Headlines

'People are terrified': Trump staffers live in fear of Omarosa's next tape

US retail sales increase strongly in July

More Re publican's seats join toss up column?

London terror suspect revealed to be Sudanese migrant

Leon Paanetta: Omarosa's taped firing breached Situation Room security

Trump's support dips among farmers as trade war wallops agriculture

Measles outbreak [in] 21 states ...

Tunisia seizes 9 jihadists on migrant boat headed for Italy

Omarosa: DeVois said black college students 'lack the capacity' to understand her agenda

Tesla's board of directors scrambles to control chief executive who some board members think is out of control

300 'predatory priests' named in [PA] grand jury report ...

Morning Joe: Trump 'opens the door' to genocide

The Rift

Just saw Leon Panetta on Chris Wallace's show this morning concerning the current dust-up over the FISA memo. Panetta's primary message was decrying the extreme partisanship that has crept into our governing process of late (right before he himself ended with some partisan comments).

My reaction to Panetta's concern -- if extreme partisanship is now the norm in Washington ... could this be the consequence of Obama's eight years at the helm? And, if you agree with my suspicion, what did B.H.O. do to effect this rift?

I think I know the answer, but I would rather you figure it out for yourself.

Headlines

All from Internet news site. Guess which from CNBc?

Senate passes sweeping tax overhaul

This tax plan will spark an investment boom that will benefit everyone

Panetta: 'Stretch' to say [Flynn] contacts broke law ...

DOJ puts out arrest warrant for Kate Steinle"s killer

Senate GOP shields conservative college from endowment tax

North Korea appears ready to accelerate submarine weapons tests, adding to nuclear threat

Geraldo Rivera apologizes to Bette Midler, other women

China's Xi Jinping gives Obana 'positive appraisal' in Bejing meeting

Minutes after slamming 'fake news,' Trump welcomes friends in the media to Christmas party

Psychiatrists warn Trump becoming more unstable, putting U.S., world in 'extreme risk of danger'

Kamala [Harris] the inevitable? 'female Obama,' 'new Kennedy'

Flake claims that GOP leadership promised DACA amnesty for tax bill

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Rand Paul: We're very lucky that McCain's not in charge ...

McCain drives into the ditch

Paper: Google future depends on Trump FTC pick ...

Trump: Gulf states will pay for safe zones in Syria

U.S. deploys aircraft carrier th South China Sea

World Trade Center mastermind, the 'Blind Sheikh' DEAD

Merkel: Europe must take more migrants, Islam is not the cause of terrorism

Washington state trooper in trouble for helping ICE find criminal alien

Texas students skip school to protest arrest of violent criminals

FBI: No charges against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn

Panetta warns Trump's National Security Council is 'disfunctional'

Ryan struggles to sell tax reform plan to fellow Congressmen

Headlines

Obamas, celebs party-on in White House despite Ft. Lauderdale airport massacre ...

Trump urges people to 'stay safe' after deadly Ft. Lauderdale shooting

Amazon worth more than Macy's, Sears, Target combined!

Baltimore police in crisis over officer shortage ...

Ryan: Russians didn't interfere with voting, balloting process

Virginia jacks up tolls on express lanes to $30 during rush hour ...

NAACP slams Sessions for prosecuting voter fraud

Trump targets Toyota: Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax

Report: Hillary pressured to run for NYC Mayor

Carrie Fisher laid to rest in Prozac pill urn

Panetta: Trump's daily emotional, personal feelings tweets will be a 'rough ride' for America

GOP lawmaker removes painting of police as animals from Capitol

Acolytes

Today President Obama is nominating three acolytes to fill three vitally important posts in his administration … John Kerry to State, Chuck Hagel to Defense, and John Brennan to head the CIA.  They are soon to replace, in this order, three much more independently-minded people … Hillary Clinton (in questionable health),  a burned-out Leon Panetta, and former General David Petraeus (who fell on his sword … possibly an unfortunate analogy) … see: Earthlink News. 

Two of these nominees are long-time legislators (Hagel and Kerry) and such people usually don't translate well to administrative posts (I’ll comment more on this at some later date), but, to me, this CIA nomination is even more unfortunate in that Brennan has always appeared to me to put politics and his career ahead of his patriotic duties.  I first noted this in January, two years ago, when he botched the crotch bomber incident … see Head(s) Should Roll

Since then, Brennan, who is currently Obama’s assistant for counter-terrorism and homeland security, has appeared to be involved in numerous unsavory security leaks (such as those surrounding the killing of Osama Bin Laden) and national security screw-ups (e,gs,, the Benghazi fiasco/cover-up and the loss of a high-tech drone to Iran … see: Cyber Warfare).  Yes, but one could also argue he has also been in the forefront of the use of drones to take out much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere… but he has also approved the selling of drones to Pakistan (see: Are We F...ing Crazy?) and giving F-16 fighter jets to Egypt … both silly bone-headed moves.

Putting Brennan in to head up the CIA makes me very uneasy in that he seems more politically active and willing to massage Obama's ego than is advisable in this post.  He (like Obama's two other neophyte acolytes) really does not seem to be up to the job.

Afterward: See also: Breitbart Story and His Remarks about Jihad and The Left Dislikes Him Too

Caught My Eye

Four tidbits on the Internet that have recently caught my eye:

1. According to the Congressional Budget Office the cost of Obamacare is now estimated at $1.76 trillion over ten years (and well over $2.5 trillion if you count other implementation costs according to Charles Krauthammer on Fox News last night) as opposed to the "around $900 billion" that Obama promised in order to get this monstrosity "passed" through Congress ... see: Washington Examiner Piece).

2. Relatively unnoticed, President Obama's Pentagon is also proposing to save $13 billion by 2017 by upping the premiums on military health care benefits ... see: NY Post Article.  Shame on them!

3. A relatively obscure Bureau of Labor Statistics table is now getting some media attention.  It is called "U-6" and it highlights the structural unemployment in the United States.  Are you ready for the (more) realistic number?  It's 14.9% ... see BLS Release.  Yes, it has come down too, but it is still quite a bite higher than the 8.3% figure ballyhooed by the national media.

4. As part of its fire-hose crony-capitalism spending,  the Department of Energy provided a loan guarantee to a car company of $529 million to build cars in Finland ... see: ABC News Report.  Here is a quote from Consumer Reports when it tried to check out this new "green" car (the electric Fisker Karma): “We buy about 80 cars a year and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process.”

Oh yes, and one more ... yesterday U.S. Marines were disarmed when our Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, spoke to them in Afghanistan ... a clear affront to our proud soldiers by our lily-livered empty suits.   See: The Telegraph Article.

And so, to bed ...