife and four children, has flirted with running for public office before — including a bid for U.S. Senate — but didn't follow through.

COMMENT:  It's Illinois politics.  The lowest.  The state is in terrible shape, but now has a Republican governor who, at least, is trying.  Around Illinois are Republican-led states like Wisconsin and Indiana, which are thriving.  Gee, I wonder why.

I'm not so sure the name Kennedy means much these days.  Ted Kennedy tried for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1980, some 37 years ago, and failed.  There was talk of Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy's daughter, becoming a senator from New York, but it never happened.  She became Obama's ambassador to Japan, which is not a headline-creating position.

John F. Kennedy, the star of the family, was assassinated 54 years ago.  Only Americans over, say, 60, would have any memory of him.

So let's see what Chris Kennedy can do, or even if he gets the nomination. 

But who wants to be governor of such a mess?

February 8, 2017       Permalink

AND THE DEM MELTDOWN – AT 9:58 A.M. ET:  Related to the post just below is the continuing meltdown of the Democratic Party.  The Republicans have problems, to be sure, and the president has problems with some of his undisciplined and inaccurate statements.

But the problems in the Democratic Party may finish it as a national institution.  Right now the Dems are a coastal party, with some "bright" spots in between, mostly in college towns.  But they are controlled by a militant fringe whose ideas are grossly unpopular in majority America.  From the terrific Michael Goodwin in the New York Post: 

History was made Tuesday when Vice President Mike Pence cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to confirm Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.

But the necessity of Pence’s vote reflected another kind of history, too: The decision by all Senate Democrats to reject DeVos marked a new low for the flailing party.

Democrats claim to stand for the poor, immigrants and nonwhites. Yet given a chance to actually support someone who is dedicated to improving education for all America’s children, especially those trapped in failing urban schools, the Dems said no, hell no.

Joined by two Republicans, they stood in the schoolhouse door to block vital change, casting their lot with teachers unions that fear reform the way a vampire fears garlic.

And...

No president has ever had so few cabinet members confirmed at this late date, just as no president has been confronted with such open talk of assassination and impeachment.

Speaking of which, have you heard a single Democrat decry the talk of assassination? Have you heard a single Democrat denounce the violence carried out by so-called protesters?

The answers are no and no because Dems see the riots and threats of violence as legitimate expressions of disapproval — and convenient for their purposes. Their contribution to the “resistance” started when 70 Democrats boycotted Trump’s inauguration and many senators boycotted confirmation hearings and votes. Maybe they’ll soon throw rocks through windows.

The madness was on full display Monday night when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer boasted in a tweet from outside the Capitol that “While the GOP is pushing a vote on Betsy DeVos, the people are rallying outside. We’re with them.”

Think of that: The Democrats’ leader walks out on his job to play the role of a man of the people in a staged demonstration. This is a party that has lost its mind, as well as its soul.

COMMENT:  Absolutely accurate.  And the Dems are about to choose a new national chairman.  One of the two top candidates, Keith Ellison, is an African-American Muslim congressman from Minnesota with a radical history, including quality time with the Nation of Islam, a hate group.  The other gem is Tom Perez, one of the most left-wing officials in the Obama administration.

The Dems have certainly learned from the election, haven't they?

February 8, 2017        Permalink

THE DEMOCRATIC BUBBLE – AT 9:40 A.M. ET:  Increasingly, the once-great Democratic Party seems to be living in its own bubble.  Despite the loss of about 1,000 legislative seats under Barack Obama, it still imagines itself to be the party of the people, of the masses, of the majority.

Measuring Democratic attitudes confirms the illusion.  Get this poll, from Rasmussen: 

Most voters agree that Christians living in Muslim-majority countries are mistreated for their religion. But Democrats are more likely to think Muslims are mistreated in America than to think Christians are persecuted in the Islamic world.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 62% of Likely U.S. Voters believe most Christians living in the Islamic world are treated unfairly because of their religion. Just 17% disagree, while 21% more are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

These findings have changed little in surveys since early 2015.

By comparison, 39% feel most Muslims living in the United States are treated unfairly because of their religion. That’s up from 31% last year and is the highest finding in surveys to date. A plurality (46%) still believes Muslims are not treated unfairly because of their faith, while 15% more are not sure.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Democrats, however, believe most Muslims in this country are mistreated, a view shared by only 22% of Republicans and 39% of voters not affiliated with either major party. Fewer Democrats (47%) think most Christians are mistreated in the Islamic world, compared to 76% of GOP voters and 64% of unaffiliateds.

COMMENT:  Some of those figures undoubtedly stem from the fact that the Democratic Party has within it minority groups who've been taught to believe in the cult of the victim.  And it attracts "youth" who are taught in left-wing colleges to believe that Muslims are perpetual victims of Western oppression.

Not exactly the party of Roosevelt, Truman, and Kennedy.

February 8,  2017     Permalink

FEBRUARY 7,  2017

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:05 P.M. ET:

GOOD FOR HER – FROM FOX:   A Maryland blogger has been forced to pay a “substantial sum” to Melania Trump as part of a settlement for a defamation lawsuit over an article containing unsubstantiated claims that the first lady once worked as an escort, her lawyers announced Tuesday.  “I posted an article on August 2, 2016 about Melania Trump that was replete with false and defamatory statements about her,” Webster Tarpley, the 71-year-old blogger, said in a statement by Trump’s attorneys, according to the Washington Post.  Trump’s legal team declined to provide the settlement amount. Tarpley, of Gaithersburg, didn’t respond to requests from the Washington Post for comment, but his lawyer confirmed a settlement had been reached.  I'm glad Ms. Trump fought back.  People thought they could use her as a punching bag, and she proved them wrong.

THE END OF EDUCATION – FROM FOX:   Joe Biden has a new title: Ivy League professor.  The former vice president, who has been out of a job exactly 18 days, has landed a new gig at the University of Pennsylvania, where he will teach a new generation the ins and outs of international diplomacy. Biden will lead the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a new center focused principally on diplomacy, foreign policy, and national security. The Center will be located in Washington, but the Scranton-born Biden will also have an office on the Penn campus in Philadelphia.  This is like hiring a math professor who got zero on every test.  Joe's a decent guy, by common consent, but he's been wrong on every major policy issue of our time.  He was even, reportedly, against the bin Laden raid.  What can he teach those kids?

SIMILAR TO AMERICAN VIEWS – FROM THE INDEPENDENT:   A majority of Europeans want a ban on immigration from Muslim-majority countries, a poll has revealed.  An average of 55 per cent of people across the 10 European countries surveyed wanted to stop all future immigration from mainly Muslim countries.  The Chatham House study, conducted before US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning immigration to the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries, found majorities in all but two of the ten states opposed immigration from mainly Muslim countries.  Only 20 per cent disagreed, while 25 per cent said they did not know.   There is probably some bigotry involved, but I suspect fear of terrorism is at the root of the numbers.

February 7, 2017       Permalink

SHE'S IN – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  Betsy DeVos has just been confirmed as secretary of education.   It took a historic tie-breaking vote  by the vice president to get her approved.   From Fox:

School choice advocate Betsy DeVos was narrowly confirmed Tuesday as the next education secretary despite deep opposition from teachers unions and other groups, after Vice President Pence intervened to cast a historic tie-breaking vote.

Pence’s vote marked the first time in American history a vice president has broken a tie on a Cabinet nominee’s Senate confirmation – and the first tie-breaking vote by a VP since 2008. Pence was compelled to cast the vote after two Republican senators – Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska – joined all 48 Senate Democrats in opposing DeVos.

“The Senate being equally divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative and the nomination is confirmed,” Pence said, stepping into his role as president of the Senate in a brief appearance on Capitol Hill.

With his support, DeVos was confirmed on a 51-50 vote.

The confirmation of the wealthy GOP donor will mark a sharp change in philosophy at the helm of federal education policy, given DeVos’ history boosting alternatives to public education.

“She’s led the most effective school reform movement of the last 30 years,” Senate education committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said moments earlier on the floor, shoring up DeVos's Republican support.

Democrats mounted an all-night speaking marathon railing against her nomination in the run-up to the vote, questioning her experience and ties to charter schools though their opposition combined with lobbying efforts by teachers unions were not enough to block her.

COMMENT:  This was the first time in American history that a vice president had to break a tie in a confirmation vote for a Cabinet appointee.  It shows the sheer fanaticism of the Democratic Party.  Democrats in the Senate are being forced by pressure from the left to oppose literally anything Trump proposes.  It is a madness.

Even Rahm Emanuel, the embattled mayor of Chicago, said today that Democrats must cool down and build a party, not just oppose.  He also cautioned that Democrats cannot expect to return to real national power for a long while.  But his words will probably be ignored by the revolutionary clique in control of the party.  They just want to run a movement.  Governing is too difficult.

February 7, 2017       Permalink 

THE RESISTANCE SPEAKS – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  And what clowns they are.   Apparently inspired by the excesses of the sixties...which wound up putting Richard Nixon in the White House...the brave anti-Trump resisters are planning major disruptions.  From Daily Caller: 

Behind the mass protests, choreographed chants and acts of violence, leaders of anti-Trump “resistance” efforts are communicating the same simple but dark message: they want to make America “ungovernable” for the president of the United States.

These protesters say they will do whatever it takes to keep Trump from enacting his agenda, and many of them have shown a willingness to destroy public property, assault law enforcement officers and inflict violence upon their fellow citizens.

Inauguration Day provided a hint of what to expect from the far left during Trump’s presidency: well-organized protests that feature alarmist rhetoric and have a proclivity to devolve into anarchic violence. Rioters smashed storefront windows, assaulted innocent bystanders and torched a limo all in the name of opposing Trump.

D.C.’s inauguration weekend violence was believed to be mostly the work of a group calling themselves DisruptJ20, which began planning to disrupt the inauguration and destroy property weeks in advance.

COMMENT:  We saw the same in Berkeley last week.  Of course, they violate the law, and we'll be watching to see if the laws are actually enforced.  Many of these violent demonstrations occur in places where local authorities are sympathetic to the leftist cause, if not the leftist actions.  In Berkeley, only one arrest was made. 

Look for the possibility of the president using federal action – federalizing National Guard units or sending in troops, as happened a number of times in the fifties and sixties.   The president could count on widespread public support if violence gets out of control. 

February 7, 2017       Permalink 

IRAN RESPONDS – AT 9:53 A.M. ET:  There is a confrontation building between President Trump and Iran.  How Trump handles this has the potential to define his presidency.  It can't be done with tweets.  From AFP:

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday warned the US not to threaten Iran with sanctions, saying American President Donald Trump’s brow-beating would see a response in the coming days.

“Trump says fear me! No. The Iranian nation will respond to your comments with a demonstration on the 10th of February,” Khamenei said in a speech to military officers in Tehran on Tuesday. “They will show others what kind of stance the nation of Iran takes when threatened,” he said.

His comments came in the wake of Trump’s statement to reporters on Thursday about whether a military response to Iran was under consideration, following Tehran’s illicit ballistic missile test.

“Nothing is off the table,” Trump replied, borrowing a phrase Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used for years vis-à-vis Tehran’s nuclear program. Days earlier, a top US administration official had said Iran was “on notice.”

Khamenei also responded to Trump’s tweet of February 3, which said: “Iran is playing with fire — they don’t appreciate how ‘kind’ President Obama was to them.”

The leader ridiculed the idea of being grateful to former president Barack Obama, saying he was the one who placed “paralyzing sanctions” on Iran.

“The new US president says Iran should thank Obama! Why?!” Khamenei posted on his website. “Should we thank him for [creating] ISIS, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Syria, or the blatant support for the 2009 sedition in Iran? He was the president who imposed paralyzing sanctions on the Iranian nation; of course, he did not achieve what he desired. No enemy can ever paralyze the Iranian nation.”

Khamenei also told the officers that Trump had revealed the true colors of the US.

COMMENT:  The supreme guy talks about a "demonstration" on February 10th, three days from now.  Sounds like another missile launch, or maybe a military parade showing off new weapons.  Or an overflight of American ships near Iran.

Trump had better get this right.  On the one hand, he can't back down, which was Obama's style.  On the other hand, he can't be sucked into a military action he really doesn't want to take. 

He can't be sure of much support from our "allies," many of whom are making fortunes in Iran.  And there are some American firms, like Boeing, who are also involved in the Iran trade.

A critical moment coming up.

February 7,  2017     Permalink