Blogger Bob, like many political newsmakers, is taking some time off for the holidays.

President Obama failed to slow the rise of the oceans as promised in his 2009 inaugural address, but he seized control of parts of the Atlantic and Arctic by using his executive authority to ban offshore drilling in those waters. His action is raw meat for the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress.

With only a short time remaining in his presidency, Barack Obama delivered a sharp blow to police groups and their supporters in Congress by giving a four-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to Debo Adegbile, who defended former Black Panther and convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal. The action was branded a "slap in the face" and a "kick in the teeth" by opponents.

And while innocent shoppers were killed and injured in an apparent terrorist attack in a German Christmas market and the Russian ambassador to Turkey was assassinated in Ankara, President Obama plays golf in Hawaii on his final taxpayer-funded vacation.

Donald Trump told voters he would go to Washington and "drain the swamp." He's not the only politician to make that promise.
In fact, Ben Carson, one of his primary rivals, also used the phrase. "Washington is built on a swamp," he said. "Together we can drain the swamp and protect our children's future." (President-elect Trump has given Carson the responsibility of "draining the swamp" in the bureaucracy of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.")
The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call reports the phrase first became popular in 1983 when President Ronald Reagan said he was in Washington "to drain the swamp" of big government.
Even Democrat Nancy Pelosi, when she became House Speaker in 2006, said one of her priorities was to "drain the swamp" after more than a decade of Republican rule.
Trump, with his selection of so many Washington "insiders" for his administration, now finds the promise coming back to haunt him.

How Your Taxes Are Spent

The Internal Revenue Service allowed 27 of its employees to spent more than $1.4 million on travel expenses in the 2015 fiscal year, including luxury apartment bookings and stays in five-star hotels. Don't try claiming this kind of exhorbitant expenditure on your tax return.

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange insists the Russian government was not the source of emails damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman blasted the U.S. for "groundlessly" accusing Russia of meddling in America's elections. lBut the White House, despite calling for a "smooth transition", points to President-elect Donald Trump as the guilty party.

In the Watergate drama of Richard Nixon's administration, a source known as "Deep Throat" gave reporter Bob Woodward inside information that led to the president's resignation. A man claiming to be a player in the WikiLeaks release of emails damaging to Hillary Clinton in her campaign said a source passed the documents to him in a meeting in a Washington, D.C. park.

Among the stream of callers at Trump Tower was rapper Kanye West. He said he wanted to meet with President-elect Donald Trump to discuss "multicultural issues."

"All our senators and congressmen are away from Washington now. This is the season of the year when they do the least damage to their country." - Will Rogers

How Your Taxes Are Spent
In Florida, an agency paid an estimated $26.2 million in Medicaid benefits over a five-year period to dead people. A government watchdog said the agency neglected to keep up to date on beneficiaries' deaths.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) spent more than $100 million over the last few years to ferry illegal immigrant children around the U.S., shuttling them to relatives or among government agencies. The Immigration Reform Law Institute said the money could have been better spent on enforcement.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, one of the early losers who then endorsed Donald Trump, is said to be in the running for Secretary of Energy. He had told the Trump transition team he wanted to run the Defense Department and sources said he had been offered  a job heading an agency that he said in a debate he would abolish -- but couldn't remember which one.

The Daily Caller reports the Obamas have sent out their last Christmas card from the White House, but there's something missing: Christmas.  The card, signed by the president, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their two daughters, with paw prints by their dogs, Bo and Sunny, wishes everyone "Happy Holidays."

Frenzied opponents of Scott Pruitt , President-elect Donald Trump's choice to head the EPA, would have people believe he would change it to the Environmental Pollution Agency. Business owners favor "Economic Protection Agency."


It must be difficult for Hillary Clinton to accept the "real news" of her defeat as a presidential candidate. In a rare appearance in Washington she unleashed an attack on "fake news."

Donald Trump hasn't released his tax returns, but now we know what kind of music he likes. His campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said he's "a huge Elton John fan" - despite the singer being a longtime Democratic supporter.

He hasn't even been sworn in yet but President-elect Donald Trump already is actively engaged in creating jobs. He persuaded Carrier to keep 1,100 employees from losing their jobs in Indiana. And after a meeting with a Japanese bank CEO, Masayoshi Son, he announced that Son would invest $50 billion in the U.S. and create 50,000 new jobs.

John Kasich finally did something right. The Ohio governor, one of the 16 Republican candidates who lost to Donald Trump in the primaries, broke his loyalty pledge and refused to endorse him. He boycotted the Republican National Convention held in his state. But as members of the Electoral College prepare to gather later this month with anti-Trump feelings still running high in some circles, Kasich sent a message: "I am not a candidate for president and ask that electors not vote for me..."

Vice President Joe Biden's mouth is still putting him in the news. Asked about his political future, Biden told a group of reporters, "I am going to run for president in 2020. What the hell man, anyway." Asked if he was kidding, he replied that he is "not committing not to run."  .

A $1.4 billion casino and resort with a 24-story hotel and 3,000-seat theater is opening in the Washington area - on the Maryland shore of the Potomac River -  and it's not a project of real estate tycoon Donald Trump.  Earlier this year, before being elected president, Trump opened the doors to a new Trump hotel in the historic old post office building a few blocks from the White House.

After deliberating since before Thanksgiving on the matter, brain surgeon Ben Carson accepted President-elect Donald Trump's offer to be nominated for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. We can be glad Trump and the rest of his cabinet officers don't take this long to make decisions.

Fidel Castro's final trip to eternity was marred by an embarrassing incident. The Russian-made jeep carrying the ashes of the long-ruling Cuban dictator broke down in the middle of his funeral procession.

Celebrities like Miley Cyrus, Whoopi Goldberg, Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler broke their promises about leaving the U.S. if Donald Trump won the election, but Wole Soyinka kept his word. The Nobel Prize-winning author threw away his green card and went back to Africa.

President-elect Donald Trump did more than thank voters for their support in a "thank you" tour that began in Ohio, following a stop in Indiana where he spoke at a Carrier plant he kept from closing, saving 1,100 jobs. He also announced he will appoint retired Marine Gen. James N. "Mad Dog" Mattis to be Secretary of Defense.Well, it's California.

 It's now okay to urinate on the sidewalk in San Francisco. A Superior Court judge said he and his colleagues tossed out 66,000 arrest warrants because they felt it made no sense to lock people up for fines they couldn't afford to pay.

"Democrats did it for themselves and now Republicans can do it as well." - CNN's Kate Bolduan, referring to a Senate rules change that makes it easier for a majority party to nuke a filibuster on presidential appointments.

Would-be vice president Tim Kaine automatically took the Democrat party line on Twitter when a Somali-born student at Ohio State University went on a bloody rampage. The Virginia senator tweeted that he was saddened by the "senseless act of gun violence." The attacker used a car and a butcher knife in his apparent act of terrorism.

California, in its campaign against global warming, is now targeting greenhouse gases produced by livestock, the Associated Press reports. To put it bluntly, California is regulating cow farts.

Reaction to the death of Cuba's brutal dictator, Fidel Castro, was mixed:

President Obama: "History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him."

President-elect Trump: “Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights ... our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty."

Former president Jimmy Carter - "Rosalynn and I share our sympathies with the Castro family and the Cuban people on the death of Fidel Castro. We remember fondly our visits with him in Cuba and his love of his country."

MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthew recalled that when Castro led a revolution and "knocked off the corrupt dictator Batista" he was regarded as a "romantic figure" and "almost like a folk hero." But he acknowledged that when "he began executing people" and turned pro-Soviet, "he was not a friend of the United States by any means at all."

Donald Trump isn't the type to let Michele Obama tell him what he should eat, And he and his family had their choice of 24 items on the menu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. They included "Mr. Trump's Wedge Salad", turkey, beef, lamb or seafood, and "Three-Layer Trump Chocolate Cake."

While Trump's meeting with Mitt Romney triggered speculation about a possible cabinet post for his former critic, the president-elect made a surprise announcement about two women - charter school advocate Betsy DeVos and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley - for high posts in the new administration. Did Trump find them in one of Romney's "binders"?

Mexico's president, Enrique Pena Nieto, stated flatly his country would not pay for the wall Trump wants to build on the south Texas border. But one Mexican firm, a cement maker, has offered to help on the project.

During two campaigns and eight years as president, Barack Obama has been called a lot of names ... but "manspreader"? That's the term a Russian TV anchor used in excoriating Obama for acting in an "uncivilized" fashion toward President-elect Donald Trump. While Trump was behaving "humbly" in their recent meeting in the White House, "Obama sat with his legs wide open ... (manspreading) a demonstration of male domination," said Dmitri Kiselyov.


Trump, a harsh critic of Hillary Clinton in the campaign, now is saying kind words about her. But a shopping mall Santa in Sanford, Fla., told children she is on his "naughty list." He was reassigned and required to take training on being a symbol of goodwill for all.

 Have you heard the Trumps are separating? The president-elect told reporters he would live in the White House. His wife Melania will continue to live in the Trump Tower in New York with their young son Barron.

When Vice President-elect Mike Pence went to see Broadway hit "Hamilton" he didn't expect to get a hit himself. But as he and his family were leaving the theater one of the actors stepped out of character and delivered a pointed political lecture from the cast. Another rude act by the sore losers.

President Obama completed his final foreign visit, which was interspersed with news conferences in which he tried desperately to save his dream of a legacy. His command of press attention is a reminder that Obama has 60 days to exercise the power of the presidency to defend his record of failure and do what he can to instill his policies.

"We did not have any major scandals in my administration." - Barack Obama. Not unless you count the IRS scandal, the VA scandal, the Benghazi scandal, and on and on

Are the Ryans taking over leadership of the House of Representatives? Republicans have endorsed Paul Ryan, R-Wis., for another term as House Speaker. But Democrats, seeking a new direction after their party's disastrous election results, may replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in her long-held position as top House Democrat. Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio has announced he's running for Minority Leader.

Sources say President-elect Donald Trump is considering arch-critic Mitt Romney for Secretary of State. In the campaign, when some Republicans tried to deny Trlump the nomination, the two exchanged bitter insults. Romney called Trump a "phony." Trump said Romney "choked" and lost the 2012 election. Maybe Trump will offer Romney a "phony" cabinet position.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The Department of Education wasted over $2.2 billion in taxpayer dollars in improper payments of federal financial aid to low-income college students during the past year. An agency report blames a "failure to verify financial data." Additionally, almost  $4 billion was misspent in the government's regular student loan program.

One of Donald Trump's campaign promises was that he would  "drain the swamp." Who knew that he would begin with "draining the swamp" at his own transition team -- getting rid of lobbyists that "Bridgegate Scandal"-ridden New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had brought on.

The doctor is not in. Noted neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who made a short run for president then joined the Donald Trump team, took himself off the list of potential cabinet members, saying he could best serve the president outside the administration.

Will "Lyin' Ted" be the new president's first Supreme Court pick? Trump branded Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after he became one of his sharpest critics in the primaries. But a visit by Cruz to Trump Tower in New York signaled that all is forgiven.

President-elect Donald Trump has 4,000 jobs to fill and a bid on one of them comes from an unexpected source. Trump's first wife, Ivana, says she wants to be appointed ambassador to the Czech Republic. Trump's lawyers probably didn't think to cover that eventuality in the divorce settlement.

Standing on the frozen tundra of Antarctica, bundled up in a heavily insulated red parka, John Kerry was barely recognizable at the U.S. Secretary of State. He traveled to this forlorn part of the world, where on a warm day temperatures may reach 110 degrees below zero, before attending a global climate conference in Morocco where he'll likely rail against global warming.

Donald Trump says he'll forgo the $400,000 salary and be a dollar-a-year president, but he won't be the first. Two other wealthy occupants of the White House, John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover, both donated their salaries to charity.

The people have spoken and now chickens in Massachusetts are guaranteed their space. A ballot measure approved overwhelmingly in Tuesday's election prohibits farms in the state from confining any egg-laying hen, breeding pig or calf raised for veal in a manner that inhibits the animal from lying down, standing up, stretching or turning around freely.

Like many of his ilk, radical activist Al Sharpton said during the recent campaign he would leave the country if Donald Trump won. Now he says his comments were "all in jest." Comedian Amy Schumer also said she was kidding when she threatened to seek other shores.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announces -- notably after the election -- that 46,195 illegal immigrants poured across the U.S.-Mexican border during October, an increase over 39,501 in September. And those are just the ones who were apprehended.

Effects of Tuesday's elections:

Winners: President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence; The desire for change; Republicans in both houses of Congress; governors in 12 states; Fox News, the stock market, the Investors Daily poll.

Losers: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kane; President Obama; The Establishment; The status quo; The New York Times; The Washington Post and other newspapers that forecast a Clinton victory, liberal TV show hosts, pollsters.

Unaffected: Dwellers on a remote desert island.

In her campaign, Hillary Clinton frequently said, "I'm sick and tired ..." That's one thing Donald Trump agreed with her on.


Despite all the money Bill and Hillary Clinton made from speeches, they used their "charitable" foundation's funds to pay for daughter Chelsea's wedding.

Clinton maid's job description: "Dust, vacuum, print classified emails ..."

Will Rogers was born on this date, November 4, 1879. The cowboy-philosopher, the multi-media star of his time in the 1920s and 30s, left a legacy of quotes that still hold true today.

"Truth can hurt you worse in an election than about anything that can happen to you."

"Elections are a good deal like marriages. There's no accounting for anyone's taste."

"There is only one redeeming thing about this whole election. It will be over at sundown, and let everybody pray that it's not a tie, for we couldn't go through with this thing again."

Headline: Susan Sarandon Throws Her Support Behind Jill Stein for President. Who cares?

Hillary Clinton and her campaign flunkies implied that FBI Director James Comey laid his thumb on the scales by taking a look at emails that might be related to the email scandal. But her chief drumbeater, President Obama, disagreed. His flack, Josh Earnest, said the president was standing by his appointee.

Earnest said Obama "doesn't believe that Director Comey is intentionally trying to influence the outcome of an election. That's interesting. In his earlier report on the FBI investigation Comey said that while Hillary was "extremely careless" in using a private email server when she served as secretary of state, she did not mishandle classified information "intentionally."

Hillary Clinton has grounded a favorite member of her campaign family. Huma Abedin, who usually goes everywhere with her, was suddenly missing from Clinton's traveling entourage after the FBI announced it found evidence pertinent to the email scandal on the laptop computer of Abedin's naughty "sexting" husband, Anthony Weiner.


Only eight days away from the presidential election, the Democratic nominee's disapproval rating shot to 60 per cent and her 12-point lead in the polls sank to 1.

Her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, says he will go "positive" in the closing days. Let's see if he can keep his word.

Blogger Bob is taking a fall break. Will resume "PolitiQuips" in a week or 10 days.

The Obama administration became unwittingly transparent with the discovery of an email sent by a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service field office chief urging that as many new "citizen voters" as possible be sworn in before Nov. 8 "due to the election year." President Obama obviously wants to do everything he can to sway the election for Democrat Hillary Clinton to preserve his legacy.

The State Department funneled more than $9 million in sole-source contracts to a nonprofit headed by the daughter of Secretary of State John Kerry, and he bragged about it. "What we're talking about here is a multi-million dollar effort that will strengthen the capacity of health care workers to deliver lifesaving HIV services," Kerry said at a World AIDS Day event in 2014.

The Dallas Morning News learned the price it had to pay for its endorsement of Hillary Clinton when readers flooded the newspaper with angry phone calls and subscription cancellations. She is the first Democrat the paper has endorsed in 75 years.

Just call her "Marvel." That's the Secret Service code name for Ivanka Trump. The 34-year-old daughter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been added to his security protection list. Trump's code name is "Mogul" and his wife, Melania's is "Muse."

"This is actually just a war of narratives." White House press secretary Josh Earnest made that policy statement about the war against ISIS and it was quickly echoed by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Tell that to those victims who were wounded by the Islamic jihadist terrorist in Minnesota and the shrapnel from the bombs in New York and New Jersey.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
Regulations imposed by the Obama administration cost taxpayers $348 billion in just one state. That's the claim by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who said that amount resulted from 25 regulations affecting or directed at Arizona during President Obama's two terms in the White House.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, which set the rules for the encounters between the major contenders beginning Monday, September 26, is supposed to be non-partisan. But that contention comes under question when it's revealed that all of the campaign contributions made by commission members have gone to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

While Islamic terrorists claimed responsibility for at least one of the flurry of attacks on U.S. citizens over the weekend, President Obama joked about the ISIS (or ISIL, as he prefers) group. At a Congressional Black Caucus dinner Obama cracked that nothing "weighed on my mind like the validity of my birth certificate" - not even two bombing attacks in New Jersey and New York.

"Although she had to be lifted into that van ... she kept fighting." - Democratic National Committee interim chairperson Donna Brazile, referring to Hillary Clinton's collapse at the 9/11 observance in New York. Combined with her campaign's hiding the fact that she had been diagnosed with pneumonia, Brazile's weak statement does little to inspire confidence in the Democratic presidential candidate's health condition.

Former President Bill Clinton isn't the only one in the family whose brain doesn't seem to be working right. He told CBS Hillary Clinton's near-fainting spell at the 9/11 observance in New York wasn't the first of its kind. He said such incidents had occurred "frequently" - then quickly did a 180-degree turnaround and changed that to "rarely." Later in another interview, he referred to Hillary's pneumonia diagnosis as "a case of the flu."

Hillary's hubby may be doing more harm than good as a surrogate. On "The Daily Show" he inadvertently admitted the family's nonprofit, the Clinton Foundation, is involved in politics. "It has to be totally out of politics" if his wife becomes president, he said.

Donald Trump allowed the suspense to build about the revived "birther" issue while Hillary Clinton made it her main talking point, then punctured her balloon with a short flat statement that Barack Obama "was born in the United States, period.

President Obama was supposed to be touting the virtues of Hillary Clinton when he campaigned for the ailing Democratic presidential nominee at a Philadelphia rally. But his ego got the best of him. He talked mostly about himself, using the personal pronoun 137 times.

"Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up." - Colin Powell, in one of his leaked emails, complaining to a friend how Hillary Clinton had cost him a speaking "gig" by charging a university an exorbitant fee.

Here's an alarming statistic. Dluring the 92 months of the Obama administration, the federal government has collected more than $20 trillion in taxes. But during that same period the federal debt rose to $19 trillion - an increase of $8.8 trillion.

Candidate collapses -- campaign to follow?

"Hillary Clinton's health just became a real issue in the presidential campaign" - Washington Post

Clinton Camp 'could have done better' disclosing pneumonia" - MSNBC.com

"Hillary Clinton's pneumonia jolts the presidential race" - The Wall Street Journal

"Clinton cancels California trip in aftermath of illness - Los Angeles Times

It's not just Hillary Clinton who has a memory problem. Vice President Joe Biden drew a blank on her running mate in a speech in Pittsburgh. Appearing at a rally for organized labor with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., he said "I work for Hillary Clinton, and whatever the hell this guy's name is."

Gary Johnson didn't forget. He just plain didn't know. The Libertarian candidate for president, at a foreign policy forum, was asked what he would do, if elected, about Aleppo. "And what is Aleppo?" he replied. Johnson had to be informed the place in Syria is the epicenter of the refugee crisis.

President Obama's name has been given to a parasite and retired biology professor Thomas Platt says it's an honor, not an insult. Baracktrema obamai is a tiny parasitic flatworm that lives in turtles' blood. It is a two-inch-long, hair-thin creature. No, it doesn't have large ears.

Hillary Clinton has two kinds of "hacking" problems: her emails and her coughing fits.

The Democratic nominee for president caved in to pressure to be questioned by news reporters, meeting with the traveling press on her campaign plane. She gave answers like this to a question about the Clinton Foundation: "Doesn't matter how many times you ask me or how you ask me, these issues will be decided after the election."

No, Greta Van Susteren hasn't had a sex change. The veteran Fox News personality was suddenly replaced by Brit Hume after 14 years with the network. Maybe the Fox bosses needed her salary to help pay the $20 million settlement to Gretchen Carlson, who accused former Fox head Roger Ailes of sexual harassment.

It's customary to roll out the red carpet when a head of state visits a foreign country. But leave it to the inscrutable Chinese. When President Obama arrived in China for the G20 summit, the stairs weren't ready for him to walk out so he had to exit Air Force One via a back door.

What does it take to become a laughing stock? Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine is on his way if he keeps defending Hillary Clinton's refusal to hold a press conference for more than 274 days. "You see Hillary take questions from reporters every day. She talks to the press everywhere she goes," he told CBS. When that clip was played during a later appearance on CNN, a panel of reporters burst out laughing.

On this Labor Day, government employees in the U.S. outnumber manufacturing employees by almost 10 million. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports federal, state and local government employed 22,213,000 in August, while the manufacturing sector employed 12,281,000. That's disturbing.

Looks like Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin were running a full service operation from the State Department and the Clinton Foundation. Newly released emails indicate some foundation donors lobbied Clinton's top aide Abedin for diplomatic passports. And no, they weren't diplomats.

Paul Manafort stepped down as Donald Trump's campaign chairman after information surfaced that he once had been employed by the Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a pro-Russian organization. Now it is learned that John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, has ties to the same group. The Podesta Group, a top Washington lobbying firm now run by his brother, Tony, also represented the firm through an account with the Saudi government.

Misguided environmentalists are going overboard in Florida. They got more than 100 political candidates to sign a petition opposing fracking. But here's the thing: there is no fracking in Florida. The state has the wrong kind of geology for it.

Secretary of State John Kerry has a simple solution for dealing with Islamic jihadist terrorism. At a press conference in Bangladesh, Kerry said the news media "would do us all a service if they didn't cover it quite as much. People wouldn't know what's going on."

Facing stiff opposition, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., kept his chances alive for re-election by winning the Republican primary. He still faces a serious general election contest. In Florida primaries, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., won handily, as did Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who recently resigned under pressure as head of the Democratic National Committee.

Call it the Taxpayers' Lobby. The Washington Free Beacon reports that more than 30 organizations representing millions of taxpayers have formed a coalition to oppose wasteful spending in a lame duck session of Congress later this year.

Is another political dynasty getting under way? Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, won the Republican primary for Wyoming's at large congressional seat.

Hillary Clinton's run for president might have cost Anthony Weiner his marriage. That, and his compulsion for sexting. After Weiner was exposed (in print) by the New York Post for texting a woman a photo of himself in boxer briefs, his wife Huma Abedin announced she was leaving her husband after six years of marriage. She is Clinton's top aide and when Weiner was caught in a sexting scandal in 2013 she stayed with him. But that was before she was engaged in a high stakes presidential campaign.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The National Institutes of Health is spending nearly $1 million on a study of the drinking habits of lesbian couples. Do we really need to know if sress causes them to drink too much?

The watchdog group, Judicial Watch, reports that  the nearly 15,000 page of Hillary Clinton's deleted emails recovered by the FBI included some related to the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack which claimed the lives of four Americans. To quote the former secretary of state: "What difference does it make?"

Look who's taking sides with Donald Trump against a vicious attack by his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton: MSNBC host Chris Matthews. The liberal TV commentator took issue with Clinton's hard-hitting web ad which drew connections between Trump and several prominent racists. He questioned whether it was fair to "tie Trump to a murderous outfit" like the Ku Klux Klan.

Members of Congress who take delight in hauling corporate executives to Capitol Hill for hearings on their companies transgressions. But No such action is occurring in the case of Heather Bresch, the head of Mylan, the firm that has hiked the price of the EpiPen, a popular single-dose system for people with severe allergies, from $100 to $600. Could it be because she's the daughter of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.?

Scary statistic: President Obama has ordered the release of nearly 700 inmates from the Guantanamo Bay facility, and  more than 200 have returned to the fight, according to the Director of National Intelligence. ISIS needs no better recruiter.

Is Hillary Clinton putting on weight, or is she wearing a bullet-proof vest? With rumors circulating about her health, recent photos have aroused speculation about her wardrobe. One critic said one pose made her look like she was wearing a dog groomer's smock.

It was a slow news day in August. Not unusual. Is there any other reason two TV networks - ABC and CNN - would offer live-streams of Mike Pence getting a haircut? The Republican vice presidential candidate stopped for a trim at a barber shop in Norristown, Pa. It made a good feature story when the barber asked the name of his customer.

Donald Trump is trying to persuade African Americans to become Republican voters. Many of Trump's supporters wish he would shore up his Republican base before seeking to steal votes away from Hillary Clinton.

President Obama got in one more round of golf, then got ready to return to Washington from his two-week vacation at Martha's Vineyard. He plans to visit flood-ravaged portions of Louisiana on Tuesday. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump got the jump on Obama by touring the state's deluged capital on Friday.

There's nobody like Donald Trump.  Or at least it must seem that way to Hillary Clinton. She can't find anyone to stand in for her Republican opponent as she prepares for the upcoming presidential debates.

President Obama just gave Islamic Jihadist terrorist four experienced "new" recruits with his latest release of 15 detainees from Guantanamo Bay. Among them was a former bodyguard for Osama Bin-Laden and three others who were trained at al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. All 15 are seasoned terrorists.

Al Gore has put himself back in the news again by blaming the heavy rains and flooding in Texas and Louisiana on global warming. Ironically two new studies repeat earlier findings that there is little scientific evidence to support Gore's claim.

It's getting harder to tell who's in charge at Donald Trump's campaign. He has borrowed Stephen Bannon from Breitbart News and given him the title of CEO. He has named another longtime associate, Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, campaign manager. Paul Manafort remains as campaign chairman.

"This is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard." - Former president Bill Clinton, claiming his wife Hillary is telling the truth about her classified emails. He said government classification issues are "too complicated to explain to people." Sorry, that won't cut it, Slick Willie.

Donald Trump's presidential campaign has received a boost from an unexpected source. Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, speaking at an event in Lebanon, said he agreed with Trump's assertion that President Obama was the "founder" of ISIS.

Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton also has some unusual friends. The Clinton campaign announced a voter registration effort led by illegal immigrants.

Bet you didn't know "melting pot" is a racist term. That's what a University of Florida art professor, Pamela Brekka, says. She contends it "signals a Euro-White Colonial standard, point blank, period." Students who disagree risk getting poor grades.

Hillary Clinton's questionable activities as secretary of state continue to haunt her campaign. The Daily Caller reports the FBI and several U.S. Attorneys offices are investigating potential corruption charges against the Clinton Foundation. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is a co-founder of the foundation, which has collected up to $2 billion from U.S. and foreign sources.

Guess what? First Lady Michelle Obama's "healthy" school lunch program is making children fat. That's the finding of a study funded by the Department of Agriculture. She should have listened to the kids, who refused to eat the unappetizing meals.

Donald Trump suggested that Second Amendment supporters could block Hillary Clinton from appointing liberals to the Supreme Court and Clinton implied he was promoting violence against her. Hillary herself was accused of inciting Barack Obama's assassination in the 2008 primary.
 
Bernie Sanders became a celebrity in his quest to bring his socialist views to the White House and he now has  matched his status with the purchase of a $600,000 summer home on the shore of Lake Champlain. He and his wife Jane also own two other homes -- in Burlington, Vt., and Washington, D.C.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
Officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs blame their lack of proper care for patients on too little money. At the same time they wasted $310,000 by buying 300 TV sets that were never used and remain in storage. The VA inspector general found their warranties have expired and there are no plans to use them.

The Obamas are taking full advantage of their time left in the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama pulled out all the stops to give her husband a 55th birthday party to remember. The celebration was held in tight secrecy, but the Washington Post's Reliable Source column revealed that invited guests include "a host of Hollywood A-listers, politicos and Obama insiders."

Barack Obama has racked up another record for his legacy. On vacation at Martha's Vineyard, he notched the 300th round of golf in his presidency. In an interview with the Golf Channel, he conceded more faults than in his administration. "I think my irons are good, my drive is straight but unimpressive in length, and my putting's decent, chipping is OK," he said. "My sand game is terrible."

Hillary Clinton invited ridicule with her admission of a "short circuit" in trying to excuse her private email server indiscretions. Her opponent, Donald Trump, was quick to seize on it  by suggesting a short circuit in her brain makes her unfit to be president.

President Obama insists the $400 million secretly airlifted to Iran the same day four prisoners were released was not ransom money. But one of those released said their plane was not allowed to take off until "another plane" arrived. Oh, well, Obama can always copy his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who accused the mother of an American killed in the 2012 Benghazi attack of having faulty memory.

Sasha Obama got a taste of life in the private sector by taking a summer job at Nancy's, a seafood restaurant on Martha's Vineyard. The first couple's 15-year-old daughter worked a four-hour shift at the takeout window "only a few days", another worker told the Boston Herald. She'll quit to join her parents for their annual two-week vacation at the Vineyard.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs has another shameful episode on its record. A top official was paid his annual salary of $140,000 for almost six months while he claimed to be sick or working from home. Actually he was opening and operating a motorcycle apparel and accessories business. He was caught, but allowed to retire with no punishment or restitution of money.

"We put a lid on Iran's nuclear program without firing a single shot," Hillary Clinton boasted. Instead, the Wall Street Journal reports, the Obama administration sent Iran $400 million in cash (Swiss francs and other currencies) in a secret airlift. That same day Iran released four Americans they had been holding prisoner. Iranian news media called it ransom money. The White House issued a denial.

Barack Obama, a freshman U.S. senator ill-prepared to become president in 2008, is now calling successful businessman Donald Trump "unfit" to hold the office. Neither Obama nor Hillary Clinton, who seeks to continue the Democratic administration's failed policies, can hold claim to any prior executive experience.

Obama is calling for Republicans to withdraw support for Trump and the GOP nominee is helping to carry out that plan by alienating the House Speaker, Paul Ryan, and two Republicans up for re-election: Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. Trump (or any Republican president) would need to retain the GOP Senate majority to get anything done in Congress.

Make up your own tune:
Make room on Mt. Rushmore for another famous face,
Make room for Hillary Clinton, assuming she wins this race.
Obama said she was the most
Qualified person to hold his post
In all of U.S. his-tor-ee.
So move over Abe and Teddy, move over Tom and George,
And make room for Hill-a-ree.

Bill Clinton was caught on camera dozing off while his wife Hillary was giving her nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic national convention, and the Donald Trump campaign quickly took advantage. A Trump ad of the video said, "Even Bill is tired of the lies, SAD. It's time to wake up and make America great again."

Donald Trump foolishly took the bait the Democrats threw in his face with the artfully staged appearance at their convention of Khizr Khan, a Muslim father who blamed the Republican presidential nominee for the loss of his son in Iraq 12 years ago. Trump responded, as expected, with kind words at first. But he went farther and made a crack about Mrs. Kahn's faith. Totally unnecessary, but it brought down more wrath.

Despite the patriotic tone of some of the top speakers at the Democratic National Convention, no U.S. flags were flying on the massive stage the first evening. Coincidentally six flags disappeared from poles atop the Philadelphia City Hall and a city official told the Daily Caller they had been moved to the Democrats' whingding.

Hillary Clinton unleashed a charm offensive on her climactic evening closing the Democratic National Convention. The woman Donald Trump branded as "crooked Hillary" was a symbol of purity in an all-white designer pants suit. With a model's hair and makeup job, she looked like a million dollars (four speaking fees). Introduced by her loving daughter Chelsea, the mother of her grandchildren, Hillary delivered an hour-long laundry list of promised goodies and a soak-the-rich plan to pay for them. Now let the games begin.

After finally giving up his valiant battle to win the Democratic nomination for president, socialist Bernie Sanders has gone back to flying his true colors. Less than 24 hours after caving in to the Clinton machine he told reporters he will return to the Senate as an Independent.