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

THE PROBE OF THE DEEP STATE, with possible criminal charges brought by U. S. Attorney John Durham, must have the Democrats increasingly nervous, because a number of them are becoming more critical of him and Attorney General Bill Barr.

In an insulting letter to Barr, Georgia’s lightweight Rep. Hank Johnson wrote, “neither of you possess the integrity necessary to serve in the Department of Justice.”  In his letter, that was signed-on by a handful of other liberals, including Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Rashida Tlaib, the “immediate resignations” of Barr and Durham were demanded.

COINCIDENTALLY, constitutional law experts David B. Rivkin and Andrew Grossman, take on the “Washington knives” out for Barr in their Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Barr’s Loyalty Is to the Constitution, Not a Party,”

Writing of Barr’s vision and goals, the authors write of his “bold vision, opposite of a partisan one,” despite comments to the contrary by former Obama attorney general Eric Holder.

“If Mr. Barr achieves even a fraction of his agenda to restore the Framer’s vision of a strong, independent executive,” the authors write, “he will go down as Mr. Trump’s most consequential executive appointment.

THE RECORD-BREAKING STOCK MARKET – Democrats attempt to play down the successes we’ve seen in the stock market as benefiting only the rich, despite the fact that almost half of all households own shares of stock either directly or indirectly through mutual funds, trusts, or various pension accounts. Nearly everyone benefits when those who invest in companies make it possible for those businesses to invest in communities and provide jobs.

While it is estimated that about 52 percent of Americans are invested in the stock market, it is believed that 56 percent of them have 401k’s, saving at an average rate of 8.6 percent in the 79 percent of companies now offering 401k’s.

Those same Democrats want to raise the taxes on those companies who, because of the Tax Reform bill, are investing in new plants and equipment and hiring more people.

DON’T GET TOO EXCITED, but John Hinderaker writes in PowerLine, under the headline, “Why Trump Will Cruise to Victory Next Year,” about the Britain Sun’s comments on a new report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research that lead him to make that prediction.

“The research found that the USA now make up for a quarter of the world’s GDP – the largest share of the world’s economy since 2007.  The US share of global GDP is 3.6 percent higher than halfway through Barack Obama’s presidency in 2011.”

In a side note, the report predicts that by 2034, Canada will have the eighth largest economy because of its skills-based immigration system, causing Hinderaker to comment that a similar system “would more than just about anything else to give the US economy a permanent boost, but the Democrats will never let it happen.”  Trump often refers to a “merit-based” immigration system.

BLACKS FOR TRUMP placards and T-shirts are being seen more and more at the president’s rallies.  Last month, President Trump appeared at the launching of the “Black Voices for Trump coalition in Atlanta.

“‘Awakening’: Black voters ‘abandoned’ by Democrats warm to Trump,” by Dave Boyer in The Washington Times, caught my eye because there is no doubt that blacks have been benefiting from the president’s policies.

“The liberal Brookings Institution,” according to Boyer, ”reported that the five U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest black populations – New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C.  – have seen black median household incomes increase from seven percent in Washington to 21 percent in Atlanta.

Former NFL player Jack Brewer, who once raised funds for Barack Obama, is now supporting Trump.  “The impeachment affair, coupled with the revelation that the FBI abused its power in obtaining surveillance warrants for Trump campaign officials, are causing black voters to view Mr. Trump more sympathetically,” he said.

“That’s what it feels like to be black,” says Brewer.  “Black people have been abused and taken advantage of by the police and the FBI since the beginning of time.”

Brewer predicts that “Donald Trump will get over 20 percent of the black vote.” That would by 12-point improvement over 2016.

A LETTER WRITER to the Arizona Republic, William Giessing of Chandler, Arizona, doesn’t appreciate columnist E.J. Montini’s attack on Sen. Martha McSally for supporting President Trump against those who want to impeach him.

“Fortunately, Arizona voters are going to be well-served by her vote, which will be based on the fact that there were no firsthand witnesses to any high crimes and misdemeanors.

“You can’t just impeach a president because you hate him or his policies.”

HOW MANY TIMES following a shooting have we heard stories about people who had doubts about the shooter’s mental capacity and said nothing, or the individual was interviewed, and found to be alright?  I am reminded of the case of Nikolas Cruz the Parkland High School shooter.

The need for “red flag” laws immediately surface.  The law is intended to allow for firearms to be seized from someone deemed by a judge to be a potential danger to themselves or others. I was surprised to learn that such laws are already on the books in 17 states.

Opponents claim these laws are an attack on the constitutional rights of any law-abiding citizen and the first step down a slippery slope.

In Kansas, a lawmaker is pushing the Kansas Anti-Red Flag Act that would ban any such laws in that state, and make it unlawful for any person, including a law enforcement officer, to enforce or attempt to enforce an extreme risk protection order upon a resident.

Interested parties may want to focus their attention on the Kansas legislature when they convene on January 13, 2020.

THE LEFT EATING THEIR OWN – Don’t you just love it?  In a Washington Post op-ed, titled, “Rachel Maddow rooted for the Steele dossier to be true,” the paper’s media critic Erik Wemple, wrote of her commentary being “part of her Russianist phase,” during which “Maddow became a clearinghouse for news increments regarding the dossier.

“When small bits of news arose in favor of the dossier, the franchise MSNBC host pumped air into them,” Wemple noted and added that “at least some of her many fans surely came away from her broadcast thinking the dossier was a serious piece of investigative research.”

HOW MUCH IS A CUP OF COFFEE WORTH to you when you are away from home? In San Francisco, the cost is about to go up significantly as coffee chains are moving away from disposable paper cups, and are replacing them with plastic and glass substitutes that will hike the price of that cup of “joe.”

After the controversy over straws, you just knew it was coming.

The Blue Bottle coffee house chain, which goes through some 15,000 to go cups a month at its 70 U.S. locations, is offering $16 take away ecocups.  Customers can bring in their own reusable mug or pay a deposit on a reusable mug, which they can keep or return for a refund.

The Perch Café in Oakland offers glass jars in 12 and 16-ounce size.  Customers put down a 50-cent deposit and can return it for a refund or keep it and get 25 cents off a future purchase.  And get this … the Café sells 50-cent reusable sleeves for the jars.

Some predict that customers will begin carrying a stainless-steel mug similar to the stainless-steel water bottles many people carry.  Has everybody forgotten about the Thermos?

May God continue to bless the United States of America.