SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:03 P.M. ET:

NEW PIPELINE PLAN – Fox News is reporting that the Canadians presented today a new plan for the Keystone Pipeline, putting pressure on President Obama to approve the pipeline before the election.  The pipeline is very popular with most Americans, but Obama has bowed to environmental militants in stalling approval.  Republicans see the stall as a significant campaign issue.

DICK CLARK – Dick Clark, who did more to introduce rock 'n roll to America in the 1950s than any other broadcaster, has died at 82.  One can debate the merits of the music, but Clark's clean-cut image and personal decency were reassuring to American parents.  As one newspaper put it, he came across as a well-scrubbed graduate student, not a carnival barker.

HUH? – The Obama campaign, embarrassed by a recent photo showing an almost all-white group of campaign workers in Chicago, is moving to diversify.  It is trying to hire more African-Americans, and is very public about the effort.  There has been considerable criticism from within the black community to the effect that Obama ignores "his own."  (No surprise there.)  Cynics say the new hiring binge is designed to stimulate black turnout in November.

THE TRAYVON MARTIN CASE – Florida Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler, who was supposed to preside over the case, has withdrawn, citing a conflict of interest.  She was pressured to withdraw by shooter George Zimmerman's well-regarded new lawyer, Mark O'Mara.  The judge's husband works with a lawyer who has been hired by CNN to comment on the case.  Everything O'Mara has done signals that he is going to put up a vigorous defense.

April 18,  2012