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FEBRUARY 26,  2017

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

THE FLOP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD – I did not watch the Oscars.  But they apparently featured a full left-wing array of anti-Trump speeches, followed by the biggest blunder in Oscar history – the naming of the wrong film for the "best picture" award.  Warren Beatty told us it was "La La Land," and those associated with the movie came up and gave their acceptance speeches.  Then it was realized that Beatty, who gets paid for reading lines that other people write, had read the wrong thing.  The real winner was "Moonlight."  Overflow embarrassment, but somewhat symbolic of an industry more involved with left-wing politics than with getting its craft right.  Maybe the gods were issuing a warning. 

AMERICANS CATCHING ON TO PRESS BIAS – FROM THE HILL:   A majority of Americans believe news organizations are too critical of President Trump, according to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Sunday.  Fifty-one percent of Americans said the media is too critical of Trump, while 41 percent think news organizations have been fair and objective.  The poll also found that Americans are becoming more optimistic about where the country is headed, with 40 percent saying it is headed in the right direction. In December, 33 percent felt that way, compared to 18 percent in July.   The country sent the elites a message by electing Trump in November.  Now it's sending the media a message:   Do it straight and get it right.  I don't think the message will be received favorably.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:    A GoPro drone crashed through a Manhattan woman’s 27th-floor window and landed just feet from her as she sat in her living room enjoying a quiet evening at home, police sources said Sunday.  The 66-year-old resident was working on her computer inside the East River high-rise when the hobby craft smashed through the window at around 5:45 p.m., according to the sources.  The 1-by-1-foot device — which has a 10-inch propeller and a camera — landed on the floor just 4 feet away from her, cops said.   “Poor lady. She’s lucky she wasn’t killed,” said Stephanie Bowden, 23, who was visiting her boyfriend’s apartment 11 floors below at the time.  Police on Sunday were investigating who owns the drone, a remote-controlled 2.2-pound GoPro Karma Quadcopter model, and where it came from.  The New York Times will speculate that it's either Trump or Cheney.

February 26,  2017     Permalink

OH, IT'S THE OSCARS – AT 2:26 P.M. ET:   Such an inconvenience, the Oscars.  You have to stand in line at the supermarket because people are buying their popcorn for the telecast.  The other TV stations put on reruns.  Such an annoyance.

I have no intention of watching.  Is there really a feature-film industry left to care about?  Do I need another lecture by Meryl Streep?  Indeed, there is talk of a boycott by Trump supporters.  From London's Telegraph: 

It should be a glittering celebration of artistic endeavour where the women dazzle in designer gowns and men look sharp in their well-cut dinner jackets.

But this year’s Oscars are more likely to be remembered for what is said than what is worn.

Just over a month into the presidency of Donald Trump, hostilities are expected to be resumed between the new incumbent of the Oval Office and America’s entertainment industry.

Mr Trump, perhaps conveniently, will not be watching as he and the First Lady will be attending the Governors’ Ball in Washington.

But his supporters have already made it clear that they will have no truck with people they regard as “Limousine Liberals”.

A Facebook post originated by Republicans in Arizona has called on the “backbone and decent people of America” to stand up against the “bitter people of the entertainment industry”.

The group hopes its supporters will hit the television ratings by voting with their remote controls should Mr Trump come under attack during the acceptance speeches. The political sympathies of nearly all the nominees suggest that this is possible.

COMMENT:   Who cares what they say.  Will anyone remember tomorrow morning?  After speaking on radio with my good friend Silvio Canto Jr tonight, I will do some work on my taxes, write "Short Takes" for this blog, and go to bed.  Don't wake me with results.   Best Picture will always be "Gone With the Wind."

February 26, 2017       Permalink

THE DEMOCRATS – AT 12:51 P.M. ET:  The Democratic Party now has a new chairman.  Oops, a new chair.  Non-gender.  A chair. 

He is Tom Perez, a man of the left, the former head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under Barack Obama, and later Obama's secretary of labor.  Even though he's way out in left field, he's considered "establishment," an ally of both Obama and Hillary Clinton.  Perez defeated, by a very narrow margin, Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota, an African-American and a Muslim, a man who represents the Bernie Sanders flakeshop within the party.  Ellison, whose controversial history includes a stint as a follower of Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam, becomes deputy chairman.

Okay, that election is over.  The white smoke rose from the Oppressed Persons Center and Grill in Atlanta, and the chair has been named.  Now what?

The Democratic Party is in terrible shape.  It is essentially leaderless, short of the distinguished senators and governors who led it to victory in many critical elections past.  It is often seen, by millions of Americans, as arrogant, aloof, obsessed with race, gender, and ethnicity, and vaguely hostile to the nation itself.  It has shown contempt for some of our most cherished institutions – the military, religion, law enforcement, innovation. It is a party out of touch.

What must the party become?  In reply to that question, we can think back to a story told by Doris Kearns Goodwin and other historians about an incident that occurred the day FDR died, April 12th, 1945.  A reporter saw a soldier at the White House gate, crying.  The reporter approached the soldier and asked, "Did you know him?"  The soldier answered, "No, but he knew me." 

And that's the idea.  A political party must know its country.  In recent decades it has been the Republican Party, once seen as little old men in green eyeshades, that has been closest to the American people and its ideals.  Far from a perfect party, it has still embodied the spirit of the free American.  Ronald Reagan became the modern FDR, the man who spoke for us.

If the Democrats are to succeed, they must first relearn their country.  Many don't want to.  They live within themselves and believe their lives are defined by their College Board scores.  Given what the party has become, I think it has only a 40 percent chance of success.  It is not easy to change people who spend too much of their time celebrating their wonderfulness.

Good luck, Democrats.  But don't be shocked if a new party comes along to replace you.

February 26, 2017       Permalink

DISSENTER IN THE WHITE HOUSE – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  The most interesting person in the new administration, by quite a bit I think, is Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, the president's new national security adviser.

McMaster's appointment received almost universal praise.  He has been described, in words that may come back to haunt both him and the president, as, among other things, the best Army officer of his generation, a dissenter in the tradition of Rickover and Billy Mitchell, and a superlative combat commander who brings battlefield experience to an already considerable intellect. 

McMaster brings other characteristics as well:  1) He has the support of a press that despises his boss; 2) He has his own constituency.  He is like the superlative opera singer who can hear the special, loud applause of his claque at every performance.  That means that, although Trump can fire him, he also holds power over Trump.  He is, at the outset, perhaps the most powerful figure in the administration.   Everything he does will be watched, with admiration by some, jealousy by others.  If he becomes a star, the term "President McMaster" is not out of the question.

The world is his oyster, and the knives will be at his back.

McMaster wrote "Dereliction of Duty," which questioned the behavior of America's military leaders during the Vietnam War.  It is now considered required reading in the Army.  The general will be sensitive to the lessons of his own book.  But he could easily become "locked in" to those lessons. 

There are some resemblances to Douglas MacArthur, although McMaster is far less famous.  MacArthur was a major commander in the greatest war in history, World War II.  He became a five-star general.  He'd had some of the highest grades in the history of West Point.  His landing at Inchon during the Korean War was the key step in the saving of South Korea.  But MacArthur, a man of robust ego, went too far in questioning the judgment of President Harry S. Truman, and Truman fired him.  The firing stunned a nation that had come to see MacArthur as a god.  Indeed, during MacArhur's poignant and dramatic farewell speech to Congress, a representative from Missouri pointed to him and exclaimed, "That's God up there."  The god was reduced considerably in the following years as the public began to disagree with his arguments.  The god never even came close to the presidency, which he coveted.

Now comes McMaster.  He is not MacArthur in record, stature, or public fame, but he has been the recipient of a deserved buildup.  If he should resign his position as a matter of principle, a resignation in protest, he could devastate the Trump administration.  He knows that.  So does Donald Trump.   McMaster, though, also knows the history of Douglas MacArthur.

Things are getting interesting, aren't they?

February 26,  2017     Permalink

FEBRUARY 25,  2017

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

BYE-BYE – FROM HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:  The president tweeted his announcement on Saturday.
Donald Trump will be skipping the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 29.  "I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!" Trump tweeted on Saturday afternoon.  Given Trump's relationship with the press, it's probably a wise decision.  However, his absence will probably result in an even more vicious and mean-spirited evening than had been planned.

NOW WE KNOW – FROM CBS BOSTON:  The Atlanta Falcons weren’t able to keep their Poker Face during the second half and overtime of Super Bowl 51 against the Patriots.  With a few weeks to ponder how his team blew a 25-point second half lead, one member of the Falcons turned to Lady Gaga as a possible scapegoat.  Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu told the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Friday that Lady Gaga’s 40-minute halftime performance “definitely did” impact the team’s play in the second half.  “Usually, halftime is only like 15 minutes, and when you’re not on the field for like an hour, it’s just like going to work out, like a great workout, and you go sit on the couch for an hour and then try to start working out again,” Sanu said on the NFL Network, via by CBS Sports.  Sanu said he doesn’t “know if you can simulate something like” the lengthy halftime break.  We're glad to have that thoughtful, scientific explanation.  Sanu should be drafted as the Democratic Party's new press secretary. 

HE'S A WHAT? – FROM FOX:   One day before Donald Trump became U.S. president, a former Russian ballet dancer, Ravil Mingazov, became the final Guantanamo Bay detainee to be released.  But after almost 15 years in Gitmo, the last thing Mingazov, a Muslim, wanted was a homecoming. He fears for his safety if he returns to Russia where the government has adopted a tough posture toward any Muslim suspected of being radicalized -- something Mingazov has repeatedly denied being.  He said he would rather stay at Gitmo than be sent to Russia. Despite Kremlin demands that the U.S. return him to Russia, American officials flew him to the United Arab Emirates.  They're recruiting ballet dancers?  Really?  Now watch:  Meryl Streep will adopt him and get him a spot in "The Nutcracker."  He can blow up the Christmas tree.  What a show!

February 25, 2017       Permalink

THE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESS – QUOTE OF THE DAY – AT 12:30 P.M. ET:  President Trump is in an open battle with the American media.  It is long overdue. 

The press has become increasingly biased toward the left, but refuses to acknowledge that plain truth.  It claims that its job is to hold presidential administrations to account, but it seemed to have forgotten that job in the eight years that Barack Obama was president.   

Trump charged this past week that the media has become an enemy of the people.  He was widely chastised for that remark, and perhaps could have used more elegant language.  But is there some truth to what he said?  Can a free press actually damage, or even destroy, the country that protects press freedoms?  Marc Giller said this, in the Resurgent: 

The reason that the Founders specifically set aside protections for a free press in the First Amendment is that they understood that a government–even a freely-elected one–was going to try and get away with as much chicanery as it could, and that the best bulwark against that was a press that would hold it accountable to the voters. The problem these days, however, is that we don’t have a free press. Oh, they may be free to do whatever they want without interference from government; but rather than exercise that freedom, most of the media (at least on the network level) have willingly chosen to become a de-facto propaganda organ for progressive causes in general, and the Democrat party in particular. With the stories they cover–and, more importantly, the stories they don’t cover–they have actively sought to advance a narrative for the express purpose of pushing the country farther and farther to the left, all while nurturing and providing cover for Democrat politicians. And they’ve done this by openly lying about their motives, presenting themselves as neutral when they are anything but.

In other words, the news media have been trying to push us to a one-party state–one in which government becomes bigger and more intrusive, while civil liberties (at least the ones leftists don’t like) shrink ever smaller. That is the very definition of a threat to the Republic.

Does that make the media an “enemy of the people”? The answer is more gray than even honest Trump critics might think.

COMMENT:  Very well put.  You might have noticed that The New York Times, in its subscription ads, is asserting that subscribers further the "mission" of The Times.  Maybe some brave reader will write in asking exactly what that mission is.  Don't expect a straight answer. 

February 25, 2017        Permalink

AND TODAY IN ATLANTA – AT 11:32 A.M. ET:  Following the theme of our post just below, Democratic bigwigs are meeting in Atlanta to choose a new party chair. 

The frontrunners are Tom Perez, an Obama administration official on the far left of the party, and Keith Ellison, a congressman from Minnesota, even further to the left.  Ellison brings the added cocktail-party-talk advantages of being both black and Muslim.  Imagine the smiles in the faculty lounges of the nation and the fine homes of Beverly Hills. 

Some observers believe Ellison has the advantage in a party that is being taken over by the supporters of Bernie Sanders and his socialist crusade.  From heavy.com, a site we're consulting for the first time: 

The next chair of the Democratic National Committee is about to be selected.

Democrats will vote on the new head of the DNC at the 2017 Winter DNC Meeting, which is being held in Atlanta, Georgia. Voting is expected to begin on Saturday morning, with live coverage starting at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on The Democrats’ official YouTube channel.

This vote takes place among the 447 members of the Democratic National Committee, and the person who receives a majority of votes will be elected chair. That sounds simple enough, but it’s made complicated by the fact that there are seven candidates in the running; this means that it is very likely that no one will get a majority of votes on the first ballot, and so a second round of voting will be required.

If no one wins during the second round, more and more rounds of voting will continue to be held until someone finally reaches 224 votes. After two rounds, the person who earns the fewest votes will be eliminated from contention, therefore narrowing the field down and making it easier for a single person to reach a majority.

This whole process is made available to the public to watch, and it can be viewed on YouTube. There will be just a few minutes between rounds of voting, and if a candidate decides to withdraw from the race between rounds, they have 30 seconds to address the crowd and potentially to throw their weight behind one of the other candidates.

There are seven candidates in the DNC chair election, although the race is currently thought to be between two contenders: Tom Perez, the former secretary of labor, and Keith Ellison, U.S. representative from Minnesota. Also in the race are Sally Boynton Brown, executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party; Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana; Jehmu Greene, Democratic strategist from Texas; Peter Peckarsky, an attorney from Wisconsin; and Sam Ronan, an Air Force veteran.

COMMENT:  My guess is that the Dems, given their current mentality, will go for the most narrowly ideological candidate, but you never know.  Sometimes a group gets fits of maturity, although it's rare.

February 25, 2017       Permalink

DEMS ARE AWAKE – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  The Republican Party is in the best position it has held in a century, and sometimes seems not to understand that it must exploit that position by actually doing things, a new experience for some in Congress. 

Besides, the Democrats, sometimes crazed and radicalized, are not standing still.  They may weep and wail over the last election, but they are organizing.  They crave power.  From Fox: 

Former President Obama and other top Democrats are focusing efforts on state-level races and ending the reconfiguring of voting districts through the politically-laden process known as gerrymandering -- a combined effort to end “Trump-ism” and help their party regain control of Congress and legislatures across the country.

Obama indicated before leaving the White House last fall that his short-term, post-presidency focus will be on General Assembly races and redistricting after the 2020 Census.

And 2016 presidential candidate former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has become the most recent high-profile Democrat to take up the cause.

“America needs non-partisan redistricting commissions,” O’Malley said at Boston College Law School, where he’s now a visiting professor. “This simple reform … must become the new norm of American democracy. … How can we expect people to vote if their voice has been carved into irrelevance by a political map ahead of time?”

An early test for Democrats trying to win state-level races and stopping the Trump wave arrives this weekend.

Delaware is holding a special election for an open state Senate seat that will decided whether Democrats keep their roughly 40-year hold on the chamber.

COMMENT:  Okay, we can laugh the Dems' sudden interest in gerrymandering, something that didn't concern them when they carved out majority-minority congressional districts.  Kind of like their sudden interest in the threat of Russia.  The fact thaat the Dems are focusing on the states should concern us and get us moving to retain the gains the GOP has made, and expand them.

There will be state- and municipal-level elections this year and next.  Fight for every seat and every mayoralty.

February 25,  2017     Permalink