Please note that you can leave a comment on any of our posts at our Facebook page.  Subscribers can also comment at length at our Angel's Corner Forum.

Our Angel's Corner archive is here.

MAY 1,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:57 P.M. ET: 

OH, AGAIN – From the New York Post:   Hillary Clinton drew ire from Native Americans on Saturday over her use of the phrase “off the reservation” in a CNN interview.  Activists pointed to the saying’s dark origins in late-19th-century laws restricting Native Americans to reservation lands.  “When reservations were first established, going #OffTheReservation meant you were going to be hunted down and killed,” Ruth Hopkins tweeted.  The social-media firestorm forced Clinton’s campaign to apologize — also on Twitter.  “Divisive language has no place in our politics,” tweeted Amanda Renteria, Clinton’s national political director. “Hillary Clinton meant no disrespect to Native Americans. She wants this election to be about lifting people up, not tearing them down.”  I love how Hillary goes full pompous whenever she's caught in a gaffe.  She talked about how she's dealt with men who go "off the reservation," now she's claiming her heart is pure.

AND MORE PC – From the College Fix:   Los Angeles’s Occidental College has chosen Harvard Law Prof. Randall Kennedy, and hoo-boy – this hasn’t sat very well with student activists and some faculty.  You see, Kennedy has publicly spoken out against the dubious film The Hunting Ground for its portrayal of “the general sexual assault phenomenon at universities and of [Harvard] student Brandon Winston.”  The case against Winston was so spurious that a grand jury didn’t even indict him – despite a prosecutor’s recommendation to do so. (See this legal explanation of why is so significant.)  Kennedy also had the temerity to chide Harvard race protesters for overreacting to incidences of apparent “hate,” like the most-probably-a-hoax “black tape” affair at the college Law School.  I want to see a group of PC students hold up a sign saying "Down with everyone."  Why not say what you really mean?

I GUESS THE INSURANCE COMPANY DOESN'T HAVE TO PAY – From London's Daily Mail:  Captain Cook's famous ship has seemingly been discovered in the United States 230 years since it was sold, sunk and forgotten.  The Endeavour is one of the most famous ships in naval history and was used by Captain James Cook to discover the East Coast of Australia in 1770.   The last sighting of the Endeavour was around 1778 when it is believed the ship was sold, renamed the Lord Sandwich, and then used to transport British troops during the American Revolution.   Archaeologists believe they have found the scuttled remains of the Endeavour in Newport Harbour, Rhode Island.  The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project made the discovery, saying the ship was scuttled in the harbour by British forces in the lead up to the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778.  Maybe that's where my lost Parcel Post packages are.

May 1, 2016       Permalink

CAN THIS BE TRUE? – AT 11:56 A.M. ET:  A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll shows Donald Trump demolishing Ted Cruz in Indiana on Tuesday, which would probably end Cruz's candidacy.  But wait a minute!  There's another poll in Indiana showing Cruz well ahead.  Which do you believe?  I'll tell you Tuesday night.  From The Wall Street Journal:   

Donald Trump holds a 15-point lead in the Republican presidential primary in Indiana, and a majority of GOP voters disapprove of the effort by underdogs Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich to coordinate a strategy to block him, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll finds.

Hillary Clinton holds a narrow, 4-point lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders among likely Democratic voters in Indiana, the poll found.

Ahead of the voting in Indiana on Tuesday, Mr. Trump is the first choice of 49% of likely GOP primary voters in the state, with 34% favoring Mr. Cruz and 13% for Mr. Kasich.

That gives Mr. Trump a substantial advantage in a state that Mr. Cruz says could be his last, best chance to stop the front-runner from clinching the GOP nomination before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July.

And...

“After the Acela primary, there is an aura of inevitability surrounding the Trump and Clinton candidacies,” said Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

In the Republican primary, it is still mathematically possible for Mr. Cruz, of Texas, and Mr. Kasich, of Ohio, to pick up enough delegates between now and the end of the primary season on June 7 to keep Mr. Trump from reaching the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination. But the path to doing so narrows substantially if Mr. Trump sweeps Indiana and wins all of its 57 delegates.

COMMENT:  Look, we'll see.  There's nothing to comment on.  If it's accurate, it will decide the Republican nominee.  If not accurate, the race can go on.

On the Dem side, if accurate, it shows continued resistance to Hillary, but it may only be symbolic.  She's getting the delegate numbers she needs to win the nomination.  That's the nomination, not the presidency.

Trump and Hillary, the two most disliked probable nominees since McGovern and Nixon in 1972.  Can't we do better?

May 1, 2016       Permalink

McCAIN BLASTS OBAMA'S LEADERSHIP – AT 11:29 A.M. ET:   A reminder that the so-called "Republican establishment" has a great deal to say that is correct and useful.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lambasted the foreign policy strategy the Obama administration has employed over the past seven years on Sunday.

"Under this administration, we've been on a holiday from American leadership. Too often, President Obama has adopted a cheap fatalism about America's role in the world," McCain said in the weekly Republican address released Saturday.

"No matter the challenge, we're told that there are no good options, that our influence is limited, that we will not succeed overnight, that there is no military solution, and that we can't solve every problem," McCain said. "These are truisms, but none of them absolve us of our responsibility to make the situation better where we can. And the results of our failure to do so are clear to see."

COMMENT:  McCain, of course, is correct.  There was a time, especially during the Reagan era, when America showed that it had learned the lessons of the 1930s and 1940s.  But a new generation knows little of those past struggles, and the GOP is clearly losing the spirit of Reagan.  John McCain seems at times like a lonely, forgotten voice.

Please note that Churchill was also a lonely, forgotten voice, until events proved him right.

May 1, 2016       Permalink 

CHINA'S INCREASED AGGRESSIVENESS – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  Like North Korea, China is learning that it can challenge the United States and pay nothing in return.  From Fox:

China blocked a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier from arriving at a port in Hong Kong as tensions ratcheted up over disputed islands in the South China Sea, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed Friday.

The USS John C. Stennis and escort ships had planned to visit the port next week, Stars & Stripes reports. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not explain why it denied the request.

"We have a long track record of successful port visits to Hong Kong, including with the current visit of the USS Blue Ridge, and we expect that will continue,” Cmdr. Bill Urban told Fox News. The USS Blue Ridge is a Navy command ship.

China claims virtually all of the strategically vital South China Sea and has tried to shore up its control by building islands on coral reefs complete with airstrips, harbors and radar stations.

Satellite images provided to Fox News earlier this month showed how China deployed new fighter jets to Woody Island in that same region.

COMMENT:  As they say, the whole world is watching.  And it is watching something they've seen repeatedly under Obama – the United States bullied and humiliated by a hostile nation, and getting away with it.

Weakness always provokes more conflict, and that's what we're bound to see, no matter who becomes president.

May 1,  2016     Permalink

APRIL 30,  2016

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:5 P.M. ET: 

TIED RACE – From Rasmussen:   Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are again tied up in a head-to-head matchup.  A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Trump and Clinton each earning 38% support. Sixteen percent (16%) say they will vote for some other candidate if they are the two major party candidates, while six percent (6%) plan to stay home.  The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on April 25-26, 2016 by Rasmussen Reports.  Other polls show Clinton well ahead, but they might not be polls of likely voters.  Many Republican leaders apparently believe that Clinton will demolish Trump, and cost the GOP the Senate, and maybe the House.  I'm not so sure.  I'm inclined to believe, with no evidence whatever, that this will be a close race.

I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED – From the Washington Free Beacon:     Not a single member of the White House press corps is a registered Republican, according to survey results recently published by Politico.  Those results are buried in a story this week on President Barack Obama’s relationship with the press. An infographic posted in the story reveals that not a single one of the 72 members of the White House press corps surveyed by the Virginia-based trade publication identifies with the GOP.  Of the journalists surveyed, more than a quarter are registered Democrats and 13 percent are not members of any political party. Sixty percent are not registered to vote, but 72 percent of those polled said they think reporters should vote in elections they cover.  Twelve survey respondents said they plan to vote for Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Three said they support her rival Bernie Sanders. Two plan to vote for Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Tex.) and one supports Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.  Nearly 9 in 10 respondents said they expect Hillary Clinton to be the nation’s next president.  Not shocked by any of that.  The national press corps is liberal, and it isn't getting better.  And it has a profound effect on what stories are covered, and how.

IRANIAN "ELECTION" – Well, it is, except you have to have the approval of the government to run. From algemeiner.com:   Iranian moderates and reformists who support President Hassan Rouhani and last year’s landmark nuclear deal have failed to secure a majority after parliamentary runoff elections but will retain the most seats in the assembly.  State TV announced the results for all of the contested seats on Saturday, the day after the runoff was held. Moderates or reformists won 37 seats. The bloc needed to win 40 for an outright majority in the 290-seat chamber.  Bottom line:  There is still great power among the hardliners.  Also, the definition of "moderate" in Iran doesn't really fit our use of the term.  The moderates just murder more slowly.

April 30, 2016       Permalink

TROUBLE IN EUROPE – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:  With all the attention focused on our election campaign, we're averting our eyes from the enormous tensions in Europe, tensions caused by a flood of Mideast immigrants who are changing the balance of power in many locales.  Now Europe is preparing for possible major violence.  From Britain's Express: 

A MILITARY police unit have carried out European Union-funded special training, ready to be deployed in the event of civil unrest or war.

The training, which took place in the German North Rhine-Westphalia province was designed to prepare troops as part of the EU’s Lowlands Gendarmerie programme.

Breitbart London reported that the exercise was attended by 600 members of various European police and military forces, in a bid to prepare the united troops of the European Gendarmerie Force.

The military police group is made up of seven European nations, including Spain, Romania, Poland and Germany, and aims to quell post conflict scenarios within EU member states.

The group’s website reported that: “The aim of the [2016, April 15th] Comprehensive Live Exercise will be capacity building of police and gendarmes who will participate in international stabilisation missions and projects with a police component.”

It went on to describe the exercises carried out, including “carousel training, with attention being given to all policing skills, including community policing and social patrols, crowd and riot control, SWAT teams and forensic investigation”.

COMMENT:  There is some controversy about this in Europe, with some people fearing that this represents an over-militarization of the police.  You'll recall that some Americans have raised the same concerns about police training in various departments here.

But it's hard to argue with the need to give selected police units military-type training, given the threats the police might face from terrorists and violent groups.  Obviously, training must be monitored and must be highly professional.  A well-trained, well-disciplined force is better than chaos.

April 30, 2016       Permalink 

TED STATES IT BLUNTLY – AT 11:18 A.M. ET:  It's not just the pundits who are now saying that Tuesday's Indiana primary is decisive in the Republican race.  It's Ted Cruz himself, in words he cannot take back.   From Fox:

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz declared Friday that the 2016 race for the Republican presidential nomination will be decided next week in Indiana – making clear he's staking his underdog bid on a strong performance there.

“It gives me great comfort that this primary is going to be decided by the Midwestern common sense of the Hoosier State,” Cruz said during a one-hour Fox News-hosted town hall in downtown Indianapolis.

Cruz, speaking with anchor Sean Hannity, did not say definitively whether he would drop out if he loses Indiana on Tuesday, but described the "heartland" state as critical.

Cruz trails front-runner Donald Trump by hundreds of delegates. Currently, the delegate count has Trump leading with 994, Cruz in second with 566 and Ohio Gov. John Kasich in third with 153. Cruz, at this point, cannot reach the requisite 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination before the July convention.

COMMENT:  The issue after Tuesday is whether Cruz has enough voter strength to force a contested convention.  The theory is that Trump, if he does not win the nomination on the first ballot, will start to lose support, paving the way for another candidate to win.

Cruz is being hurt, possibly decisively, by the continued presence of John Kasich.  If Kasich would withdraw, Cruz's chances of forcing a contested convention would go up dramatically. 

We'll be watching on Tuesday.  Get popcorn.

April 30, 2016       Permalink

CLINTON UNDERPERFORMING? – AT 10:43 A.M. ET:  A statistical analysis shows that Hillary Clinton is not doing as well as she did in 2008.  From Breitbart:

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has badly underperformed in 2016 compared with her first run for president in 2008, a new data analysis done exclusively by Breitbart News shows.

It’s particularly telling that she’s gotten less votes in 2016 than she did in 2008, especially because of the fact that the 2008 race was a three-way race for some time between Clinton, now President Barack Obama, and ex-Sen. John Edwards. She was, despite being the frontrunner for some time, the ultimate loser of that race—and she got more votes that year in a much more competitive primary that she ended up losing than she has this year against a devout, proud socialist in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) of Vermont.

Clinton is widely expected to be the Democratic nominee in 2016, but her poor performance in the primaries—which many believe she should have wrapped up long ago—may drag her down heading into the general election, as even many Democratic voters seem to distrust her. To win in November, Clinton will need a strong showing from the Democrat base. This data seems to suggest that she has significant problems with her own party’s core voters, meaning that if whoever wins the Republican nomination is able to woo these disaffected Democrats into the GOP camp, there could be a blowout in November for the Republican nominee.

In 2016, Clinton has received 12,437,734 votes so far. In the states that have already voted this cycle, when she ran and lost back in 2008, Clinton received 12,727,221 votes.

COMMENT:  An interesting analysis, but no more than that.  Predictions, especially as to Donald Trump's imminent demise, have been way off.  I'm not sure the pollsters even have a good fix on who's voting.

Take all predictions with a grain of some health-conscious food.

April 30,  2016     Permalink