Resigned:President Trump’s UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, announced yesterday that she is resigning at the end of the year. Often mentioned as a potential candidate for president, she said she has no intention of running in 2020.

Now with experience in both government and international relations, she is presidential material. If she’s true to her word, she’ll have to find a way to be a noticeable part of the game for the next four years.

The Washington Post reports that Haley may be taking a break to make some money. The paper reports that she and her husband are in debt and that her parents’ home is in foreclosure.

The former governor of South Carolina, Haley is the daughter of immigrants from India. An early critic of then candidate Donald Trump, she said his rash demeanor could disrupt international relations and possibly even cause a world war. She, unlike Trump, has favored free markets and global trade. Haley bravely spoke out against the display of the Confederate battle flag after the 2015 massacre at a black church in Charleston.

Haley has been one of few women in major positions in the Trump administration. Appearing with the President yesterday at the White House, she said, “I’m a believer in term limits.”

Heavy Weather:The Florida panhandle is bracing today for the impact of Hurricane Michael, now a Category 4 blowing over 130 mph. That’s a powerful storm that could do a lot of damage. It threatens at least 325 miles of Florida coastline.

Michael is currently tracking to cross the panhandle then turn slightly northeast through Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. In the midst of campaign season, Florida’s politicians are making big promises to take care of the state.

Fear:With four weeks until the midterm election, President Trump’s campaign theme is to whip of fear and hatred of the Democratic opposition. At a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa last night he roused a crowd of about 9,000 supporters describing Democrats as an “angry mob” bent on “policies of anger, division and destruction.”

“You don’t hand matches to an arsonist and you don’t give power to an angry left-wing mob, and that’s what the Democrats are,” he said. “If Democrats take control they will try to reverse our amazing progress and plunge our country into gridlock and maybe into poverty and ultimately into chaos.”

Really, he said that.

Self-Inflicted:With Special Counsel Robert Mueller never leaking information and rarely making news, President Trump has a tendency to keep the story of the Russia investigation bouncing. He tweeted yesterday, “The illegal Mueller Witch Hunt continues in search of a crime. There was never Collusion with Russia, except by the Clinton campaign, so the 17 Angry Democrats are looking at anything they can find. Very unfair and BAD for the country. ALSO, not allowed under the LAW!”

Former CIA Director John Brennan, who has taken it upon himself to stand up to Trump, posted several replies, one of which said, “Any attempt by the White House to subvert or manipulate law enforcement should be resisted. Rather than resigning, officials should stand their ground & wait to be fired. Resisting abuse of presidential authority is not a policy difference; it’s about adhering to the rule of law.”

Disappeared: Turkish investigators say they have concluded that a Saudi hit squad was waiting in the Istanbul consulate for Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who they say was killed and then dismembered to dispose of his body.

The NY Times cites a Turkish official who “described a quick and complex operation in which Mr. Khashoggi was killed within two hours of his arrival at the consulateby a team of Saudi agents, whodismembered his body with a bone saw they brought for the purpose.” The Times quotes the official saying, “It is like ‘Pulp Fiction.’”

The Saudis, including the supposedly reformist Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, have denied it all, claiming that Khashoggi left the consulate by a back door shortly after he arrived.

The Obit Page:George Taliaferro, who in 1949 became the first black player to be drafted by a National Football League team, died Monday this week at age 91.Taliaferro, a three time All-American for Indiana, was drafted by the Chicago Bears but never played for them. He had already signed with the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference. Taliaferro later played six NFL seasons, with the New York Yanks, Dallas Texans, Baltimore Colts, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Squirrely:A woman on board a Frontier Airlines flight headed from Orlando to Cleveland was removed from the flight because she had brought an “emotional support squirrel” on board.

-30-