Here are my observations on items in the news.

IF HE ONLY HAD A BRAIN – Jeff Dunetz, writing in the website The Lid, used that familiar line from The Wizard of Oz to effectively dismantle New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman’s piece, “If Only Stephen Paddock Were a Muslim.”

“If only Stephen Paddock had been a Muslim … If only he had shouted “Allahu akbar before he opened fire on all those concertgoers in Las Vegas … If only he had been a member of ISIS … If only we had a picture of him posing with a Quran in one hand and his semiautomatic rifle in another,” Freidman opened his column.

He repeated the line from Oz throughout his incredulous piece on the Las Vegas shooting, as he contended that we look differently upon an American armed to the teeth, as he cited our “crazy lax gun laws.”

“There is only one solution,” writes Dunetz, “show Thomas Freidman as he really is … a brainless lemming pushing leftist conspiracy theories, and trying to disparage anyone with whom he disagrees. After all, he can’t use facts and logic … he doesn’t need them … he works for the NY Times.”

THE NFL PLAYERS’ POLICE BRUTALITY CHARGE has been refuted in a well-written opinion piece, “Blacks vs. Police,” in Townhall by Walter E. Williams syndicated columnist and George Mason University professor of economics.

Following his extensive statistical review of police shootings of whites, blacks, Hispanics and others, he cited police killing blacks versus black killing blacks in our major urban centers – Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Oakland.

 

“Many Americans, including me,” Williams writes, “see the black NFL players protest of police brutality as pathetic, useless showboating. Seeing as these players have made no open protest against the thousands of blacks being murdered and maimed by blacks ….

“So what can be done?” Williams asks and answers, “Black people need to find new heroes. Right now, at least in terms of the support given, their heroes are criminals such as Baltimore’s Freddie Gray, Ferguson’s Michael Brown and Florida’s Trayvon Martin.

“Some police are crooked,” Williams admits, “but black people are likelier to be victims of violent confrontations with police officers than whites simply because blacks commit more violent crimes than whites per capita.

“We cannot fall prey to the blame games that black politicians, black NFL players, civil rights leaders and white liberals want to play. If their vision is accepted, we can expect little improvement of the status quo,” he concluded.

MSNBC’s JOE SCARBOROUGH, co-host of that Trump-hating Morning Joe show, joined the ranks of the gun control fanatics and displayed his ignorance of business. Concerned with the increase in gun sales after shooting events – it happened during the Obama administration too – Scarborough gave us another look into his ignorance. He is so caught up in the left’s call for gun control. He fails to realize it is MSNBC and the other networks that make viewers fear that their constitutional right to own a gun is about to be taken away.

But there’s more. In a discussion with a CNBC reporter, he became enraged as he learned that the profits of gun manufacturers go up at the same time. “When people get slaughtered going to a country music concert,” he exclaimed, “you’re telling me he and his company get richer?” Somebody needs to teach Scarborough the basics of business – if something is sold more, then, yes, profits will increase. (PJ Media)

SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE – Talk about an oxymoron! You may recall my October 1, piece on this arrogant committee. Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) and Ranking Member Mark Warner (D-VA) appeared Wednesday to give us an update on their probe into the possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia.

The pair appeared with a large chart with numbers presumably designed to impress us – 100 people interviewed resulted in 250 hours of transcripts and more than 4,000 transcript papers since it began its investigation in January. In addition, they wanted us to know that they reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents, and that the committee and staff have been working 6 to 7 days a week.

All that and there’s no resolution on the matter of collusion. “The issue of collusion is still open,” Burr said, “we continue to investigate both intelligence and witnesses.”

When asked when the investigation might be concluded, Burr said, “We’re not there yet. I’m not going to discuss initial findings, because we haven’t any.”

The numbers themselves are really meaningless. Remember how we were supposed to be awed by the 956,733 air miles travelled by Hillary Clinton as secretary of state to 214 countries over four years? Yet, her spokesman could not answer a reporter’s inquiry as to what she accomplished.

MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN) announced that she plans to run for the Senate seat of the retiring Bob Corker. Calling the U.S. Senate dysfunctional and “enough to drive you nuts,” Blackburn says that ineffectiveness is why she’s decided to enter the race.

ANOTHER INANE COMMENT FROM AN ENTERTAINER – “The murderous members of the NRA should face a firing squad,” so said Nancy Sinatra on social media. I wonder if she realizes there are more than five million members of the NRA, including a half million in California.

RICH LOWRY, editor of National Review, the publication that refused to endorse Donald Trump for president in January 2016, continues to take shots at the administration. From his social media account – “Doubt it makes material difference whether Rex Tillerson is secretary of state or not.”

Like others in “Old Washington,” Lowry sees Tillerson as an outsider, like the president, and cannot be permitted to succeed. Proof can be found in a highly negative piece he authored in the left-leaning Politico magazine, that has most likely caused William F. Buckley, the conservative founder of National Review, to turn over in his grave.

“He doesn’t have a constituency in the foreign policy establishment,” writes Lowry without acknowledging the Obama Deep State intrenchment; “in the media,” he adds without mentioning the anti-Trump media; “in Congress or the bureaucracy,” without acknowledging ‘the establishment,’ and Obama holdovers.

Lowry was also critical of Tillerson’s alienation of the foreign service and the fact that he has barely staffed his own department, without recognizing Tillerson’s goal of reducing the bloated bureaucracy at State.

His final insult: “If Tillerson left, the government would operate as before, except there’d be a secretary of state better suited to the role.”

Personally, I have been impressed with Tillerson, and have frequently imagined him as president.

YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THE DONORS to the organization Center for Community Change and Action, the Washington DC-based group that has been involved in direct action against President Trump and Republicans before and after the November elections. In a piece written by Joe Schoffstall in the Washington Free Beacon, he reports on the “resistance” funders, who provide millions of dollars in assistance, from tax forms obtained by the paper.

The largest contribution of $3 million came from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, followed by The Ford Foundation, which added $2,350,000. The Open Society Foundation, a foundation run by liberal billionaire George Soros, gave $1,750,000.

The social arm of the organization, a nonprofit created by allies of Hillary Clinton to mobilize Latino and black voters, has received thousands of dollars from a wide assortment of liberal groups.

Click here to see Shoffstsall’s piece in its entirety.