SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 9:42 P.M. ET:

MARILYN – We note that Marilyn Monroe died 50 years ago today.  It's incredible that she's been gone half a century, and yet her image endures.  Indeed, if you go to Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles, you will see lipstick stains on the stone marking her place of interment.  Girls come up and kiss it.  I don't know why, but they do.  Her enduring image is the result, of course, of the power of film, which lets us see those who passed many years ago as if they were with us today.  And, yes, the stories about Marilyn and her relationship with one of America's most powerful families, the Kennedys, remain to be uncovered and verified by history, and are endlessly intriguing.

THEY DESERVE EACH OTHER – Saudi King Abdullah has invited Iranian President Ahmadinejad to a summit of Muslim leaders to be held later this month in Mecca.  The two countries are at odds.  This is a matter of concern, for any reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia would not be good news to us.  Both countries are among the world's leading oil producers, showing once again the importance of increasing oil production in the United States to make us less dependent on supplies from abroad.  But no one is listening in the White House.

BATTLING OBAMA IN COURT – Fifteen military groups are opposing a federal lawsuit brought by the Obama campaign in Ohio, claiming it could threaten voter protections given to service members.  Service members get extra flexibility to vote in Ohio because of their commitments, but the Dems want to end that.  It isn't the first time the Democratic Party has gone to war against military voters.  They tried it in 2000 as well.  They understand that service members generally favor the more pro-national-defense candidate.  That ain't Obama.

August 5, 2012