SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:38 P.M. ET: 

WARNING SIGNS – The party of Conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany suffered severe defeats today in the country's most populous state.  This follows defeats by conservative parties in Britain and France in recent elections.  It does not bode well for the European economy, or for us.  Europeans are reacting against conservative attempts to end the economic bleeding in their countries by cutting the vast overspending.  But once you start handing out checks, it's difficult to tell people you're going to stop.  We face a rocky future, for I fear that European attitudes are coming here.

ASSAULT ON NEW YORK – There is now an all-out assault by liberal forces on the New York Police Department, which has produced such dramatic results in recent decades, and which has kept the people of New York safe from terror attacks since 9-11-01.  We're now starting to see street demonstrations in New York against the "stop and frisk" actions that have taken so many illegal guns off the street and reduced crime.  Leftists, including members of Congress, are assaulting the NYPD's effective surveillance of radical Muslim targets.  I suspect the reason for all the print and shouting is the fact that Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, one of the best in the business, may be a GOP mayoral candidate next year.  Better to destroy him now than see him governor some day.  Who cares about crime victims?

DARK OUTLOOK – A new poll shows Americans becoming increasingly pessimistic about the economy.  Only 22% of respondents said the economy had improved in the past month, down from 28% who answered the question positively in February.  The poll was taken by AP, whose polls tend to lean Democratic.  Fewer than one in three Americans believe their economic condition will improve in the next year.

May 13,  2012