Here are my observations and opinions on selected news of the day.

PRESIDENT TRUMP CAN’T WIN – The economy is humming along nicely and the GDP hits 4.1 percent and the media, with their economist guests, insist it is just a “blip.” It’s simply not sustainable, they say. Wonder what they will say when it goes even higher next quarter just before the midterms?

PROVING PRESIDENT OBAMA WRONG is so easy and satisfying. Here’s another flashback for you:

“’The market will take care of everything,’ they tell us. If we just cut more regulations and cut more taxes – especially for the wealthy … our economy will grow stronger … here’s the problem. It doesn’t work.” – President Obama, Osawatomie, Kansas, 12/6/12

Well what else would you expect from a community organizer?

KIMBERLY STRASSEL, one of my favorite Wall Street Journal columnists, wrote an enlightening in-depth piece covering her interview with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. Nunes has been working tirelessly to uncover the truth about the FBI’s activities during and after the 2016 presidential campaign.

“Thanks in large part to his work, we now know that the FBI used informants against Donald Trump’s campaign, that it obtained surveillance warrants based on opposition research conducted for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and that after the election Obama administration officials “unmasked “and monitored the incoming team,” Strassel confirms.

Nunes learned that the FBI had been conducting a counterintelligence investigation since mid-2016 and that then FBI Director James Comey actively concealed the probe from Congress.

“I would never have conceived of FBI using our counterintelligence capabilities to target a political campaign,” Nunes remarks.

Nunes would obviously like to complete his committee’s work before the midterm elections, but dozens of interviews still need to take place.

“But this was always the DOJ/FBI plan,” Nunes believes. “They (the Deep State) are slow-rolling, because they are wishing and betting the Republicans lose the House.”

We all know that if that happens, the Democrats will close down the investigation and we may never learn where the bodies are buried.

“After a year of alarming revelations, the media are still more interested in proving the Trump campaign treasonously colluded with Russian than wrestling with the fact that the FBI spied on a presidential campaign.” – Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist

I’VE TOUCHED ON THE HYSTERIA created by the media with every move of the Trump administration foreign and domestic, but Dennis Prager said it best in Townhall this week drawing on references to conspiracy theories of the past, like Lee Harvey Oswald and a possible second shooter in the assassination of President Kennedy and the Moon landing that never took place.

“But this is the first time the media have created and promoted a conspiracy. Not surprisingly, they have dropped any pretense of objective reporting in the process, Prager writes.

“If you vote Democrat this November, you are voting for hysteria, lies, (and) socialism … but more than anything, a vote for Democrats in November is a vote for hysteria … the greatest and darkest in American history.”

IN MY JULY 26 POSTING I suggested that reporters should be cautioned that shouting out questions in the Oval Office is not respectful and will no longer be tolerated.

CNN’s Jake Tapper, writing @jaketapper, suggests “a far better solution – for CNN, for democracy – would be for the White House to behave like adults.”

‘But the media will continue to act like children?,’ someone asked.

SPEAKING OF CNN – Political scientist Ian Bremmer stunned the hosts of the network’s New Day when he said, “You really want the big picture? This has been a good week for Trump. We get out of CNN land for just a second, and 4 percent growth in the United States. The Europeans backed down on trade; he now like a winner on that front. The North Koreans? More progress with remains coming back.”

Oops. Don’t look for an invitation to come back to CNN, Ian.

THE GREAT STRAW DILEMMA – You have no doubt heard about the push to rid the world of plastic straws. OMG. What next?

You probably didn’t know that an estimated 8.3 metric tons of plastic straws have been produced globally since the 1950s when they became popular. And you may not know that Americans use more than 500 million drinking straws a day, enough to fill 125 school buses, we’re are led to believe.

This is all meaningless, of course, but it was enough for a number of companies to evoke their knee-jerk reaction and have stopped serving drinks with straws – Starbucks, McDonald’s and Marriott to name a few. Some offer a reasonable “on request” policy.

I’m sure the environmental radicals never thought of those people who need straws for medical reasons. A disability known as arthrogryposis affects a person’s ability to hold a cup. Then there’s a rare neuromuscular disease that affects one’s swallowing muscles and tongue.

If straws floating in our waterways are endangering creatures of the sea and filling up our landfills, I wonder why some entrepreneur hasn’t come up with shredder that could be marketed to restaurants and hotels. The plastic could be recycled.

I’m leery of research that tells us that it would take a straw 200 years to decompose when they’ve only been used for about 70 years.

If supermarkets stop stocking plastic straws, and you’re not satisfied with the paper ones, you just may want to consider … wait for it … reusable stainless-steel straws. They are being marketed as environmentally friendly, lead free, long-lasting, and dishwasher safe.

Personally, I don’t use a straw. I simply don’t like them. Besides, someone once told me that real men don’t use straws. Try to envision someone like LeBron James sipping a margarita using one of those tiny straws.

With all of the serious issues of the day, we’re worrying about the excessive use and disposal of plastic straws! Get a life, folks.

        May God bless the United States of America.