SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:32 P.M. ET:

OH REALLY? – I think someone better tell the president.  Representative Henry Waxman of California, one of the senior Democrats in Congress, says that we're not in a recession, we're in a depression.  “Some people call it a recession," he says.  "I think it’s a depression.”  This will not go down well in the White House, which tells us that prosperity is just around the corner, and that we'll have two healthy drinks in every fridge and two Priuses in every garage.  But when senior Dems start saying this, it's time for the president to notice.

ROMNEY REJECTING BIGWIG ADVICE – Supporters of Mitt Romney, with personal knowledge of the candidate, say Romney isn't accepting the advice of Jack Welch and Rupert Murdoch that his campaign staff needs a shakeup.  Romney appears to be sticking by longtime aides.  Murdoch is also saying that Romney needs more fight, and cannot surrender Latino voters.  This kind of sniping is common in campaigns.  What many GOP stalwarts fear, however, is a repeat of 2008, when John McCain, apparently trying to play down his tough-guy image, was far too soft on Barack Obama.  I've had the sense that Romney is aware of that problem in the McCain campaign, and won't let it happen again.

TWO OF A KIND – It is announced that Egypt's new president, Mohammed Morsi, will visit Iran next month.  The visit ostensibly is because Morsi is participating in a conference of the laughingly described non-aligned movement, whose members are non-aligned against the United States.  But Iran is eager to end a long estrangement with Egypt, and bring Egypt, the most important Arab nation, on board as an ally.  If Morsi starts heading in that direction, it's a major problem for us.  Thus far, though, he has not revealed his cards.

FINALLY ASKING QUESTIONS – As you all know, a freak summer storm did substantial damage in the mid-Atlantic states late last week.  While much of the media, led by AP, has been in college-boy ecstasy, believing that the scorching heat and violet thunderstorms prove the effects of global warming, more sober voices are concentrating on other questions:  Why was the region so unprepared, and why did vital services stop functioning so quickly?  Example:  Emergency phone service was knocked out in northern Virginia for most of the weekend.  Also, power was out in a good part of the Maryland suburbs of Washington.  Experts are worrying that the region including the nation's capital isn't very well prepared for a greater catastrophe, like a terror attack targeting vital parts of the infrastructure.  Why am I not shocked?

July 3,  2012