The Commentariat -- July 2, 2016

Your Friday-Afternoon-Before-a-Holiday News Dump. Charlie Savage & Scott Shane of the New York Times: "Partially lifting the secrecy that has cloaked one of the United States's most contentious tactics for fighting terrorists, the Obama administration on Friday said that it believed that airstrikes it has conducted outside conventional war zones like Afghanistan have killed 64 to 116 civilian bystanders and about 2,500 members of terrorist groups. The official civilian death count is hundreds lower than most estimates compiled by independent organizations that try to track what the government calls targeted killings in chaotic places like tribal Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.... At the same time, President Obama issued an executive order making civilian protection a priority and requiring the government in the future to disclose the number of civilian deaths each year." -- CW

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama calls himself a 'night guy,' and as president, he has come to consider the long, solitary hours after dark as essential as his time in the Oval Office. Almost every night that he is in the White House, Mr. Obama has dinner at 6:30 with his wife and daughters and then withdraws to the Treaty Room, his private office down the hall from his bedroom on the second floor of the White House residence. There, his closest aides say, he spends four or five hours largely by himself." -- CW

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said Friday she would accept the recommendations from career prosecutors and FBI agents leading the probe into the use of a private email server by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state.... While she did not promise a full recusal -- saying that 'would mean I wouldn't even be briefed on what the findings were' -- she seemed to confirm she would not veto whatever was proposed to her by those investigating the case.... Lynch said that she had 'already determined' she would accept the recommendation of career prosecutors and agents before her meeting with Bill Clinton, which she has described as a social conversation about travels, grandchildren and golf." -- CW ...

... Pamela Brown & Tal Kopan of CNN: Regarding her tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton, Lynch said at an Aspen Ideas event Friday, "'I certainly wouldn't do it again because I think it has cast this shadow over what it should not, over what it will not touch.... It's important to make it clear that that meeting with President Clinton does not have a bearing on how this matter will be reviewed and resolved.'" -- CW

Your Government at Work. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A disabled woman was beaten bloody by federal agents during an airport security screening while on her way to undergo treatment for a brain tumor. Hannah Cohen set off the metal detector at a security checkpoint at the Memphis International Airport, and she was led away for additional screening, reported WREG-TV. 'They wanted to do further scanning, (but) ... she didn't understand what they were about to do, said her mother, Shirley Cohen. Cohen said she tried to tell agents with the Transportation Security Administration that her 19-year-old daughter is partially deaf, blind in one eye, paralyzed and easily confused -- but she said police kept her away from the security agents." -- CW ...

... Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times: "Mr. Clinton's tone-deaf blunder, so easily avoided, creates more suspicion around Mrs. Clinton's email practices. No matter what the F.B.I. recommends in the case, he has provided skeptical voters with another reason to say they don't trust Mrs. Clinton." -- CW ...

... Steve Benen: "... as an objective matter, it's tough to get worked up about a casual chat at an airport between a president and an A.G. If your first reaction to Bill Clinton talking about his grandchildren is, 'I hear Ken Starr is unemployed, so let's give him something to do!' [as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) did,] you might be a little too eager to exaggerate the significance of harmless social interaction.... For one thing, an indictment is ridiculously unlikely. For another, if Bill Clinton intended to launch some kind of back-channel pressure campaign to interfere with an investigation, he'd probably take steps less overt than a public chat at an airport." ...

... CW: If Bill Clinton wanted to urge Loretta Lynch to go easy on the Missus, he could have phoned her at home. I'll be they both have phones. If not, he could have sent her an e-mail. I hear he has a private server.

Annals of Justice, Ctd. Innocent Man Fights Justice Department -- and Wins. Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post has the story. Maryland dairy farmer Randy Sowers' groundbreaking case against a now-obsolete forfeiture law will help others get their forfeited funds back, too. Oh, & the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Sowers? He's now a private asset forfeiture consultant -- CW: a/k/a a slimeball.

Presidential Race

Nick Gass of Politico: "The Democratic National Committee unveiled a draft of its party platform Friday, calling for -- among other progressive causes -- a $15 minimum wage, free community college and abolition of the death penalty. The draft was approved last weekend in St. Louis by 13 of the 15 members on the drafting committee, with one abstention and one who missed the vote. Supporters of Bernie Sanders have expressed displeasure with the way the platform draft handles Medicare expansion, a carbon tax, a fracking ban and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.... The draft document is headed for a full vote before the 187-member platform committee on July 8 and July 9 in Orlando, Florida." -- CW ...

... Greg Sargent: "The latest draft of the Democratic Party platform ... will show that Bernie Sanders won far more victories on his signature issues than has been previously thought." -- CW

Nick Gass: "Hillary Clinton's campaign reported Friday that it had raised more than $68.5 million for Hillary for America, the Democratic National Committee and state parties in the month of June. Of that total, $40.5 million went to the campaign, while the remaining $28 million went to the DNC and state parties through the Hillary Victory Fund and the Hillary Action Fund, putting Clinton's total cumulative fundraising at $288 million for the campaign and $90 million for the joint fundraising agreements." -- CW

NEW. Lisa Bloom in the Huffington Post: "An anonymous 'Jane Doe' filed a federal lawsuit against ... Donald Trump last week, accusing him of raping her in 1994 when she was thirteen years old. The mainstream media ignored the filing. If the Bill Cosby case has taught us anything, it is to not disregard rape cases against famous men.... In covering a story, a media outlet is not finding guilt.... These allegations are credible. They ought not be ignored. Mainstream media, I'm looking at you." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump ... met with Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana on Friday, according to two people briefed on the meeting, adding to speculation that the conservative governor is among the finalists to be Mr. Trump's running mate.... The choice, which Mr. Trump ... had initially envisioned revealing in dramatic fashion at the Republican National Convention is now expected to come as early as next week. The change, according to two people familiar with the planning, was driven largely by concerns that the intense media coverage of the selection could potentially drown out Mr. Trump's appearance at his own convention." ...

     ... CW: And that would be a shame. Besides, I was hoping Trump would line up all the pageant contestants on the convention stage, make them answer stupid questions, then shout "You're fired!" at Newt & Chrisco, etc., until there was only one apprentice standing. Hell, even I would watch that. ...

... Most Self-Absorbed Person in U.S. Does Not Want to Appear Self-Absorbed. Jeremy Peters & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "With just over two weeks until the Republican National Convention opens in Cleveland, Donald J. Trump's preparations for what is usually a polished and highly choreographed affair are looking a lot like the Trump campaign itself: chaotic, freewheeling and unpredictable.... 'What they've asked me to do is to speak all three nights. I turned it down,' he said in an interview.... 'Everybody wants that,' he insisted. But he said he demurred for fear of looking too self-absorbed. 'I don't want people to think I'm grandstanding -- which I'm not,' he said, before adding, almost reflexively, 'But it would get high ratings.'" -- CW

The #NeverTrump Movement Gets a Court Challenge. Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Carroll 'Beau' Correll, one of Virginia's 49 GOP convention delegates, filed suit in federal court in Richmond on June 24 challenging a state law binding him to the results of the March 1 primary.... Eight Virginia Republican delegates supporting Trump ... with the support of the Trump campaign ... sought to intervene in a lawsuit in federal court in Virginia, arguing in their filing that Correll's suit is an 'eleventh-hour attack on a longstanding state law.'..." -- CW

Instead of Giving to Charity, Charity Gives to Trump. David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Four years ago, at a charity fundraiser in Palm Beach, Donald Trump got into a bidding war at the evening's live auction. The items up for sale: A Denver Broncos helmet, autographed by then-star quarterback Tim Tebow, and a Tebow jersey. Trump won ... with a bid of $12,000. Afterward, he posed with the helmet.... But Trump didn't actually pay with his own money. Instead, the Susan G. Komen organization ... got a $12,000 payment from ... the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Trump himself sent no money. (In fact, a Komen spokeswoman said, Trump has never given a personal gift of cash to the Komen organization.)... At the time of the auction, Trump had given none of his own money to the foundation for three years running. The Washington Post discovered this unusual payment -- a charity apparently buying sports memorabilia for a super-wealthy man -- this week.... Three experts on tax law questioned whether Trump had violated IRS rules against 'self-dealing' -- which are designed to keep nonprofit officials from using their charities to help themselves." -- CW

One of the great, great instruments ever written, ever conceived -- we're with the Constitution a hundred percent. -- Donald Trump, using the "royal we," Thursday ...

... Digby, in Salon: "Trump has said over and over again that he 'errs on the side of security' which is his catch-all justification for banning immigration and profiling people on the basis of religion, giving power back to the police because crime is rampant,' allowing proliferation of guns everywhere in society, torture, summary execution and a variety of other 'Putinesque' policies. He calls this attitude 'anti-PC' and common sense. Others call it unAmerican. But it's a mistake to think that Trump's authoritarian tendencies are in reaction to current events. They are his nature.... Trump does not recognize constitutional limitations or civil liberties." -- CW ...

     ... CW: Besides Donald Trump, who the hell would say, "We're with the Constitution 100 percent"? Once again, Trump has uttered a string of common words likely never before spoken. He's a very odd person. ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "On Thursday night in New Hampshire, Trump reiterated his belief that America should hold itself to the same standard as a fascist death cult. Asked by local station NH1 to respond to Senator John McCain's claim that torture is 'not the American way,' Trump replied: 'Well, it's not the American way to have heads chopped off and have people drowning in steel cages ... And so we can have our disagreements, but we're going to have to get much tougher as a country.... We're going to have to do things that are unthinkable almost.' It's worth remembering that, for the Republican standard-bearer, ordering the military to hunt down and kill the wives and children of suspected terrorists falls under the 'thinkable' column."(Emphasis original.) ...

     ... CW: Also worth remembering: this is a person with absolutely no moral compass. ...

... Marc Racicot, former governor of Montana & former chair of the RNC, in a Washington Post op-ed: "... every one of those 13 million people [who voted for Donald Trump in the primaries] has a right to be heard and their thoughts fairly and honestly considered. But ... I cannot endorse or support their decision to express their frustration, anger and disappointment by selecting Trump as the Republican nominee for president.... I cannot endorse or support Trump for president. And I offer my prayer for a second miracle in Cleveland." -- CW

Ashley Parker & Maggie Haberman: "Donald J. Trump's campaign experienced two more departures this week when two staff members who handled surrogate operations resigned, including one who was hired less than two weeks ago.... The departures of the two aides underscore the disorder that continues in the Trump campaign, as the presumptive Republican nominee and his team struggle to grow into a professional, streamlined operation.... On Thursday, the campaign also let go ... a digital consultant, who had similarly been hired less than a week before." ...

... CW: Last month, Trump quasi-publicly dissed one of those who resigned, Erica Freeman. Trump, speaking to some of his surrogates, including former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, accused Freeman of sending a "stupid letter" & labeled her "not so smart." Trump then said he didn't know Freeman.

** Dana Milbank: "This is the hypocrisy at the heart of the Trump campaign, now under [Paul] Manafort's undisputed control. Manafort's inspiration, which Trump has embraced, is to portray Clinton as the embodiment of the establishment. But Manafort (not unlike Trump) has been the voice of the wealthy and the well-connected for four decades, building a fortune by making common cause with the world's most avaricious.

Among Manafort's boasts: representing kleptocrats Ferdinand Marcos, Mobutu Sese Seko and Kenya's Daniel arap Moi, defending Saudi Arabia's interests against Israel's and Pakistan’s against India's, and making the case for a Nigerian dictator, a Lebanese arms dealer and various and sundry Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs. He successfully lobbied to arm a Maoist rebel in Angola, needlessly extending fighting that killed thousands. -- CW

Hadas Gold of Politico: "OpenSecrets.org, the non-profit which tracks federal campaign contributions and lobbying by lobbying firms, individual lobbyists, industry, federal agency, and bills, has been denied a credential to attend the Republican National Convention and is airing its grievances publicly.... They have been approved for credentials to the Democratic National Convention, pending sign off from the Secret Service." -- CW

Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "As the Republican convention in Cleveland approaches, several delegates from Pennsylvania who support Donald Trump say they are planning on bringing their guns with them to the GOP gathering.... They say they are worried about possible violent protest and even an attack from ISIS." -- CW

Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: Corey "Lewandowski is bad television. He remains prone to spouting fiction and doesn't stay on-topic, grinding segments to a halt as CNN hosts have to correct his misinformation or interject to steer the conversation back to the point." CW: No kidding. As one wag put it (more or less) last week, Lewandowski hasn't changed jobs; he's just collecting his paycheck from a different outfit.

Beyond the Beltway

Patrick McGreevy of the Los Angeles Times: California "Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed six gun-control bills into law, including a requirement that ammunition purchasers undergo background checks. The governor vetoed five other measures, including an expansion of the use of restraining orders to take guns from people deemed to be dangerous." -- CW

Way Beyond

Julfikar Manik, et al., of the New York Times: "Gunmen detonated explosives and took a number of people hostage on Friday night at a restaurant in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, setting off a bloody standoff with the police in the city's diplomatic district. Hours into the standoff, in which two police officers were killed, the Islamic State issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack." -- CW ...

     ... New Lede: "Bangladeshi Army troops moved in on Saturday to end an 11-hour standoff at a restaurant in Dhaka, the capital, after gunmen stormed into the building, detonated explosives and took at least 20 people hostage on Friday night." ...

     ... Newer: "The authorities said 20 hostages, including many foreigners, had been killed on Friday night. Most were 'brutally killed' with sharp weapons, the military said."

News Lede

Guardian: "Michael Cimino, the director of the Vietnam war classic The Deer Hunter and the infamous epic western Heaven's Gate, has died. He was 77." -- CW

The Commentariat -- July 1, 2016

Mario Trujillo of the Hill: "President Obama on Thursday signed into law a bill to strengthen the government's open records laws. The legislation to update the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) made it over the finish line after years of delays, which were partly blamed on behind-the-scenes opposition in the administration. The changes would put the force of law into a 2009 Obama directive urging agencies to err on the side of disclosure when handling open records requests." ...

... CW: I don't get that part about "behind-the-scenes opposition in the administration," & Trujillo doesn't bother to explain it. If President Obama signed a directive consistent with the bill, why was his administration against it?

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter repealed the Pentagon's long-held ban on transgender people serving in the military Thursday, ending a year-long process that was bogged down by internal conflict and concerns among senior service officials about how the change could be made. Carter said at a news conference that the policy change will take place over the next 12 months.... Beginning Thursday, however, service members can no longer be involuntarily separated from the services solely on the basis of being transgender, he said. Carter said. 'We have to have access to 100 percent of America's population for our all-volunteer forces to be able to recruit from among them the most highly qualified -- and to retain them.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: Screaming to start in....3, 2, 1.

Tom LoBianco & Ryan Browne of CNN: "A devastating new report by military investigators released Thursday found that the 10 sailors captured by Iranians in January suffered from 'failed leadership' at all levels on a mission that was plagued by mistakes from beginning to end. 'This incident was the result of failed leadership at multiple levels from the tactical to the operational,' investigators wrote in the detailed, partially redacted, report. The report found the crews were poorly prepared, their boats not properly maintained, communication almost entirely lacking, and their conduct after being captured by the Iranians wasn't up to military standards." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Nine officers and enlisted sailors -- including a captain and the commanding officer of the boats -- face discipline, with some being relieved of command because of the episode, which embarrassed the service and occurred just hours before President Obama gave his last State of Union address." -- CW ...

     ... Akhilleus: But this incident, at least partially the fault of "failed leadership" on the part of Navy commanders, was used as a screaming point by a horde of right-wingers. Louie Gohmert (R-Texit) wanted to go to war, and without waiting for any clarification or additional information, demanded that we start bombing Iran "immediately". Contrast that and similar childish meltdowns with the measured and adult responses to a vastly more dangerous situation back in 1968, the taking of the USS Pueblo by the North Koreans. Although there was much consternation over the event, no one of either party demanded we start a war in order to assuage their personal pique.

Emily Atkin of Think Progress: "There will be a vote on gun control in the House of Representatives. On Thursday -- one week after nearly 170 House Democrats staged a historic sit-in protest on the House floor demanding a vote on on gun control legislation -- Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said he will allow a vote on a bill to prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns.... Exactly which bill the House would take up was unclear.... If the bill is too weak, there is a possibility that House Democrats will continue to protest in one way or another until a better bill is brought to a vote." --safari

Dana Milbank: "A day after the House Benghazi committee released a final report that left Hillary Clinton relatively unscathed, conservative activists ... [met to criticize] Chairman Trey Gowdy for failing to deliver the goods.... Herein lies a lesson for Republicans who are perpetually trying to appease the far right: It's a fool's errand.... John Boehner named the Benghazi committee because activists were dissatisfied that seven previous congressional investigations had failed to uncover major scandal material. Now an eighth has produced more of the same -- and the agitators are as agitated as ever.... [One accused] Gowdy himself [of being] in on the Benghazi conspiracy." -- CW

Paul Glasteris of the Washington Monthly: "[S]traight off her high-profile campaign appearance Monday with Hillary Clinton, Sen. Elizabeth Warren gave a keynote address about industry consolidation in the American economy.... [S]he extended her critique to the entire economy, noting that, as a result of three decades of weakened federal antitrust regulation, virtually every industrial sector today ... is under the control of a handful of oligopolistic corporations...." Glasteris thinks the nature of speech in its synthesis of economic policies, "has the possibility of changing the course of the [presidential] campaign." Includes video and text of the speech. --safari

Mitch Smith & Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Thursday blocked an Indiana law that would have banned abortions based solely on a fetus's disability or genetic anomaly, suggesting that it was an illegal limit on a woman's long-established constitutional right. Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, of Federal District Court for Southern Indiana, also held up a state ban on abortions motivated solely by a fetus's race or sex. In the preliminary injunction, Judge Pratt said limiting the reasons for an abortion was 'inconsistent with the notion of a right rooted in privacy concerns and a liberty right to make independent decisions.'" CW: Pratt is an Obama appointee.

Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "A federal judge blocked -- less than an hour before it was to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday -- a Mississippi law that would have given a wide range of special protections only to those who oppose same-sex marriage. In a 60-page ruling, Judge Carlton W. Reeves of United States District Court said the law created 'a vehicle for state-sanctioned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.' And by setting aside particular beliefs for protection as opposed to religions conviction in general, the law unconstitutionally 'put its thumb on the scale to favor some religious beliefs over others.' He concluded by issuing a preliminary injunction against the law from taking effect." CW: Judge Reeves is an Obama appointee. ...

... Dear Sanders Hardliners: Had the judges in the above two cases been Republican appointees, there's a good chance the decisions would have gone the other way. Get off your high horses & vote for the e-mail gal. -- Constant Weader

Hilarious Hypocrisy. Ian Millhiser of ThinkProgress: "On Wednesday, the conservative Heritage Foundation announced what appeared to be an abrupt shift in position on one of the most contentious issues in American constitutional law. Heritage now supports a 'constitutionally protected right to privacy.'... Heritage's Edwin Meese, who previously served as attorney general under President Reagan, labeled the right to privacy 'nonconstitutional.' This has been the position of Roe v. Wade's most prominent opponents for as long as most lawyers can remember -- a principled position that the Fourteenth Amendment right to privacy is not protected by the Constitution, and that it should be scrapped by the Supreme Court. And now they have abandoned that principled position. Because they don't like trans people." --safari

On Populism. Jonathan Chait: "There are innumerable reasons to object to Donald Trump as a human being and prospective president of the United States. But yesterday, President Obama picked a strange one: that Trump is a phony populist.... Obama's assumption is that populist means a politician who promotes economic and social opportunity. But that is not really what the term means. The ideological definition of populist means traditionalist on social issues and interventionist on economic policy -- the opposite of libertarianism.... Populists believe the government has been captured by evil and/or corrupt interests, and that it can be recaptured by a unified effort by the people (or, at least, their people).... Is Trump a populist? The substantive definition is difficult to measure, since Trump is so slippery about his positions.... Even less convincing is Obama's attempt to define himself as a populist -- a label I have never heard him claim before, and for good reason." --safari

Bill Vlasic & Neal Boudette of the New York Times: "... the driver of a Tesla Model S electric sedan was killed in an accident when the car was in self-driving mode. Federal regulators, who are in the early stages of setting guidelines for autonomous vehicles, have opened a formal investigation into the incident, which occurred on May 7 in Williston, Fla. In a statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said preliminary reports indicated that the crash occurred when a tractor-trailer made a left turn in front of the Tesla, and the car failed to apply the brakes." -- CW

Garrison Keillor, in the Washington Post: "It's enlightening to see that Brits can be just as dense as anyone else.... And will we be next? The Trumpster went around banging his dishpan, whooping it up for ignorance and superstition.... Anyway. Now we shall turn to celebrating our Amerexit of 1776.... There is a new generation coming of age that is not so interested in race, sexual identity, ethnic origin, religion, all the hot buttons that demagogues have successfully pushed for years. While Britain tries to build back the old walls, the Northern Irish can join up with the Republic of Ireland and thereby rejoin the E.U., as they evidently wish to do. That would be something to behold.... Don't give up hope. The Trumpists shall pass. God save America." -- CW ...

... Tim Egan: "... on this upcoming Independence Day, at a time when Trump's response to our better angels is to go small, mean and tribal, an American ideal is in peril. Not open borders, which is something the United States hasn't had since 1875, but open minds.... The sun never sets on a stupid idea. And [the Brexit] vote to stop the spinning globe and get off at 1952 is among the stupidest. Britain is cracking up now because it followed the crackpots. The United States could make the same mistake -- rejecting free trade, and rejecting a welcome mat for free people.... [Trump is] counting on the same contagion of stupidity that infected Britain to carry him." -- CW

Presidential Race

TarmacGate. Predictable (and Predicted). Mark Landler of the New York Times: "An airport encounter this week between Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton has welled into a political storm, with Republicans asserting that it compromised the Justice Department's politically sensitive investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices while she was secretary of state." ...

     ... Right Wing World Rule: If two or more Democrats speak to each other, it's a conspiracy. Congressional investigation Recusal required. -- CW ...

     ... Update. Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "... Loretta E. Lynch plans to announce on Friday that she will accept whatever recommendation career prosecutors and the F.B.I. director make about whether to bring charges related to Hillary Clinton's personal email server, a Justice Department official said. Her decision removes the possibility that a political appointee will overrule investigators in the case. The Justice Department had been moving toward such an arrangement for months ... but a private meeting between Ms. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton this week set off a political furor and made the decision all but inevitable." ...

     ... CW: Really? FBI Director Comey is a political appointee: President Obama nominated him. But, you know, Comey is a Republican, so that makes it all okay ...

I do not believe my impartiality can reasonably be questioned. If it is reasonable to think that a Supreme Court Justice can be bought so cheap, the Nation is in deeper trouble than I had imagined. -- Justice Antonin Scalia, 2004, refusing to recuse himself from a case about Vice President's Dick Cheney's failure to turn over documents, a case the Court agreed to hear three weeks after Scalia & Cheney went on an extended hunting trip ("In the end, Scalia supported Cheney.")

... They Misunderestimated. Julian Hattem of the Hill: "The Obama administration on Thursday asked a federal court to delay until October 2018 the release of 14,000 pages of emails from aides to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In a court filing on Wednesday, administration lawyers said the State Department miscalculated the amount of material it would need to process the documents as part of a lawsuit with the conservative organization Citizens United." -- CW

In fact, that could be a Mexican plane up there. They're getting ready to attack. -- Donald Trump, speaking in Manchester, New Hampshire, as a plane flew overhead

... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Donald Trump on Thursday pointed to a plane flying above his event and said it could be a Mexican plane preparing to attack." The event was in New Hampshire. ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... there is a concern among many in the party that no matter how much Mr. Trump's aides try to harness his message, there are limits to how much he will adjust.... Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager who had championed a 'let Trump be Trump' approach and whom Mr. Trump fired less than two weeks ago, showed up at the speech, startling reporters. It wasn't clear whether Mr. Lewandowski, a New Hampshire resident, had met with Mr. Trump." ...

     ... CW: Trump must be unaware that Mexico is an ally & that the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto met to sign a climate accord with President Obama the previous day. Otherwise, why would he posit that a plane observed flying over New Hampshire, for Pete's sake, might be a stealth Mexican warplane, apparently undetected during its trip across the U.S.? This might be the first time in American history that a major party's (presumptive) nominee accused a friendly government of opening armed hostilities against the U.S.

World's Greatest Businessman Unable to Subtract 9 - 4. Christina Wilkie of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trump on Thursday responded to a landmark Supreme Court ruling earlier this week on abortion, telling radio host Mike Gallagher that if Trump had been president, the court would have reached a different decision. 'Now if we had -- Scalia was living, or if Scalia was replaced by me, you wouldn't have had that, OK? It would've been the opposite,' Trump said of the ruling, which struck down a restrictive Texas abortion law. The death in February of Justice Antonin Scalia left the high court with only eight justices.... The remaining justices issued three rulings this spring that were deadlocked, 4-4. But the abortion decision Trump was talking about wasn't one of them." The decision was a 5-3 split. If Trump had nominated a rabid anti-abortion yahoo to replace Scalia, the decision would have been 5-4 against Texas. -- CW...

... Also, Unfamiliar with Elementary Statistics. We have thousands of people standing outside trying to get in, and they're great people and they have such spirit for the country and love for the country, and I'm saying, you know, "Why am I not doing better in the polls?"... But you know, you have to understand, your show, no, but many shows it's just a constant hit from mainstream media, no matter what you do, it's always a negative. -- Donald Trump, Thursday

CW Translation: Thousands of people come to my rallies, so polls showing me losing the presidential race are the products of a media conspiracy.

Nasty & Nastier. Robert Costa & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's campaign has begun formally vetting possible running mates, with former House speaker Newt Gingrich emerging as the leading candidate, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. But there are more than a half dozen others being discussed as possibilities, according to several people with knowledge of the process.... The contenders under the most serious consideration ... have been asked by attorney Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. to answer more than 100 questions and to provide reams of personal and professional files that include tax records and any articles or books they have published. Culvahouse, a former White House counsel who is managing the vetting for Trump,... vetted then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the GOP vice-presidential nomination...." CW: I'm sure he'll do a good job. Among the questions: "How many New Jersey Mooslums cheered from the rooftops on 9/11?" (possible advantage: Chrisco) & "What is the raunchiest thing you did with your wife?" (advantage: Newt). ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "Donald Trump is vetting New Jersey governor (and possible Trump hostage) Chris Christie as a potential running mate, according to separate reports for CNN and the New York Times. Normally, an established politician with a national platform wouldn't tie his brand to a figure 70 percent of the country despises. Generally speaking, presidential nominees don't select running mates who could actually hurt the ticket's standing in their home states. But Donald Trump and Chris Christie are two men with no good options." --safari ...

     ... Steve M. studies history & discovers why Trump is leaning toward Cap'n. Chrisco (and, I would add, Newt). Once asked by an "Apprentice" producer why he didn't fire a fat contestant "who was a buffoon and a fuckup," Trump said, "Everybody loves a fat guy. People will watch if you have a funny fat guy around. Trust me, it's good for ratings." -- CW

Ed Kilgore of New York: "With [Wednesday]'s remarkable shrieking diatribe about the perfidy of globalization and international trade deals, tellingly delivered in a former Pennsylvania steel town, Donald Trump seems to be making a big strategic gamble. Without question, this speech deeply offended, perhaps terminally, a lot of the old Chamber of Commerce type Republicans.... Offsetting that, Trump presumably believes, could be a crucial sliver of the vote in trade-impacted Rust Belt states..., voters who might have even supported Bernie Sanders or similar anti-trade labor-oriented Democratic pols in the recent past.... The bottom line is that Trump better hope he can convince the millions of business-oriented Republicans who imbibed free-trade ideology from infancy to vote for him on other issues. Otherwise his big Rust Belt gamble is likely to fail." --safari

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Long before Mr. Trump announced his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, roiling the 2016 election with his pugnacious style and speeches in which he has branded many undocumented immigrants as rapists and murderers, he had proved himself in New York as an expert political provocateur with an instinct for racially charged rhetoric." -- CW ...

... Via Democracy Now, a conversation with Wayne Barrett, who has been following Trump's shenanigans since his arrival on the Manhattan scene. Keep these things in mind whenever Dirty Donald grumbles about "Crooked Hillary". --safari

Dirty Trickster-in Chief. Joseph Tanfani of the Los Angeles Times on Donald Trump's personal but secretive role in undermining an American Indian tribe's attempt to run a casino in New York, especially through the use of vicious and untrue attack ads. "Hundreds of pages of records from a New York agency's investigation into the ad campaign, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, reveal new details about Trump's covert fight against the tribe. It was unusual not only for how deeply involved he was, but for the sharp tone of the attacks and the elaborate attempt to conceal his role.... The ads hit hard, highlighting news about crimes involving Mohawks to question whether the tribe was fit to run a casino. 'Now the Mohawks want state approval of a $500 million casino ... opening the door for organized crime,' said one ad." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: The guy who regularly tries to insult Senator Elizabeth Warren by calling her "Pocahontas" isn't anti-American Indian. He just wanted to make sure that it was his mob guys who got all the gambling money from New York. Such a wonderful president he'll make.

Aram Roston of BuzzFeed: "At Mar-a-Lago, the Palm Beach resort he runs as a club for paying guests and celebrities, Donald Trump had a telephone console installed in his bedroom that acted like a switchboard, connecting to every phone extension on the estate, according to six former workers. Several of them said he used that console to eavesdrop on calls involving staff." He also allegedly listened to some conversations between staff & guests. -- CW

Michael Levenson of the Boston Globe: "... conspiracy theories have always been part of the American political landscape and are believed by more than 55 percent of the public -- a group that cuts across race, gender, income, and political affiliation, according to researchers and polls.... What’s unusual ... is to have the presumptive nominee of one of the two major political parties using his stature to push such theories out of the realm of supermarket tabloids and e-mail chain letters and into the political mainstream.... 'In my estimation, what he's doing is very scary,' said Joseph E. Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami who noted that conspiracy theories are often espoused by despots. '... He has a lot of power..., and conspiracy theories in the hands of powerful people generally lead to deleterious consequences.'" -- CW

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "Many [Trump supporters] proudly say he won them over by 'telling it like it is' and 'not being politically correct' with his racist, xenophobic and nativist presidential campaign. So, I'm hardly surprised that [Trump's] followers ... lead the pack in thinking that African Americans are 'less "intelligent" than whites' (32 percent), 'more "lazy" than whites' (40 percent), 'more "violent" than whites (nearly 50 percent) and 'more "criminal" than whites (nearly 50 percent).... Still, it stings when you see how little folks think of you and your people and how that manifests itself in harmful ways." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Christie Still Excels at Day Job. Samantha Marcus of NJ.com "Gov. Chris Christie late Thursday declared a state of emergency and ordered state officials to plan a shutdown of all ongoing work paid for by the nearly broke Transportation Trust Fund. Christie's order came at the end of a day where the state Senate refused to take action on his offer to raise the gasoline tax by 23 cents a gallon in exchange for a 1-cent reduction in the sales tax." -- CW

Way Beyond

Another Price of Brexit. James Stewart of the New York Times: "Unless Britain finds a way to undo its decision to leave the European Union, London's days as the pre-eminent global financial capital, ranked even ahead of New York, may be numbered. I spoke this week to several high-ranking executives at major financial institutions that collectively employ tens of thousands in London. While none of them have any immediate plans to move their European headquarters from Britain's capital, all agreed they would eventually shift a significant number of highly paid employees to cities that remain in the European Union." Stewart ranks the contenders. ...

     ... CW: Before reading Stewart's rankings, I picked Frankfort as the obvious choice. But Stewart made a better pick, for the reasons he states.

The Commentariat -- June 30, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Tom LoBianco & Ryan Browne of CNN: "A devastating new report by military investigators released Thursday found that the 10 sailors captured by Iranians in January suffered from 'failed leadership' at all levels on a mission that was plagued by mistakes from beginning to end. 'This incident was the result of failed leadership at multiple levels from the tactical to the operational,' investigators wrote in the detailed, partially redacted, report. The report found the crews were poorly prepared, their boats not properly maintained, communication almost entirely lacking, and their conduct after being captured by the Iranians wasn't up to military standards." ...

     ... Akhilleus: But this incident, at least partially the fault of "failed leadership" on the part of Navy commanders, was used as a screaming point by a horde of right-wingers. Louie Gohmert (R-Texit) wanted to go to war, and without waiting for any clarification or additional information, demanded that we start bombing Iran "immediately". Contrast that and similar childish meltdowns with the measured and adult responses to a vastly more dangerous situation back in 1968, the taking of the USS Pueblo by the North Koreans. Although there was much consternation over the event, no one of either party demanded we start a war in order to assuage their personal picque.

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter repealed the Pentagon's long-held ban on transgender people serving in the military Thursday, ending a year-long process that was bogged down by internal conflict and concerns among senior service officials about how the change could be made. Carter said at a news conference that the policy change will take place over the next 12 months... Beginning Thursday, however, service members can no longer be involuntarily separated from the services solely on the basis of being transgender, he said. Carter said. 'We have to have access to 100 percent of America's population for our all-volunteer forces to be able to recruit from among them the most highly qualified -- and to retain them.'" ...

     ... Akhilleus: Screaming to start in....3, 2, 1.

Dirty Trickster-in Chief. Joseph Tanfani of the Los Angeles Times on Donald Trump's personal but secretive role in undermining an American Indian tribe's attempt to run a casino in New York, especially through the use of vicious and untrue attack ads. "Hundreds of pages of records from a New York agency's investigation into the ad campaign, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, reveal new details about Trump's covert fight against the tribe. It was unusual not only for how deeply involved he was, but for the sharp tone of the attacks and the elaborate attempt to conceal his role...The ads hit hard, highlighting news about crimes involving Mohawks to question whether the tribe was fit to run a casino. 'Now the Mohawks want state approval of a $500 million casino ... opening the door for organized crime,' said one ad." ...

     ... Akhilleus: The guy who regularly tries to insult Senator Elizabeth Warren by calling her "Pocahontas" isn't anti-American Indian. He just wanted to make sure that it was his mob guys who got all the gambling money from New York. Such a wonderful president he'll make.

*****

NEW. Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "All personnel have been directed to shelter in place at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George's County as officials investigate a report of an active shooter, according to the base's official Twitter account. The shelter order was posted shortly after 9 a.m. on Thursday. Officials said the incident was occurring at the Malcolm Grow Medical Facility and first responders were at the scene. It was not immediately clear if any shots were fired or anyone was injured." -- CW ...

     ... NEWER. Never Mind. "A federal official said there was 'not a shooter,' and the confusion is believed to have stemmed from a drill happening at the same time. The official said someone in a different building saw the drill and called 911, and because of that call, authorities treated it as a real incident."(Same link as above.)

Robin King of the Toronto Star: Canadian "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau..., U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto ... signed a comprehensive North American climate, clean energy and environment partnership and committed themselves to better protecting the LGBT community. During a joint press conference, each leader denounced the isolationism of Brexit and the 'demagoguery' of politicians like Donald Trump, although they were careful not to directly challenge his candidacy.... [Later,] Obama addressed the House of Commons.... It clearly went over well with parliamentarians, who gave standing ovation after standing ovation.... When he was finished, the floor erupted into a chorus of 'Four more years! Four more years!'" -- CW ...

... President Obama, at a joint press conference in Ottawa, on what "populism" really is:

... President Obama on the politics of international trade. Here again, he doesn't name That Name:

Mike DeBonis & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "Rescue legislation aimed at helping Puerto Rico address its mounting fiscal crisis cleared Congress Wednesday, two days before the U.S. territory is set to default on roughly $2 billion in debt payments. The bill passed by the Senate on a 68-to-30 vote opens a path for an orderly restructuring of the island's $72 billion in bond debt while creating a new federally appointed fiscal oversight board. It passed the House earlier this month, and President Obama has said he will sign it." -- CW

Robin Wright of the New Yorker interviews Dr. Anne Stevens, the sister of Ambassador Chris Stevens. The family does not blame Hillary Clinton (or Leon Panetta) for the attack on the Benghazi stations. In addition, they say the aftermath has been entirely politicized. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon. And, yes, there is a connection between this piece & the next one. You'll have to read Schecter to see what it is.) ...

It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away, but that's exactly what Democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns. -- Christy Sheats, Houston mother of two ...

... ** Cliff Schecter of the Daily Beast: "That trite nonsense -- found in comment sections of right-wing blogs and across social media -- was posted not too long ago on Facebook.... She's the now infamous mother who tragically ended a family meeting in her living room by chasing her two daughters out the front door while shooting them to death, before she herself was shot and killed by police. It's the kind of thing that would lead to emergency hearings in Congress -- if the GOP were not a corrupt, decaying edifice, only interested in political contributions and appeasing its most hardcore base." Read on. -- CW

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Marine Corps is investigating allegations of hazing, physical abuse and assault against 15 drill instructors at the Parris Island recruit depot, Marine officials said Wednesday, broadening the scope of a probe first disclosed after the death of a Muslim recruit in March.... The growing scandal is likely to rock the service, which considers the training depot in South Carolina to be hallowed ground. All enlisted female recruits undergo initial Marine training there, as well as all male recruits born east of the Mississippi River. Already, at least two Marine officers have been removed from their jobs." -- CW

Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "As head prosecutors in their counties, just five individuals have been responsible for putting no fewer than 440 prisoners onto death row. If you compare that number to the 2,943 who are currently awaiting execution in the US, it is equivalent to one out of every seven.... The five are profiled in a new report from Harvard Law School's Fair Punishment Project. Titled America's Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors, the report highlights the lion-sized role in the modern death penalty of just four men and one woman. They are: Joe Freeman Britt of Robeson County, North Carolina; Donnie Myers of Lexington, South Carolina; Bob Macy of Oklahoma County; Lynne Abraham of Philadelphia County; and Johnny Holmes of Harris County, Texas." -- CW

Jennifer Rankin of the Guardian: "The US secretary of state has raised doubts about whether Brexit will ever happen, suggesting most leave campaigners do not truly believe in Britain's divorce from the EU and do not know how to achieve it. Claiming there were a number of ways in which Thursday's vote could be 'walked back', John Kerry, who visited Downing Street on Monday, said David Cameron was loth [CW: Middle English!] to invoke article 50, the EU exit procedure." -- CW ...

... CW: I've thought since Saturday or Sunday that Great Britain was likely to stay in the EU. Ironically, it may be the Leave "leaders" who push to remain, while Remain "leaders" like Cameron prattle on about "the will of the people." ...

... Jessica Elgot of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has unexpectedly ruled himself out of the Conservative leadership race after a turbulent morning in the contest, hours after his key ally Michael Gove challenged him for the top job. Speaking at a hotel in central London, Johnson said the agenda for the next prime minister was for the UK to become a more outward-looking nation that resets its relationship with Europe." -- CW

Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "In the early morning of June 6, a uniformed Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) guard stationed outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow attacked and beat up a U.S. diplomat who was trying to enter the compound, according to four U.S. officials who were briefed on the incident. This previously unreported attack occurred just steps from the entrance to the U.S. Embassy complex, which is located ... in Moscow's city center. After being tackled by the FSB guard, the diplomat suffered a broken shoulder, among other injuries. He was eventually able to enter the embassy and was then flown out of Russia to receive urgent medical attention.... The attack caused a diplomatic episode behind the scenes that has not surfaced until now." -- CW

Presidential Race

CW: If you readers don't think you're working me too hard, I got 12 out of 12 in Gail Collins' "Patriotic Presidential Quiz." (Okay, I'll admit several answers were educated guesses.)

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with former president Bill Clinton at the airport in Phoenix this week -- an encounter that she described as 'primarily social,' but one that drew instant attention because of the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into the email practices of his wife, Hillary, while she was secretary of state. Lynch confirmed the meeting.... 'No discussions were held on any cases or anything of that,' Lynch said, 'and he didn't raise anything about that either.'" CW: Lynch's remarks would be very disappointing to Right Wing World, as the denizens have been somewhat breathless over the news of this meeting; however, I'm sure they'll all just assume Lynch is lying & took a bribe from Bill to drop the pile of criminal charges she certainly has pending against Missus Clinton. ...

... Drip, Drip, Drip, Ctd., Ctd., Ctd. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... disclosures over the past several weeks have revealed dozens of emails related to [Hillary] Clinton's official duties that crossed her private server and were not included in the 55,000 pages of correspondence she turned over to the State Department when the agency sought her emails in 2014. At least 69 such emails have come to light so far, many of them through public-records lawsuits brought by the conservative group Judicial Watch.... The newly disclosed gaps in Clinton's correspondence raise questions about the process used by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and her lawyers to determine which emails she turned over to the department." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Drippity Drip Drip. Steven Myers & Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times: "Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's longtime aide and confidante, acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state created frustration at times because of computer glitches but said she did not raise concerns about the unusual arrangement, according to a transcript of a deposition made public on Wednesday." -- CW

Sara Jerde of Think Progress: "Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thought his Republican primary opponents who vowed to support the Party's nominee should follow through or be banned from running for public office. Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Bangor, Maine, said..., "But just remember this, they signed a pledge saying they will abide, saying they will back the candidate of the party. And now they sit back.... They broke their word. In my opinion, they should never be allowed to run for public office again. Because what they did is disgraceful.'" -- CW

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "This week, lawyers for Trump began the process of suing the District of Columbia government to reduce Trump's tax bill for the new Trump International Hotel project. The hotel is set to open in September, just two months before the presidential election in which Trump is all but certain to be the Republican nominee." ...

     ... CW: Don't say Trump isn't a jobs-creator. Look at all the jobs he creates for corporate lawyers. (Never mind that he sometimes stiffs them.) ...

... NEW. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump vowed on Tuesday that as president he would put an end to policies that send American jobs overseas, threatening to impose tariffs on Chinese imports and promising to punish companies that relocate their manufacturing to countries with cheaper labor.... But such declarations are at odds with Mr. Trump's long history as a businessman, in which he has been heavily -- and proudly -- reliant on foreign labor in the name of putting profits, rather than America, first. From cheap neckties to television sets, Mr. Trump has benefited from some of the trade practices he now scorns." CW: No inconsistency here: Trump lies about everything & scams everybody. It isn't even hypocrisy: see, Trump didn't write that speech, he just read it. ...

... NEW. Greg Sargent: "... if Romney was vulnerable to getting painted as a heartless plutocrat and walking symbol of the cruelties of globalization and outsourcing, Trump is vulnerable to getting painted as a flim flam man who is selling American workers a scam. Trump is basically selling a two part scam, i.e., crude protectionism and nativism." -- CW ...

Trump embodies everything that is wrong with our current trade policies.... He personally profited from NAFTA. He told students at Trump University that outsourcing creates jobs. And he has consistently sent American jobs overseas to line his own pockets. -- Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president, Tuesday

If you really want a 1950s economy, you need to accept 1950s living standards -- enjoy your 19-inch black-and-white TV, your Studebaker with bias-ply tires and drum brakes and having fresh fruits and vegetables only in season. -- Scott Miller, trade analyst ...

... Ignoramus-in-Chief, Ctd. Adam Behsudi & Doug Palmer of Politico: "Some of Donald Trump's biggest applause lines come when he's threatening to scrap free-trade agreements or block Chinese goods from U.S. markets. But American global economic relationships are now so complicated -- and deeply intertwined -- that many economists insist his goal of saving manufacturing by shutting open markets will backfire." -- CW ...

... NEW. Greg Sargent: AND, no, Trump is not "to the left of" Hillary Clinton on trade. His whole speech was part of the Big Scam.

Donovan Slack of USA Today: "The National Rifle Association's political arm is launching its first ad campaign of the 2016 presidential race, with a survivor of the terror attack in Benghazi urging viewers to vote for Donald Trump. The ad, which the NRA Political Victory Fund is backing with more than $2 million, is one of the larger expenditures by an outside group on behalf of the presumptive Republican nominee." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

Plagiarist-in-Chief. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "In 2005..., Mr. Trump ... lent his name, and his credibility, to a seminar business he did not own, which was branded the Trump Institute.... As with Trump University, the Trump Institute promised falsely that its teachers would be handpicked by Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump did little ... besides appear in an infomercial -- one that promised customers access to his vast accumulated knowledge.... In fact, the institute was run by a couple who had run afoul of regulators in dozens of states and been dogged by accusations of deceptive business practices and fraud for decades. Similar complaints soon emerged about the Trump Institute. Yet there was an even more fundamental deceit to the business, unreported until now: Extensive portions of the materials that students received after forking over their seminar fees, supposedly containing Mr. Trump's special wisdom, had been plagiarized from an obscure real estate manual published a decade earlier.

Together, the exaggerated claims about his own role, the checkered pasts of the people with whom he went into business and the theft of intellectual property at the venture's heart all illustrate the fiction underpinning so many of Mr. Trump's licensing businesses: Putting his name on products and services -- and collecting fees -- was often where his actual involvement began and ended. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kevin Drum: "In a nutshell, Trump sought out a couple of late-night hustlers who had already been in trouble with the law, taped an infomercial for them, and then pocketed the licensing fee. (They were the 'best in the business,' said the Trump executive who brokered the deal.) Later, having learned the hustle, Trump ended his contract with [those hucksters] and opened up Trump University. He had learned all he needed and was ready to start pushing the hard-sell conference business on his own. Seven years later, he's perfected the hustle even further, so now he's running for president. You're welcome." -- CW ...

... There's a Sucker Registering to Vote Every Minute. Steve M. "But ... 57% of Americans overall approve of how Trump conducts business, while Trump gets only 41% of the vote (to Clinton's 49%) in SurveyMonkey's latest election poll. I interpret that to mean that many voters are rejecting Trump for other reasons -- they still think his business career is legit. (And that's a couple of weeks after Trump University became a major news story.)... When frauds like Trump talk, too many Americans want to believe. America is a nation with a lot of easy marks." -- CW

Alan Rappeport & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald Trump has reversed "himself -- sometimes within hours -- on hot-button campaign issues like immigration, abortion and economic policy.... We count some of the ways Mr. Trump has vacillated." -- CW ...

... John Harwood of the New York Times: "In theory, Mr. Trump's message of change, iconoclastic background and stances on issues from taxes to trade create the possibility of appealing broadly across a divided electorate. In practice, his tempestuous persona, harsh rhetoric and thin preparation have repelled important segments of his own Republican Party as well as Democratic constituencies." -- CW

digby: "Once more [Donald Trump is] implying that he would behead people. That's on top of the waterboarding and the hostage taking and the torturing and killing of their families. The crowd responded with shouts of 'USA! USA!' I just saw a succession of Republicans on CNN agree that Trump is right about terrorism and that we need a 'strong[man]' leader. I feel sick." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Geoff Bennett & Courtney Pence of NY1 News: "... in an interview with Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Geoff Bennett, [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell said Trump is not yet a credible presidential candidate.... During the interview, the Kentucky Republican complimented ... Hillary Clinton." CW: McConnell has said he would back Trump. ...

     ... NEW. Greg Sargent's advice: "Don't get played by this. It's just an effort to put distance between Trump and McConnell's vulnerable Senate GOP incumbents. In reality, McConnell backs Trump all the way." -- CW ...

Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "Two watchdog groups, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, said they will file Wednesday a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, arguing that the Donald Trump campaign has broken federal law by sending fundraising emails to foreign elected officials.... The complaint from the two watchdog groups notes that elected officials in Iceland, Scotland, Britain and Australia have received the emails. Members of parliament in Denmark and Finland also say they have received the fundraising pleas." See also yesterday's Commentariat. -- CW

Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "With less than three weeks to go, Donald Trump's Republican National Convention in Cleveland is poised to be the most chaotic GOP gathering of the modern era.... Dozens of well-known Republicans aren't showing up. There's no word yet on who will speak. A growing number of corporate sponsors are taking a pass. Groups of white supremacists and other agitators are on the way, while the official protest routes are frantically being redrawn after being thrown out in court. And then there's the fight to dethrone the big star." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Friend to Rapists-in-Chief. Emily Heil of the Washington Post: "Was former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson going to appear at the Republican National Convention and not speak, or was he not coming at all? Despite a Bloomberg Politics report late Tuesday that the pugilist was among the big names invited to the big political event by aides to presumptive nominee Donald Trump, it seems Tyson is not -- repeat not -- convention-bound. Soon after the Bloomberg report, Trump tweeted what seemed to be a denial of the report. 'Iron Mike Tyson was not asked to speak at the Convention though I'm sure he would do a good job if he was.'"

     ... Akhilleus. Got that? Convicted rapist and Trump buddy (just think of the sexual assault stories they could share), Mike Tyson (oh, sorry, "Iron Mike Tyson"), won't be speaking at Donaldo's coronation, but if he did, he'd be great. Amazing, even. And that "denial" doesn't sound iron-clad either. Sounds like Tyson could show up after all. Maybe he can assault an empty chair. ...

... Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate: Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka also says he hasn't been invited. CW: In the firewalled Chicago Tribune, I read -- before the wall came up -- that Ditka had declined a late-afternoon invitation from Trump. Darn! I was so looking forward to hearing the nice things Tyson & Ditka had to say about Trump. ...

... BUT Wait! Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Ivanka Trump on Wednesday confirmed that athletes and coaches are being lined up to speak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. 'We're putting together the line up of speakers now and the interest is incredible,' she told Virginia-based radio host John Fredericks. 'So I think it will be a convention unlike any we've ever seen. It will be substantive. It will be interesting. It will be different. It's not gonna be a ho-hum lineup of the typical politicians.'..." -- CW

Congressional Races

Good Thing They're Not Running in North Carolina (see link below). Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "For the first time in U.S. political history, an openly transgender candidate won a major-party congressional primary. In fact, on Tuesday, two did ... Misty K. Snow is a 30-year-old grocery store cashier. (If you're wondering, the Constitution says you have to be 30 to be a U.S. senator.) According to the Salt Lake Tribune, she jumped into the primary race at the last minute to give voters a progressive alternative to the conservative Democrat expected to win. She won by nearly 20 points. Misty Plowright is a 33-year-old IT worker who similarly beat out her primary opponent -- a single dad and an Iraq combat veteran -- to challenge Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) in one of the most conservative districts in Colorado.'I'm the anti-politician,' she told the Colorado Gazette shortly after getting in the race." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Akhilleus: Ms. Snow will be facing off against 'bagger troglodyte and Ted Cruz BFF, Mike Lee. Think he'll follow her around to see which bathroom she uses?

Gubernatorial Race

Let's See if We Can Be as Evil as ISIS. AP: "Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens is selling so-called 'ISIS hunting permits' to raise money.Greitens' campaign distributed an email Wednesday promoting bumper stickers with the words 'ISIS HUNTING PERMIT 2016.' The sticker says it expires when 'we defeat this evil.' The campaign is selling the mock hunting tags for a $10 donation. For $100, donors can get stickers signed by a former Navy SEAL who claims he killed Osama bin Laden. Greitens is a former Navy SEAL officer. He's touting his military background in his campaign for governor." --CW

Beyond the Beltway

North Carolina Finds a New Way to Screw Trans Citizens. Samantha Allen of the Daily Beast: "Facing backlash over the notorious anti-LGBT law they passed this March, which requires transgender people to use the restroom matches their birth certificate, legislators in the Republican-controlled House are working on a new draft of House Bill 2 (HB 2) in an effort to keep the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte." Trans individuals wanting to use a rest room would need to show '... special 'certificates of sex reassignment,' [which] would only help about seven percent of transgender people.... Even then, the certificates would only be useful for the subset of that seven percent who have the money or the need for SRS." Pay to pee? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

     ... Akhilleus: So this idea is so much better than out and out denying everyone. Now you have to show a Special Certificate in order to pee in the right restroom. What's next, the Genital Police?

Way Beyond

Constanze Letsch & Emma Graham-Harrison of the Guardian: "Turkish police carried out raids against suspected Islamic State cells in Istanbul and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir on Thursday, the state-run Anadolu agency said, two days after a shooting and triple suicide bombing killed 42 people at Istanbul's Atatürk airport. Police said 13 people had been detained in raids on 16 locations in Istanbul and at least three were foreign nationals, Turkish officials said. An official ... said the three suicide bombers were of Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationality." -- CW ...

... Erin Cunningham of the Washington Post: "A brazen assault by three suicide bombers on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport has set the stage for a more violent conflict between Turkey and the Islamic State, a development that would deepen Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war. There has been no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's carnage, but Turkish officials blamed the Sunni extremists for the attack, which killed 41 people and injured at least 239." -- CW