SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:17 P.M. ET:

HARD TIMES – The numbers of poor in America are likely to climb to levels unseen in almost half a century this year.  We'll know the details when census figures are released just before the election, but it appears that the poverty rate will exceed that recorded in 1965.  We are indeed in hard times, with no sign of significant improvement.

AND IN GREECE – We obviously aren't the only ones with severe economic problems.  The economic crisis in Greece has come to symbolize the overall Eurozone economic decline.  Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told former President Bill Clinton today that his country is in a great depression, similar to the one suffered by the United States in the 1930s.  This is the first time I've heard a major leader use the D-word to describe the condition of his nation.

NO SNUB THIS TIME – Polish freedom hero Lech Walesa refused to meet with President Obama last year, snubbing the president in apparent outrage at the way his country is being treated by the Obama administration.  This week Walesa will meet with Mitt Romney.  A message is being sent.  Poland isn't the only ally dismayed by an administration that keeps American friends at a distance, while embracing Russia and the Muslim Brotherhood.  But are Americans noticing?

July 22, 2012