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

DEMOCRAT WOMEN IN WHITE, newly-elected Democrats to Congress at Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, failed to impress me. A joint meeting of both houses of Congress is not like an all-white night at a Penn State football game in Happy Valley or a key basketball game in Arizona’s McHale Center. Being elected to Congress isn’t like joining a college sorority. How can they expect to be taken seriously?

In earlier comments I wrote about their individual hopes of making a difference in Washington. I was skeptical because I know how they are told they must tow the line; play along to get along.

Clearly, their Tuesday night appearance at the State of the Union was orchestrated by the Democrat’s socialist darling Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez with permission granted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Cortez was photographed entering the chamber wearing a fashionable white cape-blazer, usually associated with the Olivia Pope collection. With her was her guest, Ana Maria Archila, the woman who intimidated former Sen. Jeff “The” Flake at the door of a Senate elevator during the Kavanaugh hearings.

“Ever the stylish millennial and House member, Ocasio-Cortez took her look a step further from your every day white suit or dress … and wore a white cape-jacket hybrid, paired with coordinating pants,” cooed Kerry Post in Harper’s Bazaar.

“Adding her signature gold hoops and red lip channeled a 90’s Sade on a mission to help save us all. Wearing an actual cape doesn’t hurt the superhero connotations,” Post added.

Are you impressed?

Cortez wore two pins, because that’s what social justice activists do. One bore the likeness of one of the Guatemalan children who died while in ICE custody; the other with the feminist quote, “Well-behaved women rarely make history.”

Their showing in white was supposedly designed to show voters a vision of force to remind them that they will be making women’s economic security a priority.

What a joke. President Trump reminded them that “No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 percent of the new jobs created in the last year.”

Cortez had them all sitting on their hands when the president spoke of his administration’s advancement of issues affecting women. Only when he called attention to their midterm victories did she stand, turn toward the group, and order an applause.

When the president made his position on socialism clear, the “Cortez Caucus” remained seated and silent. Surely, there are some serious-minded women who will come to their senses and abandon Cortez.

After referring to the problems of socialist Venezuela, the president said, “Here in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence – not government coercion, domination, and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

Cortez later commented, “I think he sees himself losing on the issues, he sees himself losing on the wall in the southern border, and he needs to grasp at an ad hominem attack and this is his way of doing it.”

“Trump did the country a service by bringing the question of the desirability of socialism in America into the open,” commented Paul Mirengoff in Power Line, “American socialists will need a better response than to pretend that this is an ad hominem attack.”

Interestingly, Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan called her twitter audience’s attention to many joking references to the women wearing straight-jackets. “AOC had a rare bad night,” Noonan commented, “looking not spirited, warm and original as usual, but sullen, teenaged and at a loss.”

IN THIS CORNER we have New York Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who drew cheers from Al Sharpton’s National Action Network audience on MLK Day when he used a KKK reference while calling President Trump “the Grand Wizard of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” He was recently elected to House leadership as Democrat Caucus Chairman.

AND IN THIS CORNER we have socialist Democrat Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who doesn’t like Jeffries and is reportedly going to go all out to take him out, and has already recruited a black woman to challenge him in 2020, according to Politico. She has said that she will support challenges to Democrats who are not as left-leaning as their constituents.

ADDING FUEL TO THE FEUD – While Cortez referred to the State of the Union address as “an embarrassment,” Jeffries said, “The president briefly talked the talk; now it’s time for us to walk the walk together.”

VIRGINIA PROVES AGAIN that there is a Santa Claus. Virginia the Commonwealth, that is. It’s Christmas in February as three … count ‘em …. three Democrats are up to here in trouble with charges of racism and sexual assault.

BEFORE POLITICAL CORRECTNESS – In 1946, Columbia Pictures produced “The Jolson Story,” the story of the life of singer Al Jolson, known for so many songs, including, “Mammy,” “April Showers,” and “Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Good-Bye.”

In the film, Bill Goodwin and Larry Parks appeared as blackface entertainers.

The Jolson Story was a financial success for Columbia, bringing in $8 million in box office receipts. That would be $101,138,051 in today’s dollars. It won Academy Awards for “Best Music,” “Scoring of a Musical Picture,” and “Best Sound Recording.” Parks was nominated for “Best Actor in a Leading Role.”

If they were alive today, Goodwin and Parks would probably be forced to apologize for their blackface roles.

      May God bless the United States of America.