New York Times: “Most of the Mid-Atlantic remained under severe weather warnings early Tuesday morning, as a series of slow-moving storms unleashed heavy rains and flash flooding from New York to Virginia. The National Weather Service said the eastern seaboard would continue to experience heavy rainfall on Tuesday, likely causing disruptions to millions of commuters, especially in the New York area, which saw flash flooding overnight.Videos on social media showed commuters on New York’s subway clambering up stairs as water gushed down onto platforms. In New Jersey, one train station was completely flooded and impassable on Monday night. And news media filmed rescue crews coming to the aid of people stuck on flooded roads in Scotch Plains, N.J.” This is part of the pinned item in a liveblog.
To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.
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Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:
~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.
CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~
~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play.
New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.
Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts.
New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”
No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~
~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”
NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL ishttps://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
... Jonathan Bullington of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Three police officers were killed, and more wounded, after being shot Sunday morning (July 17) in Baton Rouge, the city's mayor said.... The shooting comes in the midst of ongoing protests in Baton Rouge following the fatal officer-involved shooting of Alton Sterling...." -- CW ...
... CW: It appears the Baton Rouge Advocate has live updates here, but the page is crashed right now. ...
... Peter Holley, et al., of the Washington Post: "The shooting unfolded early Sunday as police responded to reports of a man carrying a rifle in an area with grocery stores and other businesses, according to Colonel Michael D. Edmonson of the Louisiana State Police, the agency taking the lead on the investigation. Edmonson stressed that there was no active shooting situation and that police had killed the armed attacker, who died during a shootout with officers." -- CW ...
... Gregory Kreig of CNN: "The head of Cleveland's largest police union is calling on Ohio Gov. John Kasichto temporarily restrict the state's open carry gun laws during this week's Republican National Convention following Sunday's shooting in Louisiana that killed three officers and wounded at least three others." -- CW ...
... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Donald Trump blamed the Baton Rouge shooting on "a lack of leadership in our country." "He followed up with a reminder of his '60 Minutes' appearance tonight with his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana." -- CW
Steve M. takes a look at some of the "soul-searching" among Republicans, along with a promised "rebellion" by some of the delegates to the Republican Convention. He concludes, "There isn't going to [be a] battle for the soul of the Republican Party after November. The party's just going to be what it was prior to Trump, which was already most of the way to Trumpism, except with a veneer of deniability. The only battle will be over how many coats of veneer should be reapplied now that Trump has stripped them off -- if any." -- CW
Michael Grunwald in Politico Magazine: "In a head-to-head matchup with the ultimate wonk, Trump is betting voters will prefer his bravado to Clinton’s position papers." Thanks to Haley S. for the link. ...
... CW: Grunwald's piece is a good read. It reminds me of Stephen Colbert's recent comment to Ben Smith of BuzzFeed about Hillary Clinton: “She’s very serious — and when you’ve got a giant orange manatee to harpoon on the other side, you’re like — I don’t know if anybody [here] fishes, but fish go where the water is good, where you don’t have to work as hard.... [With Clinton,] you have to look for things to do, and when you find them, it’s a policy paper — you try making jokes about a fucking policy paper.” ...
... In the end, we have to hope that Hillary has an effective GOTV operation & that the majority of American voters actually care about the future of the country & will cast their votes for the boring wonkette instead of the insane carnival barker. Moreover, if Americans are half as fearful as Trump wants them to be, they almost have to vote for the stability of Clinton over the erraticism of Trump. Frankly, I think the Carnival Barker is hoping for that, too; he hasn't learned policy because he doesn't think he'll ever need to know it. His whole "presidential" campaign is just a rollout for the next series of Trump(TM) products. ...
... David Barstow in the New York Times: "... based on the mountain of court records churned out over the span of Mr. Trump’s career, it is hard to find a project he touched that did not produce allegations of broken promises, blatant lies or outright fraud.... Many of those allegations have already become familiar campaign fodder: the Trump University students and Trump condo buyers who say they were fleeced; the public servants from New Jersey to Scotland who now say they rue the zoning approvals, licenses or tax breaks they gave based on Mr. Trump’s promises; the small-time contractors who say Mr. Trump concocted complaints about their work to avoid paying them; the infuriated business partners who say Mr. Trump concealed profits or ignored contractual obligations; the business journalists and stock analysts who say Mr. Trump smeared them for critical coverage.... Taken as a whole, though, an examination of Mr. Trump’s business career reveals persistent patterns in the way Mr. Trump bends or breaks the truth...." -- CW
*****
Patrick Kingsley of the Guardian: "Turkey’s hardline president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, unleashed a brutal purge of his enemies in the army and judiciary on Saturday after heading off an attempted military coup.... About 2,800 soldiers were arrested in a day of extraordinary drama that saw the putsch ruthlessly put down. More than 2,700 judges were summarily dismissed for their alleged links to the coup’s leaders, while warrants were issued for the arrest of 140 supreme court members." -- CW ...
Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "The defeat of a coup attempt launched by a faction of Turkey’s military has left relations between the United States and one of its most important allies in a state of uncertainty. President Obama called together his national security team for an unusual Saturday morning meeting to discuss events in Turkey and immediately followed it up with a conference call with foreign policy advisers." -- CW ...
... Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "The man that Turkey’s leaders have blamed for a failed coup attempt by a group of army officers is an Islamic scholar named Fethullah Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania and who has inspired a network said to include more than 160 charter schools in the United States. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that the coup attempt Friday was the work of army officers who are followers of Gulen, who had once been an ally but whose movement has become critical of the increasingly authoritarian regime.... Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Saturday was quoted as saying the United States would support investigations to determine who instigated the attempted coup.... He said he anticipates questions will be raised about Gulen." -- CW ...
... Emily Cunningham, et al., of the Washington Post: Erdogan "called on the United States to extradite [Gulen].... The U.S. Embassy in Ankara meanwhile warned Americans to stay away from the Incirlik [NATO] base, which is in the city of Adana. It has been sealed off by local authorities, who also cut power to the base.... The U.S. Embassy warned citizens against heading to the airport amid reports of ongoing sporadic gunfire. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it had barred American commercial aircraft from flying into or out of Turkey." -- CW ...
... Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "The coup attempt in Turkey has yielded its first tangible disruption to the war against Islamic State, as the Pentagon has temporarily lost access to the Turkish airfield it uses as its primary staging ground for its air campaign in Syria and Iraq." -- CW
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The western district of the United Methodist church (UMC) elected an openly gay bishop on Friday, despite its ban on same-sex relationships. The Rev Karen Oliveto was elected late in the evening at a meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, of the church’s western jurisdiction." -- CW
Presidential Race
Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clintonwill call for a constitutional amendment to 'overturn Citizens United' in her first 30 days as president and plans to make that announcement today to progressive activists at the annual Netroots Nation conference. 'I will also appoint Supreme Court justices who understand that this decision was a disaster for our democracy,' Clinton will say in a video message, scheduled to run near the end of today's final keynote session.... Even though the case was fought over an anti-Hillary Clinton documentary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) became its most prominent critic in the 2016 primaries." CW News Flash: A Constitutional amendment ain't gonna happen.
Jonathan Swan & Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Donald Trump's campaign is still soliciting illegal donations from foreign individuals – including members of foreign governments at their official email addresses — weeks after the campaign was put on notice by watchdog groups. Foreign members of parliament from the United Kingdom and Australia confirmed to The Hill that they received fundraising solicitations from the Trump campaign as recently as July 12 — two weeks after a widely publicized FEC complaint issued on June 29 by non-partisan watchdogs...." CW: Chutzpah: (def.) calling your rival "criminal" & "crooked" even as you actively, openly & knowingly engage in criminal activities.
CW: You can take the boy out of Queens.... Trumpence sit down in Trump's New York apartment with Lesley Stahl for a "60 Minutes" interview in two of the more embarrassing chairs I've ever seen, although I had been thinking of hiding a boring toilet in a toned-down version -- as a joke:
Good Luck, Turkeys!So many friends in Turkey. Great people, amazing people. We wish them well. A lot of anguish last night, but hopefully it will all work out. -- Donald Trump, during his so-called "formal introduction of Mike Pence," in an example of how President Trump would help manage major crises around the world ...
... The Cheese Stands Alone. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "introduction of Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana was a remarkable reminder that, ultimately, the Trump campaign is about one person.... Before the governor took the stage, Mr. Trump stood there alone and talked for 28 minutes, delivering a long and improvised riff that emulated his rallies instead of a traditional vice-presidential announcement.... After roughly 20 minutes, Mr. Trump reached for his notes. 'Back to Mike Pence!' he declared.... Then he used the reference to the Hoosier State to remind the 150 people in attendance that he trounced Mr. Pence’s endorsed candidate, Senator Ted Cruz, in the primary there." CW: Yeah, I may be using the pornologo a lot. ...
... (CW: Sadly, the campaign appears to have abandoned yesterday's logo for a new G-rated, non-penetration sign where TRUMP just hovers over pence. But I shall not be deterred.) ...
... Ezra Klein: "Trump emerged without Pence. He spoke, alone, at a podium adorned with Trump’s name, but not Pence’s. And then Trump proceeded to talk about himself for 28 minutes.... It was the single most bizarre, impulsive, narcissistic performance I have ever seen from a major politician.... Every five minutes or so, he seemed to remember, just for a moment..., that he was there to introduce Mike Pence, and so he would say something like, 'now back to Mike Pence,' but then he would slip back again, and tell another anecdote about himself." -- CW
... How Not to Choreograph a Major Media Event. Katy Tur, speaking on MSNBC: "This was a room not filled with Donald Trump supporters from rallies, but rather a number of GOP -- New York GOPers, some friends and family, and then just tourists who came in literally from off the street....That being said, it was typical in the way that Donald Trump spent a good portion of the time talking about, frankly, himself, relitigating the primaries, talking about all the deals he's made. Also, perpetuating this idea that he was against the Iraq war when he was not. He spent 29 minutes before he got to Governor Mike Pence [(R-IN)]. And he said part of the reason why he chose him -- and he admitted this -- was that he needed party unity, that he's an outsider and that he needed somebody who would smooth over relations in Washington." -- CW
Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "... Mike Pencecould make things even worse" for Donald Trump "with female, gay and minority voters.... Pence has endorsed controversial legislation on abortion, gay rights and immigration both in Indiana and while in Congress, where he was consistently ranked as one of the most right-leaning members of the House. He attempted to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding, supported a measure that made English the nation’s official language and signed one of the nation’s strictest abortion laws earlier this year." -- CW
Tim Arango & Ceylan Yeginsu of the New York Times: "A military coup attempt plunged Turkey into a long night of violence and intrigue on Friday, threatening its embattled president, leaving dozens dead and injecting new instability into a crucial NATO member and American ally in the chaotic Middle East. The coup attempt was followed hours later by an equally dramatic public appearance by the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose whereabouts had been unknown for hours after the plotters claimed to have taken control. Flying into Istanbul Ataturk Airport from an undisclosed location early Saturday, Mr. Erdogan signaled that the coup was failing." -- CW ...
... CW: In the paper's updated lede (5:45 am ET), the death toll has been raised from "dozens" to "nearly 200."
... Roy Gutman, et al., in the Los Angeles Times: "... authorities said Saturday they had managed to stave off a rebellion that has plunged one of America's most important NATO allies into chaos." -- CW ...
... Erin Cunningham, et al., of the Washington Post: "At least 90 people were killed and 1,154 wounded as ordinary Turks poured into the streets to confront tanks amid pitched battles in the main cities. By morning, government forces had closed in on the army headquarters in Ankara, the final stronghold of coup plotters, said a senior Turkish official who added that 1,563 members of the military have been arrested so far." -- CW ...
... New Lede: "Turkey's government defeated a coup attempt by a renegade faction of the military that pummeled government and security institutions overnight with fighter jets, restoring some control on Saturday after hours of chaos and clashes that killed at least 265 people and plunged the already troubled country into further uncertainty. More than 100 coup plotters are now dead, acting military chief Gen. Umit Dundar said on live TV, while another 161 people -- including civilians and police were killed as ordinary Turks poured into the streets to confront tanks amid pitched battles in urban areas. At least 1,440 were wounded, officials said." ...
... Nahal Toosi & Bryan Bender of Politico: "President Barack Obamacalled on all parties to 'support the democratically elected government of Turkey' on Friday after an attempted military coup in the country, a strategically located but fickle NATO ally whose cooperation is crucial to defeating the Islamic State terrorist network. Obama's view was announced in a readout of his call with Secretary of State John Kerry." The readout is here. -- CW ...
... Roy Gutman in The Daily Beast (in earlier reporting):"A faction in the Turkish military Friday night declared it had staged a coup and seized 'full control' over this country of nearly 80 million. But hours later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğanreturned in defiance of the coup plotters, according to officials who spoke to Reuters and CNN. Erdoğan's reported landing comes as forces loyal to him battled to regain control of the instruments of state power." --safari ...
... The Guardian is liveblogging developments here, which still look volatile at 6:30 am ET.
Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "French authorities ... [saw] Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a heavyset 31-year-old from Tunisia [who mowed down & killed 84 Bastille Day celebrants in Nice & wounded many more, as] definitely trouble but not a grave menace to the security of the nation." -- CW ...
... CW: The Washington Post had a banner at 4:50 am ET, with no story, that ISIS had claimed responsibility for the attack in Nice. ...
... Update. Alissa Rubin & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday for the Bastille Day attack on the seaside promenade in Nice, France, which killed 84 people and injured 202.... The claim must be greeted with caution. The Islamic State has at times asserted responsibility for attacks carried out in its name, even when there was no indication that the terrorist network had any direct role in planning or carrying out the violence." -- CW ...
... Sudarsan Raghavan & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Frustrated crowds booed French President François Hollande and Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday when they visited the bloodied seaside walkway on the French Riviera.... Many French on Friday questioned how the attacker could have swept past police checkpoints at a prominent event that clearly demanded high security. On another level, there was soul-searching once again about France's overall security strategy." -- CW
Your Friday Afternoon News Dump. Shane Harris of The Daily Beast: "Thirteen years after the publication of a joint congressional inquiry into the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 29 pages on possible ties between the hijackers and Saudi officials were finally released to the public on Friday. (pdf) Close watchers of the possible Saudi-9/11 connection will find few surprises. And the pages will settle no controversies. But they did provide all sorts of tantalizing and inconclusive hints at links between the infamous al Qaeda terrorists and their supporters in the Saudi government--the very government that the terrorist group had vowed to destroy." --safari ...
... The New York Times story, by Mark Mazzetti, is here. -- CW
Alec McGillis, in Politico Magazine:, looks at "the Great Republican Party Crackup" through the lens of Dayton, Ohio, "once a bastion of the GOP establishment, but now ... Trump Country.... The disruption that the nomination of Trump represents for the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower and Reagan has been cast as a freakish anomaly, the equivalent of the earthquakes that hit the other side of Ohio in recent years. But just as those earthquakes had a likely explanation -- gas and oil fracking in the Utica Shale -- so can the crackup of the Republican Party and rise of Trump be traced back to what the geologists call the local site conditions." -- safari
Annals of "Journalism", Ctd. Mathew Barakatof the AP: Former Fox "News" contributor Wayne Simmons "was sentenced to nearly three years in prison Friday on multiple fraud charges, as well as being a felon in possession of a firearm.... For decades, Wayne Simmons told the world he was a CIA man. And he benefited from the connection.... But it was all, in the words of U.S. Senior Judge T.S. Ellis III, 'buffalo chips.'... Simmons appeared frequently as an unpaid contributor on Fox News before his arrest last year. In a 2009 clip, he called House Minority LeaderNancy Pelosi 'a pathological liar' in a segment about CIA interrogation techniques. Ellis took note of that work at the conclusion of Friday's hearing. 'That should give us all pause as we listen to the news,' Ellis said...." --safari
Presidential Race
Louis Nelson of Politico: "A spokesman for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign confirmed Friday evening that the former secretary of state held several meetings Friday about her upcoming vice presidential selection. According to multiple media reports, Clinton met Friday at her Washington home with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro. All three are considered candidates to join the Democratic ticket, though Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is said to be leading the pack. Both Warren and Kaine have appeared with Clinton on the campaign trail at high-profile events." -- CW
Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "... Hillary Clinton's campaign said Friday that [Donald Trump's] selection of [Indiana Gov. Mike] Pence [as his running mate] shows that Trump has 'doubled down on some of his most disturbing beliefs by choosing an incredibly divisive and unpopular running mate known for supporting discriminatory politics and failed economic policies that favor millionaires and corporations over working families." In particular, the Clinton camp highlighted Pence's conservative record on abortion issues as well as his support last year for a religious freedom law that critics said allowed discrimination against LGBT individuals. (Pence later amended the law after a national outcry.)" -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...
Cristiano Lima of Politico: "In his first televised interview since being named Donald Trump's running mate Friday, Mike Pence said the attempted military coup in Turkey was 'evidence' of Hillary Clinton's ]failed leadership' during her tenure as secretary of state." CW: Evidently it doesn't matter that this makes absolutely no sense.
It's very important to put some showbiz into a convention, otherwise people are going to fall asleep. -- Donald Trump, to the Washington Post ...
... Gail Collins: Many of the big "celebrities" Trump planned to feature at his "showbiz" convention begged off in very public ways. "... if Trump can't negotiate some cheesy diversions [at the GOP convention], what makes anybody think he can negotiate a new trade deal with China?" -- CW ...
... Shane Goldmacher, et al. of Politico: "The last-minute plea for $6 million from Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson to rescue the Republican convention has erupted in controversy, as four of the five signatories to the letter from party organizers never saw it before it was sent and major donors flagged serious errors that forced the convention hosts to apologize to one of the GOP's most influential financiers." --safari
Patrick Healy & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "On Friday, as he announced Mr. Pence as his choice and prepared to claim the Republican nomination at the party's convention next week, Mr. Trump still lacked a detailed foreign policy agenda and a deep bench of advisers, appearing instead like a man who had taken his cues about war from Fox News commentators and Twitter users.... Mr. Trump's remarks after the carnage in Nice, France -- such as agreeing with Bill O'Reilly of Fox News that 'we are in a world war scenario' -- are the latest in a startling pattern in which he has projected an image of a country willing to throw out international laws and treaties.... At the Pentagon, interviews with more than a dozen top generals revealed alarm over many of Mr. Trump's proposals for the use of American power, even among officers who said privately that they lean Republican." -- CW
Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump named Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate on Friday, adding to the Republican ticket a traditional conservative who boasts strong credentials with the Christian right, and bringing an end to a vice-presidential selection process that seemed at risk of spinning out of control. Mr. Trump had said on Thursday night that he intended to delay the unveiling of his running mate out of respect for the attack in Nice, France.... On Friday, he proceeded with the announcement anyway. Instead of a showy rollout in a Manhattan hotel, as his campaign had planned, Mr. Trump named Mr. Pence to the Republican ticket by way of Twitter. He said they would hold their first joint event on Saturday morning." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... OR, as Gail Collins put it, "Veep by Tweet": "... this is an excellent vision of what America would be like with Donald in the White House. There's a terrible hurricane. Trump Cabinet members offer several conflicting proposals. President calls various cable TV stations making colorful yet somehow oblique assurances. Rumors abound. Everybody flies to New Orleans. Where they are informed the hurricane was in Florida. Emergency meeting and then Donald Trump tweets out the National Guard." CW: I dunno. I think Gail's a little optimistic. I'm still expecting Trump to go on Hannity & claim Hillary hacked his Twitter account & he's really still trying to decide between Newt & Ivanka. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... ** OR, as Philip Bump of the Washington Post put it, "Donald Trump just turned a key moment into a complete mess (once again).... The announcement of a vice-presidential choice is a guaranteed moment of media attention, and so campaigns do their best to manage how the announcement is made.... Trump badly fumbled one of the first moments during which he was tasked with making an important, high-profile decision in the eyes of the American public." Read the whole post for the play-by-play, which is humorous only if you're sure this guy will never get near the Oval. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Here's a highlight: "Scoop: @realDonaldTrump was so unsure about @mike_pence that around midnight last night [i.e., Thursday night] he asked top aides if he could get out of it" -- Dana Bash of CNN, in a tweet ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "If anything, this leak [which Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News also picked up] is just the latest proof of how poorly the whole thing has been handled. And that poor handling, in turn, makes the rumor seem quite plausible. Also making it believable: Basically everything the Trump campaign said on Thursday." -- CW ...
... Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "... Trump's apparent 11th-hour indecision and private hesitation about Pence, coupled with a delayed and fitful introduction, threatened to undercut part of the rationale for Pence joining the ticket: steadying a turbulent general-election campaign.... Trump's campaign, meanwhile, left Pence largely defenseless [against attacks by Hillary Clinton & other Democrats]. After Trump's tweet, the campaign did not distribute a video or other promotional materials to relate Pence's life story and governing accomplishments, nor did it forcefully push back against the Democratic attacks." -- CW ...
... CW: For a candidate who binds his employees to contracts in which they agree to be guillotined if they say anything bad about him, all of these damaging leaks come as a shock, as Rucker & Costa (and others, because the leaks drip in many directions) report. ...
... Nikita Vladimirov of the Hill: "Donald Trump's decision to postpone the announcement of his running mate was an emotional reaction to the deadly attack in France, campaign chairman Paul Manafort said Friday.... 'The postponement today was because he thought what happened in France yesterday was so tragic. He emotionally reacted to it,' Manafort told CNN. 'It really bothered him to see that carnage, and he felt the pain of the people there. He said it's just not right to do something self-serving and political the morning after.'" -- CW ...
Jonathan Chait: "To recap the events, the Republican vice-presidential candidate has said that the presidential pick should not be elected president; the Republican presidential candidate has tried as recently as last night to replace his vice-presidential candidate; and the campaign manager has publicly described the presidential candidate as jittery and emotional in the face of upsetting news. And all this has come out in the last day!" --safari ...
... CW: Uou'll want to read Chait's whole post, especially the series of tweets by Matt Fuller, to get a full picture of what an amateur fuck-up Trump is. AND, on that same subject ...
... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "... the best evidence of chaos in the Trump camp is the botched vice presidential announcement, which revealed a level of anarchy rarely seen outside of schoolyards at recess.... The whole sorry spectacle shows that Trump's campaign is riven by internal rivalries and that the cronies he's surrounded himself with (and put on his vice-presidential shortlist) are ranting fools.... The chaos of the Trump campaign is the biggest story of the election, and the key indicator of where the race is headed." -- CW
... A Low Bar: Better than Tyson or Busey. Paul Waldman: "When he ought to be figuring out how to appeal to the broad American electorate, Trump is still acting as though his most urgent task is to persuade Republican primary voters to get behind him. He's still running a white nationalist campaign, and has discarded the 'pivot' he was going to do for the general election. It may have been too tall an order for his VP pick to change how people see him ... but it might have at least been a chance to make a gesture indicating that he cared what those who aren't already Republicans think.... I suppose you can give him some credit for not picking Gary Busey or Mike Tyson to be his running mate...." -- CW
Here's the new Trump-Pence logo, which got the Friday afternoon Twitter response it deserves. If you're in the mood for clever frat-boy snark, you'll get a kick out of this Eric Levitz collection. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... Aaron Blake: "Chris Christie's tour of Donald Trump-related indignities ends with one final snub." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... AND there's this, from Rucker & Costa's WashPo report linked above: Newt Gingrich said, an hour after the Pence announcement, that he had not heard directly from Trump about his decision but was 'totally committed' to supporting the ticket." ...
... CW: Obviously Donald Trump was not "totally committed" to the minimal courtesies due runners-up whom he had made jump through hoops during his vetting circus. Trump mistreats friend and foe alike. He is far worse than the rube from Queens who is unfamiliar with sophisticated Manhattan table manners; he lacks common decency. (And, no, I don't feel sorry for Cap'n. Chrisco & the Newt; they're big boys who allowed themselves to be serially humiliated. But still.) ...
... BTW, Noah Feldman, in a New York Times op-ed, tries to explain Sharia to that ignoramus Newt Gingrich, who suggested the other night that the U.S. should be running a Sharia inquisition. -- CW ...
... Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic takes a different tack in explaining Sharia law to Newt, but the upshot is the same: everything Newt said was stupid. -- CW ...
... President Obama, on the other hand, evidently thinks Newt passeth all understanding. Esme Cribb of TPM: "After hosting the Diplomatic Corps reception Friday, Obama spoke out against divisive rhetoric, referencing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's proposal to 'test' and deport American Muslims who follow Sharia law. 'We have heard more suggestions that Muslims in America be targeted. Tested for their beliefs, some deported or jailed,' he said. 'The very suggestion is repugnant and an affront to everything we stand for as Americans.'" -- CW
CW: Under normal GOP conditions, I would say Mike Pence is a heartbeat away from a great gig on the new Trump Channel, the flagship of the post-campaign Trump Media conglomerate. (Don't miss the Trump Golf Channel!) But all things being Trump, it's more likely that sometime in late September/early October, we'll hear that Trump has either fired or tried to fire Pence as his veep choice for some perceived or real Pence screw-up or slight of Don. You read it here first.
Betsy Woodruff of The Daily Beast: "Though Mike Pence, Donald Trump's brand new running mate -- is maximally conservative on most of the issues grassroots conservatives care about, he has a history on immigration that could upset the mogul's xenophobic base.... Despite his wishy-washy history on LGBT rights, abortion, the Iraq War, and other topics that typically galvanize Republican primary voters, Trump shored up conservative support by being as far-right as possible on immigration.... On abortion, LGBT rights and the Iraq War Pence has stood firmly with the right wing of the Republican Party. But on immigration .. well, that may just undercut Trump a bit." --safari ...
... Shane Harris: "With Donald Trump's selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate, the Republican ticket is one of the least experienced in national security and foreign policy in the modern political era.... Perhaps the Pence pick should come as no surprise. Throughout his campaign, Trump has showed little interest -- and at times outright hostility — towards foreign policy and national security expertise." --safari
Anushka Asthana of the Guardian: "Theresa Maycontinued with a reshuffle that some have called ruthless with the announcement that Anna Soubry -- a supporter during the leadership battle -- was out of her position as small business minister." -- CW
Juan Cole: "Daesh wants us to be afraid, to hate, and to push Western Muslims into their arms. The only effective riposte is Gandhian. Show Muslims some love, and include them in political society.. The US budget is $3.8 trillion, and foreign aid, contrary to what people think, is a piddling little part of it, especially once you get past Israel and Egypt...If the West can't be bothered to proffer genuine and substantial aid to a success story like Tunisia, then it will get more basket cases like Syria, which spill over onto the West...So the answer to Nice is the opposite of what the politicians think. It isn't to declare war on Daesh (Trump), or to do more warrantless surveillance (HR Clinton), or to get rid of the Rights of Man (Francois Hollande)." --safari
Don't Blame It on Rio. Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post: The Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro are a disaster waiting to happen, & the IOC is at fault. -- CW
Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump named Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate on Friday, adding to the Republican ticket a traditional conservative who boasts strong credentials with the Christian right, and bringing an end to a vice-presidential selection process that seemed at risk of spinning out of control. Mr. Trump had said on Thursday night that he intended to delay the unveiling of his running mate out of respect for the attack in Nice, France.... On Friday, he proceeded with the announcement anyway. Instead of a showy rollout in a Manhattan hotel, as his campaign had planned, Mr. Trump named Mr. Pence to the Republican ticket by way of Twitter. He said they would hold their first joint event on Saturday morning." -- CW ...
... OR, as Gail Collins put it, "Veep by Tweet": "... this is an excellent vision of what America would be like with Donald in the White House. There's a terrible hurricane. Trump Cabinet members offer several conflicting proposals. President calls various cable TV stations making colorful yet somehow oblique assurances. Rumors abound. Everybody flies to New Orleans. Where they are informed the hurricane was in Florida. Emergency meeting and then Donald Trump tweets out the National Guard." CW: I dunno. I think Gail's a little optimistic. I'm still expecting Trump to go on Hannity & claim Hillary hacked his Twitter account & he's really still trying to decide between Newt & Ivanka. ...
... ** OR, as Philip Bump of the Washington Post put it, "Donald Trump just turned a key moment into a complete mess (once again).... The announcement of a vice-presidential choice is a guaranteed moment of media attention, and so campaigns do their best to manage how the announcement is made.... Trump badly fumbled one of the first moments during which he was tasked with making an important, high-profile decision in the eyes of the American public." Read the whole post for the play-by-play, which is humorous only if you're sure this guy will never get near the Oval. -- CW ...
... Here's a highlight: "Scoop: @realDonaldTrump was so unsure about @mike_pence that around midnight last night [i.e., Thursday night] he asked top aides if he could get out of it" -- Dana Bash of CNN, in a tweet
... Here's the new Trump-Pence logo, which got the Friday afternoon Twitter response it deserves. If you're in the mood for clever frat-boy snark, you'll get a kick out of this Eric Levitz collection. I snickered. -- CW
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Chris Christie's tour of Donald Trump-related indignities ends with one final snub." -- CW ...
... Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "... Hillary Clinton's campaign said Friday that the selection of Pence shows that Trump has 'doubled down on some of his most disturbing beliefs by choosing an incredibly divisive and unpopular running mate known for supporting discriminatory politics and failed economic policies that favor millionaires and corporations over working families." In particular, the Clinton camp highlighted Pence's conservative record on abortion issues as well as his support last year for a religious freedom law that critics said allowed discrimination against LGBT individuals. (Pence later amended the law after a national outcry.)" -- CW
*****
Alissa Rubin, et al., of the New York Times: "A Bastille Day fireworks celebration was shattered by death and mayhem on Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice when a large truck barreled for more than a mile through an enormous crowd of spectators, crushing and maiming dozens in what the president called a terrorist assault.... Officials and witnesses in Nice said at least 80 people, including children, were killed by the driver of the rampaging truck, who mowed them down on the sidewalk. He was shot to death by the police as officers scrambled to respond on what is France's most important annual holiday.... Municipal officials and police officers described the truck as full of weapons and grenades." -- CW ...
... The Guardian is liveblogging developments here. ...
... Reuters: "The gunman who killed at least 80 people when he drove a heavy truck into a crowd in Nice was a 31 year-old Franco-Tunisian born in Tunisia, a police source close to the investigation said. The man was not on the watch list of French intelligence services, but was known to police in connection with common law crimes such as theft and violence, the source said." -- CW ...
... Griff Witte of the Washington Post: The newspaper "Nice-Matin identified him as a local man from the Abattoirs area of the city, and said his home was being raided by police Friday morning. Although Nice-Matin published the suspected assailant's name, The Washington Post has been unable to confirm the name or other details of the attacker's identity. French news agencies said the man had not been known to intelligence agencies, but had a record for petty crime. If those reports prove accurate, they would be in line with the profile of the killers in previous major terrorist attacks in France and Belgium over the past two years.... There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Thursday night attack from the Islamic State or other extremist groups. But Islamic State supporters were celebrating the attack on social media." -- CW ...
... Steve M.: No, wingers, saying "radical Islam" does not deter terrorists. French prime minister Manuel Valls used them. French president Francois Hollande used them when he visited the White House. CW: Insulting the world's most popular religion doesn't "make us safer" or "show strength," either.
An American Hero for the Ages. Tim Egan: "No matter what you think of Obama the executive branch, it's hard to argue that Obama the human being has been anything less than a model of class and dignity. If, as was often said about black pioneers in sports, you had to be twice as good to succeed, Obama's personal behavior has set a standard few presidents have ever reached.... Historical comparisons will be kind to him." -- CW
Carol Morello & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry, carrying a new U.S. proposal for coordinated U.S.-Russia counterterrorism operations in Syria, met with President Vladimir Putin [in Moscow] Thursday night in the latest Obama administration effort to salvage a failing cease-fire and revive suspended peace negotiations in the Syrian civil war." -- CW
David Herszenhorn & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Congress limped out of town Thursday for a seven-week recess, leaving behind a trail of partisan fights, a failed bill to help fight the Zika virus, a stalemate on gun safety and a few mundane accomplishments that members hoped to sell as awesome to voters in an unsparing mood. The fierce partisanship was evident as some House Republicans filed a resolution to impeach the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, John A. Koskinen, while Hillary Clinton, over lunch at the Capitol with Senate Democrats, stressed that their hopes of reclaiming the majority were bound up with her aspirations of winning the White House." -- CW
Emmarie Huetteman of the New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill to tackle the nation's opioid crisis, sending to the president's desk the most sweeping drug legislation in years in a rare instance of consensus in Congress. The measure, which passed, 92 to 2, would strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery efforts, largely by empowering medical professionals and law enforcement officials with more tools to help drug addicts. It would also expand access to a drug that emergency medical workers could use to help reverse overdoses and improve treatment for the incarcerated. Senator Ben Sasse, Republican of Nebraska, and Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, voted against the measure. President Obama is expected to sign the bill." -- CW
Rick Rojas & Samantha Schmidt of the New York Times: "To some Latino advocates..., the killings of Latinos in encounters with the police do not generate the same level of scrutiny, outrage or discourse as the fatal shootings of blacks.... In recent years, multiple cases have roiled Hispanics in different parts of the country." -- CW
David Caplan of ABC News: "The country's largest organization representing LGBT conservatives has slammed the GOP for its draft platform, which remains opposed to same-sex marriage and bathroom choice for transgender people. 'There's no way to sugarcoat this: I'm mad as hell -- and I know you are too,' Gregory T. Angelo, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, wrote in a fundraising email sent Tuesday evening. "Moments ago, the Republican Party passed the most anti-LGBT platform in the party's 162-year history.' He continued, 'Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of 'pray the gay away' -- it's all in there.'" -- CW
Ms. Ginsburg Regrets. Nolan McCaskill: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday acknowledged her critical comments on Donald Trump's presidential campaign were 'ill-advised,' expressing her regret in a statement that fell short of an apology. 'On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them,' she said.... 'Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect.'" -- CW ...
... Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: Ginsburg's statement was "issued Thursday by the court's public information office.... She did not offer an apology to Trump, who had demanded one." Thanks to Patrick for the link. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Donald the Magnanimous. Ben Kamisar of the Hill: Donald "Trump said on 'The Herman Cain Show' ... that Ginsburg's statement wasn't a true apology. 'It wasn't really an apology, but we have to move on anyway. It's just something that should not have taken place.... It's just a very disappointing moment for me because the Supreme Court is above that kind of rhetoric, those words.... But she acknowledged she made a mistake, and I'll accept that.'" -- CW ...
... Ezra Klein: "... there's something in the uproar -- and particularly in the calls for [Justice Ginsburg] to recuse herself from any cases concerning Trump -- that lays bare how bizarre our fetishization with 'objectivity' can get.... If she had decided against granting any major interviews this year, she would have been exactly as biased.... Insofar as we think Ginsburg didn't need to recuse herself from Trump-related cases a month ago, nothing has changed today.... Ginsburg's rooting interest in the outcome of the election led to her remarks; it wasn't created by her remarks." -- CW ...
... Paul Waldman: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg shouldn't have criticized Donald Trump. But his response was far more disturbing.... Donald Trump ... tells a justice that she's losing her mind and ought to quit.... I'm not worried about whether Trump will blithely toss around white supremacist photo collages when he's president. I'm a lot more worried about how he'll treat issues like the separation of powers and the scope of presidential authority." -- CW
** Josh Marshall of TPM: International peace and political stability are not the "natural state of things." "The kind of menace [Donald Trump] represents is amplified by the rise of complacent instability and reckless behavior we see today in Europe, in the conflagration in the Middle East and the still distant but rising specter of great power confrontation on the borders of Russia and in East Asia. The belief that we can roll the dice with no consequences, that we can provoke and act out with no consequences is a dangerous illusion." Thanks to LT for the link. -- CW ...
... ** Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker: "What all forms of fascism have in common is the glorification of the nation, and the exaggeration of its humiliations, with violence promised to its enemies, at home and abroad; the worship of power wherever it appears and whoever holds it; contempt for the rule of law and for reason; unashamed employment of repeated lies as a rhetorical strategy; and a promise of vengeance for those who feel themselves disempowered by history.... Those who think that the underlying institutions of American government are immunized against it fail to understand history. In every historical situation where a leader of Trump's kind comes to power, normal safeguards collapse. Ours are older and therefore stronger? Watching the rapid collapse of the Republican Party is not an encouraging rehearsal. Donald Trump has a chance to seize power." -- CW
Paul Krugman: "... while record stock prices do put the lie to claims that the Obama administration has been anti-business, they're not evidence of a healthy economy. If anything, they're a sign of an economy with too few opportunities for productive investment and too much monopoly power. So when you read headlines about stock prices, remember: What's good for the Dow isn't necessarily good for America, or vice versa." -- CW
Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "... scientists have found that across a majority of the Earth's land surface -- including some of its most important types of terrain and its most populous regions -- the abundance or overall number of animals and plants of different species has fallen below a 'safe' level identified by biologists. The reason is not exactly a surprise -- from grasslands to tropical forests, humans are using more and more land for agriculture, to live on, to and build roads and infrastructure upon....This doesn't always cause extinctions, but it does reduce the abundance of species and what researchers call the 'intactness' of ecosystems -- and when biodiversity levels fall too low, it can mean that larger ecosystems lose their resilience or even, at the extreme, cease to function." -- CW
** Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post (July 13) on why Big Pharma doesn't want you smoking weed: "Ashley and W. David Bradford, a daughter-father pair of researchers at the University of Georgia..., found that, in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in place by 2013, prescriptions for painkillers and other classes of drugs fell sharply compared with states that did not have a medical-marijuana law. The drops were quite significant.... The typical physician in a medical-marijuana state prescribed 1,826 fewer doses of painkillers in a given year.... Lead author Ashley Bradford wrote, 'The results suggest people are really using marijuana as medicine and not just using it for recreational purposes.'" -- CW
Christopher Ingraham: "More American voters than ever say they are not religious, making the religiously unaffiliated the nation's biggest voting bloc by faith for the first time in a presidential election year. This marks a dramatic shift from just eight years ago, when the non-religious were roundly outnumbered by Catholics, white mainline Protestants and white evangelical Protestants." -- CW
Presidential Race
Amy Chozick & Dalia Sussman of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton has emerged from the F.B.I. investigation into her email practices as secretary of state a wounded candidate with a large and growing majority of voters saying she cannot be trusted, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.... Mrs. Clinton's six-percentage-point lead over ... Donald J. Trump, in a CBS News poll last month has evaporated. The two candidates are now tied in a general election matchup, the new poll indicates, with each receiving the support of 40 percent of voters" -- CW ...
... Greg Sargent: "But as even some conservatives (who oppose Trump )quickly pointed out on twitter, the real story here is that even if Clinton is sinking, Trump is not rising.... There is still no evidence that Trump can expand his appeal in the manner he needs to." -- CW ...
... Steve M.: "I understand that the James Comey press conference left a lot of fence-sitters believing that Hillary Clinton absolutely can't be trusted.... But hasn't enough been said about Trump's sleazy practices to keep him permanently ahead of her on untrustworthiness? And why ... is the King of Bankruptcy way ahead on handling the economy?... So, for a lot of people, it doesn't matter that Trump is far more dishonest than Clinton. It doesn't matter how little harm her email server did, in contrast to how many lives Trump ruined with his scams. What matters is how much better his untruths make these people feel.... Clinton will need to be a candidate of hope, like her husband or like Obama. She can do traditional political hope -- this year, regrettably, she just hasn't." -- CW
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine on Thursday deridedDonald Trump as a candidate who will be remembered for two things: 'You're fired' and Trump U. In his potential vice presidential audition alongside Hillary Clinton in Annandale, Virginia on Thursday, Kaine posed three questions to the crowd of supporters: He asked whether they want a 'you're fired' or 'you're hired' president, a 'trash talker' or a 'bridge builder,' and a 'me first' president or a 'kids and family first' president." -- CW ...
... Paul Schwartzman of the Washington Post: "As he emerges as Clinton's potential running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine's [Va.] tenure in public office -- lauded by Republicans and Democrats alike -- is evidence that nice guys can finish first in American politics. But ... in the most hard-bitten, vitriolic presidential campaign in generations, it is far from certain that Kaine is ferocious enough to combat Donald Trump..., who tramples all manner of political decorum. Speculation about a Clinton-Kaine ticket gained momentum Thursday when the senator gave a bilingual [English & Spanish] welcome toClinton at a rally in Annandale, in Northern Virginia rally." -- CW
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump staved off a potentially embarrassing effort to throw the Republican National Convention into disarray, with delegates voting late on Thursday to squash what remained of a fading rebellion.... A voice vote in the convention's rules committee that could have opened the door to candidates who wanted to challenge him was so overwhelmingly in his favor that the presiding officer did not need to call for an official count." -- CW ...
... Alex Isenstadt & Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Millions of dollars short and running out of time, organizers of the Republican National Convention have written an urgent request for $6 million to Las Vegas billionaire couple Sheldon and Miriam Adelson to cover the bills for next week's festivities. In a letter to the Adelsons, obtained by Politico, the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee revealed the names of more than two dozen prominent corporations and individuals who have reneged on a collective $8.1 million in pledged donations." -- CW ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer: "... more than a dozen [Republican] senators suddenly have scheduling conflicts for an event that has been on the political calendar for more than a year. Instead of being in Cleveland, for instance, Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona says he will be 'mowing my lawn.' The state's senior senator, John McCain ... has a conflict, too: He is planning to trek the Grand Canyon.... Steve Daines of Montana will use the time to hone his 'fly fishing.'... Senator Rob Portman of Ohio ... plans to do volunteer work for Habit for Humanity and a Wounded Warriors kayaking event. Cleveland seems so far away." -- CW ...
... Jeremy Peters: Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, reality television star and former N.F.L. player who was supposed to be one of the biggest names to appear at the Republican National Convention, said Thursday that he would not speak after all. In a video he posted to Instagram, Mr. Tebow called reports that he would be a speaker 'a rumor.'... Like other sports stars whom Donald J. Trump said he would like to have appear at the convention -- Tom Brady and Serena Williams, for example -- Mr. Tebow is out." -- CW ...
... ** Paul Waldman: "... the Republican convention that starts on Monday is going to be the Trumpiest Show On Earth.... Equal parts entertaining and horrifying, the GOP gathering will probably get some of the highest TV ratings in history as Americans tune in to witness the political equivalent of a 747 crashing into a freight train full of toxic waste as it plunges off a cliff right onto a carnival freak show. It should be quite a sight." -- CW
Awwk-ward! Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The final hours of Donald Trump's vice presidential selection process have played out in ways familiar with his campaign -- messy, unpredictable and under the full glare of the media. Only this time the candidate lost control of the story.... Late Thursday, after a day in which he was invisible, Trump spoke twice with Fox News. But he did nothing that helped to clarify things. He praised Pence, Gingrich and Christie but insisted that no final decision had been made. Why Pence was in New York he would not say -- if Pence actually was in New York.... The postponement [of the announcement, which Trump attributed to the Nice attack] left all the finalists hanging.... Pence in particular was in difficult spot, facing a deadline about running for reelection for governor at noon on Friday, since he cannot run for both governor and vice president on the November ballot." -- CW ...
... The Dingbat Candidate. Margaret Hartmann of New York: "Trump later explained that he just felt it was inappropriate to talk politics, 'out of respect for this horrific situation.' Then he promptly gave Fox News two highly political interviews, in which he blame Hillary Clinton and President Obama for creating ISIS, vowed to crack down on immigration from 'terrorist areas,' and said 'second generation' immigrants turn out to be 'very bad' as well.... When asked [by Fox 'News' host Greta Van Susteren] what he'd do as president to prevent future attacks, Trump rambled through a litany of anti-immigrant rhetoric.... Trump then appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, agreeing with the host's statement that 'we're in a world war scenario.' Trump said he would go to Congress and ask for a declaration of war against ISIS, apparently unaware that ... Congress hasn't declared war since World War II." -- CW ...
... Patricia Murphy of Roll Call: "Donald Trump is planning to announce that Indiana Gov. Mike Penceis his choice for his vice presidential running mate, according to a Republican with direct knowledge of the decision." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Tony Cook, et al., of the Indianapolis Star: "Gov. Mike Penceis dropping his re-election bid in Indiana to become Donald Trump's running mate. IndyStar has confirmed that Trump plans to announce Pence as his selection for vice president, ending a weeks-long vice presidential casting call during which Trump vetted a handful of high-profile Republicans." -- CW ...
... Here's theNew York Times story, by Maggie Haberman & others: "Donald J. Trump's campaign has signaled strongly to Republicans in Washington that he will pick Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, as his running mate, though Republicans caution the party's mercurial presidential candidate may still backtrack on his apparent choice." -- CW ...
... New Lede: "Donald J. Trump's presidential campaign signaled strongly on Thursday that he would name Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana as his running mate, but abruptly postponed a long-planned unveiling of the Republican ticket after an attack that left dozens dead in France. Mr. Trump said on Twitter that he was delaying his announcement after the 'horrible attack' in Nice. He did not specify when the event would go forward."
... David Graham of the Atlantic: "A slew of news organizations, including The New York Times, reported that the pick was as good as done, but now it looks like a Pence pick is an informed intelligent wager, but nothing more.... NBC News's Katy Tur heard directly from Trump's son after 2 p.m. that Trump hadn't even decided and there were still three possibilities.... There aren't many ways to ratchet up the drama ahead of the finale and unveiling of a winner, but Trump, of course, is no apprentice. He is an expert." -- CW ...
... Hannah Levintova of Mother JonessummarizesPence's "conservative record." CW: Conservative? How about just mean? ...
... ** Brian Beutler: "Because he is neither erratic nor corrupt -- because he doesn't amplify Trump's worst qualities -- Pence is being celebrated as a sober and steadying force for Trumpland. Someone who might even make it easier to treat the major party campaigns as equivalents. But this is the soft bigotry of low expectations." -- CW
... Joe Strupp of Media Matters: "Pence has had a 'divisive' tenure as governor thanks in part to his efforts to limit reproductive rights in his home state and his support for a controversial 'religious freedom' bill that could have given businesses license to discriminate against LGBT people.... In interviews with Media Matters in recent days, several Indiana journalists highlighted that Pence currently sports a low favorability rating for an incumbent Republican in the state. Most of his support problems stem from a handful of unpopular policies, the first being an attempt to create what amounted to a government-run news service in 2013 in which the state would have sought to collect and filter news for reporters." -- CW ...
... Caroline Simon of Business Insider: "... Indiana Gov. Mike Pence ... helped launch the federal fight against Planned Parenthood nearly a decade ago.... Planned Parenthood is prohibited from using federal money for abortions, but typically spends it on other women's healthcare services like STD tests and exams to provide contraception. Pence argued that taking away federal funding from health clinics would limit their ability to perform abortions." -- CW ...
... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "'Smoking Doesn't Kill' And Other Great Old Op-Eds From Mike Pence.... On climate change, Pence says CO2 from burning fuels can't be the cause of increased global temperatures because it 'is a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature...' not an unnatural one. He also mixes up India and Indonesia.... Pence says George Washington was a Republican: 'Republicans, from George Washington to George W. Bush just have better ideas.' Washington didn't belong to any political party and famously warned against them in his farewell address." -- CW ...
... Pema Levy of Mother Jones: In 1990, "Pence lost [a Congressional] race and came to regret the [negative] campaign he had run. (Pence had lost largely because he had used campaign dollars to pay his mortgage, car payments, credit card bills, and even golf fees. At the time, this was not illegal, but it was bad politics.)" After that, Pence determined not to run negative campaign again, which he said were wrong. He cited Scripture to make his point. Levy wonders how Pence will square his views as Trump's running mate inasmuch as Trump's campaign has "depended on invective and nastiness." -- CW ...
... MEANWHILE.... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "'Listen, no matter what phone call he [Trump] makes to me today, I will take a deep breath and prepare for tomorrow,' [Chris] Christie told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace in an interview from Mendham, New Jersey. 'I'm a competitive person, so I'm not gonna say it won't bother me if I'm not selected,' Christie continued. 'Of course it bothers you a little bit, because if you're a competitive person like I am and you're used to winning like I am, again, you don't like coming in second. Ever.'" CW: Uh, Gov. Chrisco, the word is that you came in third. Is that better? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... AND Then There's the Newt. ... Media Matters: Newt Gingrich, another veep hopeful, in chatting with his friend & benefactor Sean Hannity, said, "We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported." CW: I'd like to know how that "test" might be conducted, Newt. Suppose a person said he didn't believe in Sharia law, but the interrogator suspected him of lying. ...
... Melissa Etehad in the Washington Post: "Gingrich's proposal, which made no distinction between U.S. citizens and non-citizens, would violate scores of First Amendment-based Supreme Court rulings as well as civil rights laws which together bar discrimination on the basis of religion, entanglement by the government in religion and restrictions on freedom of expression and belief.... The comments made by Gingrich are similar to ones made by Donald Trump in 2015, where he called for surveillance of mosques." -- CW
Esme Cribb: "Donald Trumpdefended Fox News chairmanRoger Ailes against allegations of sexual harassment by former anchor Gretchen Carlson in a Thursday interview with the Washington Examiner. When asked what he thought about the accusations, Trump answered: 'I think they are unfounded, just based on what I've read. Totally unfounded based on what I've read.'" -- CW
Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "'We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation.' That's the top takeaway from nearly 150 officials from the tech industry and elsewhere who on Thursday published a broadside against the GOP presidential candidate, arguing that Trump represents a danger to jobs, exports and the social fabric of the country.... The letter takes aim at Trump's willingness to stoke racial anxieties and his lack of policy proposals. It highlights the risk that the candidate's rhetoric poses to immigration.... It takes on Trump's call to shut down parts of the Internet that are controlled by the Islamic State as evidence of 'poor judgment and ignorance about how technology works.'" -- CW
Charles Piercehas had enough: "Emboldened because ... other whopping untruths did not immediately sink his campaign, He, Trump now has taken his truthless palaver to another level entirely: 'The other night you had 11 cities potentially in a blow-up stage. Marches all over the United States -- and tough marches. Anger. Hatred. Hatred! Started by a maniac! And some people ask for a moment of silence for him. For the killer!'... He, Trump just made that shit up so his followers can stay afraid and angry at the people he wants them to fear and hate. This lie was a marching order and the Party of Lincoln is right in step with him, straight into the burning Reichstag of this man's mind. Welcome to the 2016 Republican convention: a four-day celebration of the ritual suicide of American democracy." -- CW
"Donald Is Very Thin-Skinned." Frances Sellers of the Washington Post: "Over decades in business, through his well-publicized romantic entanglements, and now as a presidential candidate, Trump has demonstrated that those who rise up to criticize him do so at their own peril. He deploys an array of tactics to fight back -- countersuits, threats and personal insults, among others -- while using stringent confidentiality agreements to guard against insider accounts from employees, business partners, his former spouses and now his campaign staffers.... Legal experts suggest [Trump's strong-arm tactics, which he has said he also would employ as president,] could violate federal protections like the Freedom of Information Act." -- CW
David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "In 2007, Donald Trump promised a donation to the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a U.S.-based charity that provides aid to Israeli military personnel and the families of fallen Israeli soldiers. He didn't pay, a spokesman for the charity said Thursday. Instead, another person -- whom the charity did not name -- paid off Trump's promise.... A 2007 story in the Jerusalem Post gave an amount for Trump's pledge: $250,000." -- CW
AND Steve M.: "The party that never stops telling us how awful Obama is for playing golf is about to nominate a presidential candidate who not only owns golf courses, and who not only interrupted his campaign for an overseas golf course photo op, but who also plans to appear (apparently for a full hour) on the Golf Channel on Monday, the first night of the Republican convention.... It looks as if Trump spends a lot of time talking about golf. It's been a terrible, horrible thing for a president to talk about sports on television ever since, oh, January 20, 2009, but apparently those days are over." CW: Doesn't Steve know the rule IOKIYAR?
Beyond the Beltway
The Big Yellow Taxi in Reverse. Kristin Hohenadel in Slate: Oakland turns parking lot into a paradise for low-income, special-needs seniors. (You may remember this.) -- CW
Ted Sherman & Tim Darragh of NJ.com: "David Samson -- the embattled former chairman of the powerful Port Authority of New York and New Jersey -- pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to using his considerable clout to coerce one of the nation's largest airlines to accommodate his desire for a regularly scheduled, non-stop flight to a South Carolina summer home.... A close confidant of Gov. Chris Christie, Samson was chairman of the Port Authority when the [Bridgegate] scandal broke, but was not charged with any wrongdoing in connection with the lane closures. However, his name repeatedly came up as the story unfolded." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)
Way Beyond
Michael Birnbarm & Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "Britain's new top diplomat, Boris Johnson, swept into office Thursday on a cloud of acrimony, amid worldwide disbelief that the irreverent campaigner for a British break from the European Union will now be his nation's main voice abroad. From composing a dirty limerick about the Turkish president and a goat to comparing the E.U. to Hitler to calling Hillary Clinton a 'sadistic nurse,' the mop-haired Johnson spared few world leaders in his previous career as the devil-may-care mayor of London. On Thursday..., France's foreign minister declared that the 'leave' campaigner had 'lied a lot,' and Germany's top diplomat called him 'irresponsible.' The unusually sharp rhetoric from Johnson's new peers reflected the degree to which he has alienated Britain's global partners and the challenges he faces as he takes part in his nation's divorce from the E.U." -- CW
... David Barstow in the New York Times: "... based on the mountain of court records churned out over the span of Mr. Trump’s career, it is hard to find a project he touched that did not produce allegations of broken promises, blatant lies or outright fraud.... Many of those allegations have already become familiar campaign fodder: the Trump University students and Trump condo buyers who say they were fleeced; the public servants from New Jersey to Scotland who now say they rue the zoning approvals, licenses or tax breaks they gave based on Mr. Trump’s promises; the small-time contractors who say Mr. Trump concocted complaints about their work to avoid paying them; the infuriated business partners who say Mr. Trump concealed profits or ignored contractual obligations; the business journalists and stock analysts who say Mr. Trump smeared them for critical coverage.... Taken as a whole, though, an examination of Mr. Trump’s business career reveals persistent patterns in the way Mr. Trump bends or breaks the truth...." -- CW 
... The Cheese Stands Alone. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "introduction of Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana was a remarkable reminder that, ultimately, the Trump campaign is about one person.... Before the governor took the stage, Mr. Trump stood there alone and talked for 28 minutes, delivering a long and improvised riff that emulated his rallies instead of a traditional vice-presidential announcement.... After roughly 20 minutes, Mr. Trump reached for his notes. 'Back to Mike Pence!' he declared.... Then he used the reference to the Hoosier State to remind the 150 people in attendance that he trounced Mr. Pence’s endorsed candidate, Senator Ted Cruz, in the primary there." CW: Yeah, I may be using the pornologo a lot. ...
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