SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 10:43 P.M. ET:

AWAKENING? – Gee, could it be?  The Washington Post, not known for conservative leanings, is reporting a new and growing enthusiasm for Mitt Romney along the campaign trail.  People are cheering.  People are clapping.  People are shouting "Rom-ney!!"  And they think he's really one of the boys.  Maybe it's Romney's steady rise in the polls that's doing it, or a feeling that he's the last best hope of the Republic, or the fact that he's improved so much as a campaigner.  But Romney is clearly wowing them enough to make the Post notice.

THE MAJOR MEETING – Do you get the feeling that summit conferences aren't what they used to be?  Maybe because the characters are so small.  I mean, we're not talking about confabs with Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin.  Today, Barack Obama met Vladimir Putin face to face in Mexico.  Reagan and Gorbachev they are not.  Obama somberly announced that he and the Russian president had "candid, thoughtful and thorough conversation" about various issues.  Or, as the kids would say, about stuff.  And on Syria Obama informed us that he and Putin "pledged to work with other international actors including the United Nations."  See what I mean by small.  That passes for news with today's "leaders."

GOOD MOVE – A ship said to be carrying Russian weapons for Syria was effectively stopped off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was canceled at the request of the British government.  The insurance company was warned that by continuing to insure the ship it was probably in violation of European sanctions against Syria.  That's terrific, and our hats are off to the Brits, who are showing more spine than our president is showing, or probably showed in his meeting with Putin.

ANOTHER GOOD MOVE – Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts has agreed to go into the lion's den and debate Elizabeth Warren, the Tonto of Massachusetts politics, at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, with two conditions:  1) that MSNBC, the leftist cable network owned by NBC drop out as sponsor, and 2) that Vicki Kennedy, the widow of Ted Kennedy, who invited the candidates to the debate, stay neutral in the campaign.  These are great stands by Scott Brown, demanding that a debate be truly neutral in character and form.  So far neither MSNBC nor Vicki Kennedy has made any commitments. 

June 18, 2012