SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:04 P.M. ET:

MOON WALKER DIES – Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, has died.  All of us of a certain age recall that day in July of 1969 when we gathered in front of a TV – in our case an old black-and-white model – and watched the goal set for this country by John F. Kennedy achieved – to put a man on the Moon in the decade of the sixties.  And many of us saved The New York Times from the next day, with its headline MEN WALK ON MOON.  I still have it.  Today The Times headline would read, MEN, BUT NO WOMEN, BLACKS, OR TRANSGENDERED PEOPLE, WALK ON SOMETHING WE CALL THE MOON, BUT NO ONE ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE DOES.  A Pulitzer Prize would be awarded.

DISTURBING – The stories told us that two were killed and nine were wounded at the Empire State Building in New York yesterday.  We learned that one of the dead was an innocent victim, and that his murderer was then shot dead by police.  We now learn that all nine wounded bystanders were hit by police bullets.  Obviously, this is deeply disturbing.  I'm a great fan of the NYPD, and the spectacular work it's done in bringing down crime over the years.  But this incident calls into question training procedures, firearms doctrine, and the competence in the handling of weapons of the officers involved.  We do a police department (or a military service ) no good if we avert our eyes when something goes seriously wrong, as it clearly did yesterday.  I have confidence that Commissioner Ray Kelly, the best in the business, will conduct a thorough investigation and make changes where appropriate.

COMPLICATION – The antics of maverick Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin have complicated the Romney campaign in Missouri, and the tactics of another maverick are having the same effect in Virginia.  Former Congressman Virgil Goode, who changes parties as often as Barack Obama changes excuses, is running for president as a conservative on the Constitution Party ticket.  Goode remains popular among conservatives in Virginia and conceivably could take enough votes away from Romney on election day to swing the state to Obama, as Ralph Nader swung Florida to Bush in 2000.   Local registrars will now examine Goode's petitions to see if he has enough valid signatures to get on the ballot.

August 25, 2012