An Argument For Dissent

The question I hope everyone who booed Hillary Clinton at the DNC asks themselves - Vox:

I was there, in the arena of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, when a woman accepted the nomination of a major American political party for president. But don’t envy me for witnessing history, because that’s not really how it felt...

Excellent longish opinion piece and a good political analysis of forcing position shifts among politicians.

Greens Get Flogged Big Time

How Green Is Her Bullshit: An Uncharacteristically Brief Response to the Green Party Spokesperson's Dishonest Response to My Podcast Rant - Slog - The Stranger:

...A vote for Jill Stein in 2016 is a vote for Donald Trump. Stein knows it, Andrea Merida Cuellar knows it, and the Green Party knows it and doesn't care.

Israel Shows Its Engineering Chops

Israel Proves the Desalination Era is Here - Scientific American:

We are standing above the new Sorek desalination plant, the largest reverse-osmosis desal facility in the world, and we are staring at Israel’s salvation. Just a few years ago, in the depths of its worst drought in at least 900 years, Israel was running out of water. Now it has a surplus. That remarkable turnaround was accomplished through national campaigns to conserve and reuse Israel’s meager water resources, but the biggest impact came from a new wave of desalination plants...

A Snark Too Far-- The End Of The Coultergeist?

‘I’m ashamed to have known you’: Conservatives rip Ann Coulter for ugly smear of hero soldier’s dad:

Conservative writer and professional provocateur Ann Coulter may have finally gone too far Thursday night after mocking the Muslim father of a U.S. Army captain who died while saving ten of his fellow soldiers in Iraq in 2004...

tRump's Russian Real Estate Deal

Trump and the Oligarch - POLITICO Magazine:

...Some thought his asking price ludicrous. Lambiet, a former Palm Beach Post reporter who now publishes the local blog GossipExtra, noticed flaws and shortcuts during a personal tour Trump gave of the property in 2007. Trump, for instance, boasted that he’d installed gold fixtures in the bathrooms. But when Lambiet scratched a faucet, he found gold paint under his fingernails. And when Trump pointed out hurricane windows, which he also claimed were bulletproof, Lambiet found them suspiciously thin. “You knew in a hurricane the first wave was going to come right in,” he recalled in an interview...

He turned a really mysterious multi-million dollar profit on the place. Curious. Very curious.

Could This Be A Change In Environmental Justice?

Flint Residents Treated as 'Expendable' By 6 State Workers Criminally Charged: UPDATE - Royal Oak, MI Patch:

Announcing charges against six state employees in two departments Friday, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette accused them of covering up reports of high lead levels in the Flint drinking water supply. Whether from “arrogance” or an attempt to support their own narrative that the drinking water was safe, they “viewed the people in Flint as expendable, as if they didn’t matter,” Schuette said...

Being found guilty of an environmental crime offers little justice, other than a fine. As a power company official reportedly said back in the 70s: "There goes one second's profit shot to hell." Nothing ever gets serious when fines are minuscule and insurance companies often have to pay out, instead of the offending company or agency (see any educational or police lawsuit). "Things are gonna get serious now" goes one cliche. That only happens when you start locking people up. The erosion of the respect for law is tied to high level criminals escaping justice, which, of course, has been going forever. Perhaps, putting some of these alleged "white collar" criminals in prison might instill some confidence in the public and some fear in the likes criminals like Cheney and Libby and the merry band of Wall Street miscreants.

tRump Daddy Klan Konnection Update

Spitfire List | Was Fred Trump (Donald’s Father) in the Ku Klux Klan?:

...COMMENT: Earlier this year, a controversy emerged when old newspaper articles about arrests at a 1927 Klan rally in Queens (New York City) mentioned a “Fred Trump” as among the “berobed marchers” arrested at the event.

Although the identification of Trump’s father as one of the Klan participants has not been definitively established, The Donald lied when confronted with the address of the arrested Fred Trump...

Dave Emory's got the facts on the address for sure.

The Crazy, It Runs Deep In River tRump

Have we stopped to appreciate how crazy Donald Trump has gotten recently? - Vox:

...But don't lose sight of the wild forest amid all of Trump's screaming trees: There was no reason for Trump to say any of this. Trump had just accepted the Republican Party's nomination for president. Cruz had been vanquished, booed off the stage. Trump’s opponent, now, was Hillary Clinton. But he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t stay on message, he couldn't suppress the crazy, for 24 hours...

Russians Also Dummied Docs

All Signs Point to Russia Being Behind the DNC Hack | Motherboard:

...Second, stolen documents leaked in an influence operation are not fully trustworthy. Deception operations are designed to deceive. The metadata show that the Russian operators apparently edited some documents, and in some cases created new documents after the intruders were already expunged from the DNC network on June 11. A file called donors.xls, for instance, was created more than a day after the story came out, on June 15, most likely by copy-pasting an existing list into a clean document...

The Daily Flashback: Found Bush Emails Edition

The Geek Professor � 22 Million “Lost” Bush-Era E-mails Recovered:

E-mail records required by law to be available were "lost" during the Bush administration and somehow no one seemed to end up bearing the responsibility. That aside, the e-mails have now been "found" and it will be very interesting to see what's in them...

Faking Out tRump

Harry Reid To Intel Community: Give Donald Trump Fake Briefings:

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is advising intelligence officials that if they end up giving GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump classified briefings during the campaign, they should just fake it and make sure not to divulge anything important.

“How would the CIA and the other intelligence agencies brief this guy? How could they do that? I would suggest to the intelligence agencies, if you’re forced to brief this guy, don’t tell him anything, just fake it, because this man is dangerous,” Reid said in an interview with The Huffington Post Wednesday afternoon. “Fake it, pretend you’re doing a briefing, but you can’t give the guy any information...”

Or they could just lay on about thirty minutes of word salad and watch Putin's Poodle drool and let his eyes glaze over before they say anything significant.

Clinton Gets Endorsement On National Security

Why Trump Fails—and Clinton Passes—the Commander-in-Chief Test - POLITICO Magazine:

...As a Green Beret, CIA operations officer and senior national security official, I have served under six presidents—four Republicans and two Democrats. The last was Barack Obama, and for four years in the White House Situation Room, I saw Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s sound strategic judgment first-hand—on the Afghanistan surge, the campaign to dismantle and defeat core al Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal region, the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, and on lethal support for the moderate Syrian opposition. Secretary Clinton has the temperament, national security experience and strategic judgment to be an outstanding commander in chief. Donald Trump does not. I’m with her...

Will The Commies Hack Voting Machines?

By November, Russian hackers could target voting machines - The Washington Post:

...The FBI is investigating. WikiLeaks promises there is more data to come. The political nature of this cyberattack means that Democrats and Republicans are trying to spin this as much as possible. Even so, we have to accept that someone is attacking our nation’s computer systems in an apparent attempt to influence a presidential election. This kind of cyberattack targets the very core of our democratic process. And it points to the possibility of an even worse problem in November — that our election systems and our voting machines could be vulnerable to a similar attack...

tRumpism As Abuse

The GOP is Gaslighting America — on National Television:

...There’s a word for what Manafort’s doing there: gaslighting, as MTV News’ Jamil Smith pointed out on Twitter Tuesday morning. Gaslighting is a psychological tactic used by abusers, particularly but not only domestic abusers, to confuse, shame and manipulate others into believing that they cannot accurately interpret reality. Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson echoed Manafort later on Tuesday, flat-out denying that the speech was plagiarized. She too used the word “absurd.”

“Absurd” is no accident. It’s a short couple steps from “crazy,” and in the realm of “unreal,” “preposterous” and “bizarre.” The Trump campaign is using that word to call anyone who sees the blatant plagiarism in Melania Trump’s speech, basically, a nutzo-whackjob.

If you’ve been in an abusive relationship, you know this pattern. Thinking, day after day: Today will be the day I prove that I am not crazy, that I can do things right, that the way I see things is real...

OMG, BillO Went There

O'Reilly: Slaves Who Built White House Were "Well-Fed And Had Decent Lodgings Provided By The Government":

...Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well. Got it all? There will be a quiz.

Democracy Rekindled

This Is What Democracy Looks Like - The New York Times:

...The Republican convention in Cleveland left many Americans with an unsettling awareness that these conventions are, for once, deeply consequential. They are not just midsummer pageants, the rallies before the homecoming game, where control of the White House involves a periodic governing adjustment a few degrees to the left, right or center. The bleak extremism of the Trump campaign seems to have put the fate of some basic democratic values in play — a tolerance of dissenting views, a willingness to compromise, the eternal search for common ground.

“It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues,” Mr. Sanders said on Monday night. “That is what this campaign has been about. That is what democracy is about,” he roared, underlining the word in a way that made clear the nature of the stakes. Big, not small. High, not low.

tRump Tax Returns Tied To Russian Oligarchs

George Will: Trump Won't Release Tax Returns 'Deeply Involved With Russian Oligarchs' | Crooks and Liars:

...During yesterday's Special Report With Bret Baier being hosted at the DNC convention, Fox News' George Will believes that Comrade Trump has ties to Russian oligarchs, which is one of the main reasons why he won't release his tax returns...

tRumps Admits Commie Connection

Trump Credits One Of 'Our Friends' In Russia, China With DNC Hack (VIDEO):

Donald Trump on Monday attributed the Democratic National Committee hack that led to the ouster of its chair to “one of our many, many ‘friends’” in Russia or China.

At a campaign event with running mate and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in Roanoke, Virginia, Trump said although outgoing DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz worked “very, very hard to rig the system” in favor the of presumptive nominee, Hillary Clinton “threw her under the bus” after emails between top DNC staffers were leaked online...

Yes, he will go there.

Comment Of The Day: Media Treason Edition

Democratic Convention 2016 | Uppity Woman: 1 Vote

William, on July 25, 2016 at 12:08 PM said:

If anyone somehow ever needed additional proof of how absolutely pathetic and dangerous our media is, this would presumably finally convince them. They act like a bunch of particularly immature 7th graders. They’re sitting on a story about Russian hacking of emails, deliberate dissemination of these emails at a crucial juncture; and the clear evidence that Trump is not only Putin’s candidate, but that he and Manafort have direct ties to Russian money and power.

And what does the beyond worthless media do with this? They gleefully read all the emaiils, snickering and pointing fingers. In essence, they do the work of Putin and Manafort and Trump for them. Now, media, which conclusion shall we draw about you? That you are also bought and paid for by the Russians, and are conspiring to get Trump elected? That you are so abysmally stupid, so much a disgrace to the principles of jounalism, that you can’t even figure out the story, but jump for the first red meat you see dangled in front of you? Or that for you, this entire campaign has only been your effort to fulfill a personal dislike of Hillary Clinton, and to distort or misdirect every story so as to have the most negative impact upon her? It has to be one of those three, so you tell us which explanation you prefer–not that we have to accept it, of course.

Bernie Was Planning A Little Extortion

Sanders Team Wanted DNC To Pay For Private Plane For Fall - BuzzFeed News:

The Bernie Sanders campaign considered demanding a private plane staffed and funded by the Democratic National Committee as part of negotiations with Hillary Clinton heading into this week’s convention, according to a Sanders memo obtained by BuzzFeed News.

The plane was to be used “for a series of fall rallies in battleground states,” according to the “Bernie 2016” memo, which was drafted in the days before Sanders’ sound defeat in the June 7 California primary, the contest that effectively ended his insurgent bid...

Flaming The BroWhiners

PUMA to Bernie People | The Confluence:

...And it was perfectly OK with you that the woman who had won the popular vote in 2008 but through elected delegate reapportionment in Michigan for a candidate who wasn’t even on the effing ballot, lost the elected delegate count by a tiny, tiny amount, was abandoned by the superdelegates en masse and in vastly dispproportionate numbers to her delegate count. Those superdelegates, if they were following rules you insisted on this year, would have given her the win in 2008. One of those disloyal superdelegates broke the news to Hillary that they were leaving her. Do you know who that person was? Debbie Wasserman Shultz. But that’s OK because it’s just Hillary we are talking about.

Do you know WHY we went PUMA in 2008? It wasn’t about Hillary. It was about how a bunch of arrogant, militant, temper tantrum throwing mostly male voters decided to substitute their judgement for the judgement of 18,000,000 voters who did not vote for the candidate of THEIR choosing. And the DNC approved that message. It was because rigging the primary was setting a bad precedent and as Ickes said, was a bad way to start down the road to party unity. In fact, I might argue that it was that very Rules Committee meeting back in 2008 that makes you think that if you just make enough noise, you can get any primary outcome overturned. Because it’s just Hillary...

Surprise! Surprise! Coultergeist Goes Racist

Ann Coulter Attacks CNN's Fareed Zakaria For Speaking In 'Thick Indian Accent' | Crooks and Liars

Some Manufacturing Truths

The surprising truth about American manufacturing - CSMonitor.com:

...In reality, United States manufacturing output is at an all-time high, worth $2.2 trillion in 2015, up from $1.7 trillion in 2009. And while total employment has fallen by nearly a third since 1970, the jobs that remain are increasingly skilled.

Across the country, factory owners are now grappling with a new challenge: Instead of having too many workers, as they did during the Great Recession, they may end up with too few. Despite trade competition and outsourcing, American manufacturing still needs to replace tens of thousands of retiring boomers every year. Millennials may not be that interested in taking their place. Other industries are recruiting them with similar or better pay. And those industries don’t have the stigma of 40 years of recurring layoffs and downsizing...

Sunday's Best Video

That's what Crooks & Liars said about this video and I agree with them. Fareed Zakaria: 'Golden Age' GOP Promises? Never Existed | Crooks and Liars

Bloomberg To Endorse Clinton

Bloomberg To Address DNC For Clinton - The Daily Beast:

Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City who considered a presidential run this year, will address the Democratic National Convention this week and formally endorse Hillary Clinton. He has not been a member of the Democratic Party since 2000 and was a previous Republican when he was elected. Bloomberg will reportedly speak as an independent and a business man to say why those respective groups should be voting for Clinton...

Or are we Cruzing to a double cross? The paranoid are always working...

The Unresponsive TrumPence

Covering the Trump-Pence Campaign Will Be a Nightmare - Rolling Stone:

...A piece of advice from Zach Osowski for national reporters getting ready to cover Pence's every move between now and November: Exclusive interviews mean bupkis with him.

"This is something I've heard from reporters who have been at the statehouse a lot longer than I have. From what I've heard, even if you get an exclusive, he still won't answer any of your direct questions," he says.

Tweet Of The Day, 4

Raisin’ Kaine | Uppity Woman

Ana Navarro
@ananavarro

Hispanic Outreach: @HillaryClinton has Spanish-speaking do-gooder who was a missionary in Honduras; Trump has Joe Arpaio...and a taco bowl.

8:58 PM - 22 Jul 2016

Sorry for the ugly posts. Been have connection issues.

The Truth Of The US And World

The Rude Pundit: RNC Day Four: We Beheld What We May Become:

...And Trump went further than any of the fearmongers before him in portraying the United States as a nightmare, a lawless landscape of rampant crime (which is really down), cops being gunned down (fewer than ever), and undocumented immigrants murdering the fuck out of us (very rarely). The world itself is falling to pieces (despite it being one of the most peaceful periods in the planet's history). Every one of Trump's assertions is factually wrong. That's not just an opinion. Facts, actual numbers, something that Trump is very fond of mentioning, bear that out. But, no, the whole place is turning to shit, according to Trump. The only solution Trump offered is Trump. Trump will make it all better. All you gotta do is vote him in. Then America will be great again. He'll do it all by himself...

Now If This Were Bill Clinton...

A third woman alleges she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump

She Chose As She Said She Would

With Pick, Hillary Clinton Signals She’s Looking Past Inauguration Day - The New York Times:

...Among Democrats who know him well, Mr. Kaine is considered a self-effacing workhorse who shuns the spotlight and prefers digging into domestic policy and national security rather than showboating on Sunday news programs. Mrs. Clinton sees herself in much the same way. Unlike some of his rivals for the ticket, he is widely viewed by colleagues as fully capable of being president — Mrs. Clinton’s top criterion for a running mate...

On Tim Kaine

Tim Kaine: A Self-Effacing Senator in a Sharp-Elbows Era - The New York Times:

...“I don’t want to say anything bad about him, because he’s a very nice guy, but I don’t want to say anything good about him because I’m a Republican,” said Speaker William J. Howell of the Virginia House of Delegates.

“The one thing I will say for him is, unlike some other governors we’ve had, he didn’t seem to waver or waffle,” Mr. Howell said. “He never stuck his finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing...”

The Law Is For Little People

NEW: Watchdog Requests DOJ Investigation Into Donald Soliciting Illegal Contributions | BNR:

The Hill reports that campaign watchdog groups Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center have asked the Department of Justice to investigate reports that Donald is still asking for illegal donations from foreign individuals...

WaPo Will Not Endorse tRump

Donald Trump is a unique threat to American democracy - The Washington Post:

...The party’s failure of judgment leaves the nation’s future where it belongs, in the hands of voters. Many Americans do not like either candidate this year . We have criticized the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the past and will do so again when warranted. But we do not believe that she (or the Libertarian and Green party candidates, for that matter) represents a threat to the Constitution. Mr. Trump is a unique and present danger.

Crazy In NC: GOPer Tantrum Edition

Furious NC GOP Chairman Refuses To Give Ride Home From RNC To Cruz Supporters | Crooks and Liars:

Talk about a tantrum! During a conversation earlier this week, North Carolina Republican Chairman Robin Hayes asked fellow delegate Ted Hicks what he thought of Ted Cruz's speech. Hicks was honest and said "I thought it was a fine speech.”

No big deal. He was honest. He didn't pick a side or get angry, express frustration at Cruz's lack of endorsement or complain about Trump getting the nomination. Seems fairly middle of the road, right? Well not to Hayes. He blew a gasket.

Hayes responded, “I think you need to ride the bus home...”

More Tarheel pride in evidence. Eh. Not so much.

Comment Of The Day: Media Sucks Edition

‘The party died in this room tonight’: Nicole Wallace grief-stricken as Trump’s RNC speech ends

jimbo92107 7 minutes ago

Public opinion is shaped by the industry that delivers information to the public. If that industry is determined to make Americans believe ideas that are false and destructive, then Americans will elect people that represent false and destructive ideas.

Thanks a lot, Fox News. Thanks, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS. Thanks, you dozen Christian hate-mongering cable channels. Thanks, right wing corporate newspaper industry. Thanks, right wing radio.

Most especially, thanks to Rupert Murdoch and his sexual pervert henchman Roger Ailes, who turned a sick American media into a nationwide pornographic terrorism network. None of this would be happening if America's information resources were honest.

That Tired Card Cliche Comes To Mind

It has become such a cliche, and I've always hated it, but this is a classic example of doubling down. "I see your inflammatory and raise you stupid." Trump Adviser Defends Comments On Shooting Clinton: Trump Knows I'm Right - BuzzFeed News:

The Donald Trump veterans adviser who yesterday said Hillary Clinton should be shot for treason defended his comments on Thursday, saying Trump likely knows he is right...

The Daily Flashback: GOP Surrender Edition

Michael Gerson: Trump is hardly a good deal - Times Union:

In the category of credit where credit is due, Donald Trump has been exactly right in one important respect. He attacked the Republican establishment as low-energy, cowering weaklings. Now Republican leaders are lining up to surrender to him — like low-energy, cowering weaklings. The capitulation has justified the accusation...

Advice For Clinton On Winning GOP Voters

Jennifer Rubin: How Hillary Clinton can win over horrified Republicans | The Salt Lake Tribune:

... Clinton will no doubt do some small things well. She'll have a long list of Republican supporters. She'll run a real campaign in 50 states, refusing to write off states Democrats haven't won recently (as she hopes Trump wastes time and money in New York and California). But what she really needs to do is demonstrate a largeness of spirit, something Trump is incapable of doing

Good-Bye, Hello To A Former GOPer

Op-ed: Trump has chased me from the GOP, and you should leave, too | The Salt Lake Tribune:

...The Republican Party was founded on the conservative sense of justice, lost its way mid-20th century and regained its identity during the Reagan years. With Trump, it is now gone. The national Republican Party is no longer conservative. No longer is there any bulwark standing between sanity and insanity. We're now simply trading between political correctness and fear and anger. We're trading with our worst selves...

The Outlaw Jersey Whale Lost His, uh, er, uh, Manhood

Ted Cruz's Campaign Manager Says Christie 'Turned Over His Political Testicles':

Talk about a below-the-belt shot!

The head of Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign said that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie “turned over his political testicles long ago...”

Which ain't exactly news, but I'm glad some people are actually gutting the Whale.

Ailes Gone

My bold.

Ailes, Trump, And The Republican Reckoning:

Who could have scripted a doomsday scenario for the Republican Party that would feature Fox News' Roger Ailes reportedly being ousted as chief of Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing outlet amidst mounting allegations of sexual harassment, the same week political novice Donald Trump secures the GOP’s nomination?

Last summer, both seismic conservative events were seen as impossibilities by many observers. Yet they’re now unfolding in plain view and both threatening to do grave and lasting damage to the GOP.

Ailes and Trump are inexorably linked, and together they’ve become like a two-man wrecking crew, wreaking havoc on the GOP...

One can only hope.

Pence Lies About Clinton In RNC Speech

Gov. Mike Pence Lies About Hillary Clinton's Statement On Benghazi In RNC Speech | Crooks and Liars:

...Hillary Clinton clearly was saying that it didn't matter if Susan Rice's talking points about the cause of the attack were wrong because they wouldn't have changed the fact that four Americans were killed and we must make sure that never happens again. Clearly her remarks were the opposite of what Gov. Pence told the RNC crowd last night.

It's similar to Republicans saying President Obama is aiding an abetting ISIS because he won't use their pet phrase to describe them.

It's dishonest and despicable.

What tRump Is

Making Sense of the Conflagration:

...Trump brings together aggression and narcissism with a kind of militant ignorance which can be harmless or even amusing in the make believe world of reality TV or New York real estate but becomes positively dangerous on a national and global stage, thrashing about like a hose spewing fire. As Will Saletan memorably put it, the GOP is a failed state and Trump is its warlord. On his own Trump is simply a bracing case study in abnormal psychology. But he didn't shoot to within reach of the most powerful office in the world by happenstance. He is the product of a political and cultural breakdown on the American right, a swaggering reductio ad absurdum of every breach and breakdown and violation of extra-statutory norms we've seen over the last two or three decades...

tRumpian Foreign Policy Idiocy

The 3 Most Dangerous Things Trump Said In Bonkers NYT Foreign Policy Interview:

Donald Trump gave several objectionable responses when pressed about how he would approach foreign policy in the Oval Office in a The New York Times interview published late Wednesday...

The dolt gets doltier.

Cruzing In Crazyland

RNC Erupts As Ted Cruz Refuses To Endorse Trump In Convention Speech - BuzzFeed News:

Ted Cruz did not endorse Donald Trump in his much-anticipated speech to the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, instead urging Republicans to vote their conscience — to anguished reactions from Trump supporters in the room...

Karma And Irony Battle At The RNC

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Endorses Hillary Clinton At The RNC:

The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce made an endorsement Wednesday at the Republican National Convention, but it wasn't for any candidate attending the event.

The group's president and CEO, Javier Palomarez, announced it would be endorsing Hillary Clinton in the general election in an interview with CNN...

The PoliFact Truth-O-Meter

The truth (so far) behind the 2016 campaign | PolitiFact

Crazy In NC: Duke Uses State Gov Edition

In addition to pollution, Duke Energy now leaking propaganda | BlueNC:

...During an earlier ad campaign, Perks said, state government officials advised broadcasters not to run the some of the NRDC’s ads because they were false and the stations might face lawsuits. He said the NRDC told the broadcasters it stood by those ads, which ran without further incident.

Bolding mine. This is not only state-sponsored coercion, which should be investigated and dealt with as a criminal act, it also reveals direct connections between industry and government. We need to know "who" contacted these media outlets, and FOIA every single e-mail or paper memo that crossed this person's desk.

That comes off a bit unclear. The above snippets were taken from Blue NC, though I certainly agree with the concluding paragraph.

Clinton Tax Policy

Fact check: Donald Trump's false and misleading claims:

...Trump repeatedly has claimed in stump speeches and interviews that Hillary Clinton is going to “raise your taxes very substantially.” But almost all of the tax increases she has proposed would apply to the top 10% of taxpayers, according to analyses by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and pro-business Tax Foundation. “[T]he bottom 95 percent of taxpayers would see little or no change in their taxes,” the TPC said...

The GOP Economic Plan

Magical Economic Thinking at the G.O.P Convention - The New Yorker:

...I am joking, of course. Beyond promising to bully China and other countries into redoing trade treaties and pledging to reopen shuttered steel plants, Trump has said very little of substance on the subject. But we are not to fear. Magical thinking will take care of things...

tRump Ready To Fire Dems

Trump Could Seek New Law To Purge Government Of Obama Appointees:

If he wins the presidency, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would seek to purge the federal government of officials appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama and could ask Congress to pass legislation making it easier to fire public workers, Trump ally, Chris Christie, said on Tuesday.

Christie, who is governor of New Jersey and leads Trump’s White House transition team, said the campaign was drawing up a list of federal government employees to fire if Trump defeats Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 presidential election...

Tweet Of The Day, 3

Funny Tweets From The Republican Convention (First Of A Series) | Crooks and Liars

David Corn
✔
@DavidCornDC

Speaker at pro-Trump rally: "Does anyone think Washington...is working?" No! shouts the crowd full of Medicare recipients. #RNCinCLE

Lying Liars Continue Lying

Christie spokesman: Governor ‘misspoke’ about Donald Trump’s gift for Hurricane Sandy relief - The Washington Post:

...But then, Monday afternoon, a spokesman said Christie "misspoke." The spokesman, Brian Murray, appeared to be indicating that Trump had not donated anything to the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, which was run by Mary Pat Christie...

Banning Assault Rifles

Assault rifle ban needed in U.S. after cop slaying, advocates say - NY Daily News:

The lack of sensible gun laws is making it unsafe for everyone — even highly trained police officers — as lone fanatics with semiautomatic rifles plot mass murder.

While the National Rifle Association spreads the myth that more people with guns will thwart attacks, the killing of police officers in Texas last week and Louisiana on Sunday are the perfect illustration of why that’s false, gun advocates said Monday...

The Non-Crime Wave

Texas' Gun Culture and Politics Made Dallas Shooting Inevitable - Rolling Stone:

...In the intervening decades, violent crime has plummeted around the country: Most Americans are less likely than ever before in their lives to be a victim of any kind. But guns, and the cult of self-defense, play a more prominent role in American life than ever before. As the intense psychodrama and horror of the mass shooting has become more and more embedded into American skulls, more people look to guns as a shield. For them, guns represent life, not death. Carrying a gun gives the bearer an immense feeling of power and privilege, a feeling of agency. When the end comes for me, the feeling goes, I'll be ready...

And So It Begins...

Chaos erupts on GOP convention floor after voice vote shuts down Never Trump forces - POLITICO:

Chaos broke out at the Republican National Convention after Republican leaders blocked a full floor vote on the convention rules.

The Long List Of tRumpisms

Donald Trump is unfit to be president. Here are 141 reasons why.:

...It has been 13 months since Donald Trump announced his presidential bid and, in the same speech, called Mexican immigrants rapists. The ensuing drip feed of Trumpian absurdities and offenses has had a desensitizing effect. We know that Trump is a racist, a misogynist, an authoritarian, and a narcissist, but we’ve lost track of the many, many specific things he has said and done that disqualify him from the office he seeks...

The list is long, comprehensive, and contains links to videos.

On The Media Double Standard With Clinton and tRump

DOUBLE STANDARD: Media Say Hillary Is 'Dishonest' While Donald Is 'Creative With The Truth' | BNR:

...With Hillary, it’s all about her supposed “dishonesty,” “lies,” and “untrustworthiness.” For Donald, it’s “creativity with the truth.”

This double standard isn’t new. The story of Hillary’s phenomenal primary victory is the story of millions of Americans defying a torrent of anti-Hillary talking points and false frames to carry her to victory...

A Trumpence For Your Thoughts

Urban Dictionary: trumpence:

trumpence
The amount of return on investment on a con job.
I knew it was too good to be true, but I thought it was worth trumpence.
by dakdawg July 15, 2016

The Outlaw Jersey Whale Has Buds In Deep Do-Do

Chris Christie's Worst Day Ever | Crooks and Liars

For those keeping score at home, here's where we stand: Two senior members of Gov. Law and Order's staff have pleaded guilty to felony charges, and three more have been charged.

Christie's role remains a mystery. He's not cleared, but he's not implicated. For now, he can still cling to his clueless defense and say he knew nothing.

But it's getting harder and harder to believe that. And even if it is true, it's beyond doubt that he established a frat-boy culture where bullies felt free to roam the landscape and break any rules they didn't like.

The Smushing Of The GOP

OPINION: There’s no dignity in caving to Trump:

...So there in Cleveland will be a handful of Trump’s vanquished foes, laying down to a candidate that bullied and intimidated them into submission. They will be there putting their party in front of their dignity, hoping to maintain their good standing with the party for future elections. It would no doubt serve members of the party of the elephant well to have much longer memories.

Cornel West Back Stabs Dems

Cornel West endorses Jill Stein and says she – not Hillary Clinton – is the 'only progressive woman in the race' - LA Times:

Not all of Bernie Sanders' high-profile supporters are backing Hillary Clinton.

In a sharply worded op-ed article in the Guardian, Cornel West, an influential scholar and civil rights activist who was a staunch supporter of Sanders in the Democratic presidential primaries, endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein, calling her the "only progressive woman in the race..."

The Democrats should have never let Sanders into the race, nor should they have allowed West a seat on the platform committee. People who have worked for the party for decades were denied a chance for the Committee; West, at best, has been an irritating gadfly.

Tweet Of The Day, 2

Meet Trump University’s “Top” Instructor and Validate Your Worst Thoughts | Uppity Woman

Tammy Duckworth
✔
@TammyforIL

The #GOPplatform opposes allowing women in combat. I have a question for the committee: where do you think I lost my legs - in a bar fight?

That Could Be A Problem, Newt

Gingrich: Test All Muslims For Adherence To Sharia Law And Deport Them | Crooks and Liars:

..."Western civilization is in a war," Gingrich thundered. "We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported."

Wait, what? While we're at it, can we round up Christians who pervert the Bible and try to make THAT the law of the land? Deport them, too? Never mind that they're citizens in many cases, just toss them out!...

The Damnation Of The tRump

Donald Trump's Candidacy Is a Threat to American Democracy:

...Damn all the people who will vote for him, and damn any progressives who sit this one out because Hillary Rodham Clinton is wrong on this issue or that one. Damn all the people who are suggesting they do that. And damn all members of the media who treat this dangerous fluke of a campaign as being in any way business as usual. Any support for He, Trump is, at this point, an act of moral cowardice. Anyone who supports him, or runs with him, or enables his victory, or even speaks well of him, is a traitor to the American idea...

Tweet Of The Day, 1

The Media's Wild Reaction to Hillary's Pokemon Go Joke | BNR

Dana Schwartz
✔
@DanaSchwartzzz

If you make a bigger deal over Clinton mentioning Pokemon GO than you do about Trump saying Mexicans are rapists, you're the problem.

tRump Pay For Play

Presumptive Republican nominee can't shake 'Trump U' controversy | MSNBC:

...As we’ve discussed before, the details surrounding Florida’s conservative A.G. paint an unflattering picture. Bondi briefly considered joining a multi-state suit against the controversial “school,” but the Florida Republican dropped the investigation after the Trump Foundation made a $25,000 contribution towards Bondi’s re-election.

And while that raises serious ethics questions, the controversy became more serious when we learned Bondi “personally solicited” the money from Trump while her office was considering a case against “Trump University...”

Hmm. Could Bondi be charged with fraud, as in aiding and abetting thereof?  If Bondi were named Clinton, pretty sure there'd be a warrant out.

The Racist Hypocrisy Of Fox News

Fox News Attacks Black Lives Matter As “Lawless” After Cheering Cliven Bundy’s Lawless Militia:

Fox News has rediscovered its love of law and order.

In the wake of protests across the country by Black Lives Matter activists following the deaths of two African-American men at the hands of police, Fox has spent days loudly denouncing the group for its allegedly violent ways. Under the headline, “Time to end Black Lives Matter lawlessness,” Fox’s Todd Starnes recently insisted “the rules of law matters, folks. Without it, we’ve got anarchy...”

Getting Real With The Libs

Let’s Grow Up, Liberals - The New York Times:

...A better concession speech than Mr. Sanders’s was Barry Goldwater’s address to his own, angry supporters...

“This country is too important for anyone’s feelings,” Goldwater thundered at his delegates. “This country, and its majesty, is too great for any man, be he conservative or liberal, to stay home and not work just because he doesn’t agree...

If Bernie Sanders and his followers want to do their best for the things that he — and most Clinton supporters — care about most, they will take Goldwater’s words to heart, instead of opting for suicide by Trump. Let’s grow up, liberals, and take our party and our country back.

Trump Testimony

Trump seeks to block release of Trump University testimony – The Denver Post:

...Trump’s tone, facial expressions, gestures and body language show “complete and utter unfamiliarity” with Trump University’s instructors and instruction, despite the business mogul’s previous statements that he was extensively involved, the attorneys wrote. They said Trump also made “many spontaneous and ad hominem remarks that are not reflected in the paper transcript of his depositions...”

Ryan Blames Dallas Shooting On VA

Paul Ryan Confronted At CNN Town Hall By Man Misidentified As Dallas Shooter | Crooks and Liars:

..."With respect to vets, we have got to clean up the VA," Ryan promised. "How are we going to clean up the VA so we can specialize on its unique problems. PTSD, traumatic brain injury, prosthetics -- there are special things that are unique to veterans."

Ryan went on to complain about the "the VA bureaucracy sweeping the (huge) waiting list under the rug," and said we need to "clean up the mess at the VA."

So in other words, it's all the VA's fault. No...

No. No. It is true that you can never really get used to the Stoopid flowing from the pie-holes of GOP goobers. 

Where The Blame Lies

The Rude Pundit "The Big Part Missing From All Your "Is the United States Collapsing?" Think Pieces":

...You know where blame rests. If the nation is tearing itself apart, it's because conservatives, including the Republican Party, have decided to tear it apart...

The Daily Flashback: Lying Skippy Edition

The Iraq lies still matter: Bush’s deceit and the seething distrust Americans have in their leaders - Salon.com:

...If you want to know why so many people believe that their leaders are liars, look no further than the fact that the George W. Bush administration convinced the nation that Saddam Hussein was in cahoots with Osama bin Laden and had weapons of mass destruction which the two evil-doers were planning to use against Americans. A quarter of million people (and counting) died as a result of those those lies. It’s amazing there’s any trust in government at all after that.

And on a totally different subject: 

"...And remember what happened to Jimmy Carter after Ted Kennedy refused to concede to the sitting president after he took it to the convention?

America got Ronald Reagan..."

Oh, I remember that. I remember it well. I think of it every time some northeastern liberal gets all pissy and superior about living above the Mason-Dixon line. Thanks a lot, asshole. Ted Kennedy put Ronald Raygun in office as much as Ralph Nader put George Bush in office.

The Rape Loving GOPers

GOP Platform Draft Includes Hostility to Campus Rape Survivors | BNR:

...To put it politely, the Republican Party does not have a solid history of taking sexual assault seriously. There was that time House Republicans tried to redefine rape so that it was only “real” rape if it involved force. Then there was the time that Senate Republicans blocked votes on military sexual assault legislation. There was that other time New York state Republicans blocked a proposal to eliminate the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. And let’s not forget that time when Georgia state Republicans didn’t want to consider a proposal on rape kits and accused the Democratic sponsor of “politicizing” the issue to get votes...

Great News On The VA Front

Conservatives Just Lost Their Battle To Privatize The VA | Crooks and Liars:

Good news on the VA health care front. Washington Monthly reports that a Congress-appointed commission has come out with findings that will disappoint privatization fetishists who want to dismantle the VA hospital system...

Racial Policing

I'm a black ex-cop, and this is the real truth about race and policing - Vox:

...And no matter what an officer has done to a black person, that officer can always cover himself in the running narrative of heroism, risk, and sacrifice that is available to a uniformed police officer by virtue of simply reporting for duty. Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo was acquitted of all charges against him in the shooting deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, both black and unarmed. Thirteen Cleveland police officers fired 137 shots at them. Brelo, having reloaded at some point during the shooting, fired 49 of the 137 shots. He took his final 15 shots at them after all the other officers stopped firing (122 shots at that point) and, "fearing for his life," he jumped onto the hood of the car and shot 15 times through the windshield...

And a judge let them walk free.

MoDo Strikes Another Pose

New York Times’ Maureen Dowd Writes Yet Another Anti-Clinton Column:

...A Media Matters analysis of Dowd’s columns found that 72 percent of her work between November 1993 and June 2014 included negative tropes against the Clintons, including regularly portraying Hillary Clinton as an unlikeable, power-hungry phony. In the year following, all 17 of Dowd’s columns with significant mentions of Clinton were negative. Dowd regularly relies on sexist tropes to describe Clinton, including that she is a “granny” who “can’t figure out how to campaign as a woman” and suggesting she “should have run as a man” during the 2016 election. Hypocritically, Dowd has also accused her of “cry[ing] sexism too often.”

Even Norman Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, mocked Dowd’s column, tweeting, “Congratulations! This is the 7,673rd time Maureen Dowd has written this column! What a gig!”...

Dumbest Quote Of The Week: TX Lt. Gov

Texas Lt. Gov.: Dallas BLM Protesters 'Hypocrites' For Running From Gunfire:

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) on Friday afternoon railed against the people who took part in the protest in Dallas on Thursday night, charging that the protesters were "hypocrites" because, as he framed it, they were anti-police but expected the police to protect them once the shooting started.

"All those protesters last night, they ran the other way, expecting the men and women in blue to turn around and protect them. What hypocrites," Patrick said on Fox News. "I understand the First Amendment. I understand freedom of speech, and I defend it. It is in our Constitution and is in our soul, but you can't go out on social media and mainstream media and everywhere else and say that the police are racist or police are hateful or the police are killers..."

Dems Call For Legal Weed

Democrats call for ‘pathway’ to marijuana legalization - The Washington Post:

The Democratic Party endorsed a "reasoned pathway to future legalization" of marijuana and called for the drug to be downgraded in the Controlled Substances Act, in a tense and unexpected victory for supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders...

The Outlaw Jersey Whale Emailgate

Chris Christie used personal email for work during Bridgegate - NY Daily News:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used a personal email account for government work while the Bridgegate scandal enveloped his administration, according to newly filed court documents.

Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, the law firm representing Christie’s office in the federal probe into the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane-closings, never searched the account Christie shared with his wife, Mary Pat, despite being tasked with responding to federal subpoenas seeking emails and texts regarding the closures, WNYC reported Wednesday...

The Big Clinton Advantage

Why no Clinton scandal can stop Hillary from crushing Trump:

...With an opponent like Donald Trump, Clinton needs do little more than convey the same simple message day after day: "You may not like me, but at least I'm vastly better, more competent, more knowledgeable, less hateful, less risky, and yes, less corrupt than he is."

Again, it will work because it's true...

tRumpian Loving Him Some Russia

Trump foreign policy adviser, in Moscow, says US isn't "democratic," praises Russia - AMERICAblog News:

One of Donald Trump’s key foreign policy advisers went to Moscow and criticized the United States, while praising Putin’s Russia.

Carter Page, an energy executive, criticized the US’ “often-hypocritical focus on democratization, inequality, corruption and regime change.”

Page then went on to suggest that America is not “democratic...”

Rep. Corrine Brown Of Florida Indicted After Federal Fraud Investigation

Fraud via a charitable organization is the basis of the indictment of Corrine Brown (D). It's an AP story so I can't give you any quotes. Rep. Corrine Brown Of Florida Indicted After Federal Fraud Investigation

The Return Of The Police Bomb

Dallas police ‘bomb robot’ stirs controversy | Fusion:

...While that the use of a “robot bomb” to kill suspects appears to be unprecedented in America’s domestic history, the tactic has frequently been used in overseas war zones. In the war in Iraq, a device called a MARCBOT (Multi-Function Agile Remote-Controlled Robot) has been deployed to effectively carry explosives to kill insurgents...

Walsh Threatens Obama

After reading the Jesse Helms playbook, presumably, a former rat on the USS GOPer abandoned ship.

Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh deletes tweet threatening 'war' on Obama - CNNPolitics.com:

Former Rep. Joe Walsh is under fire after deleting a tweet saying "This is now war" against President Barack Obama and Black Lives Matter protesters following the killing of Dallas police officers.
"3 Dallas Cops killed, 7 wounded. This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you," tweeted Walsh, a former tea party congressman from Illinois and now a conservative talk radio host...

The Sheets Are Out

A White Nationalist Website Is Sponsoring An RNC Rally Featuring Trump Surrogates:

The white nationalist website Eternal Sentry is sponsoring an upcoming pro-Trump “unity rally” with longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone and several Trump surrogates. Eternal Sentry is a self-described “altright" website that features racist and anti-Semitic material, repeatedly warns about “White Genocide,” and is produced by a Trump activist who said whites need to “fight back” against African-Americans and “send them back to the mud-huts they so desperately and obviously desire...”

It Happened: Police Ambushed

My nephew is on the force. I have heard nothing yet. You knew something like this was bound to happen, but this is worse than I thought it would be. BLM is now dead.

4 Police Officers Dead After Shooting in Downtown Dallas | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth:

Four officers are dead, including three Dallas police officers and one DART transit officer, after two snipers opened fire on police at the end of a protest against nationwide officer-involved shootings, officials say...

On The Private Prison Biz

The True Cost:

...Delivering poor services at a premium price is part of the marketing strategy, says Matt Nelson, managing director of the immigration rights group Presente. “They know that cutting costs, services and training for guards increases recidivism,” Nelson said. “They’re familiar that if you have horrible conditions, people stay in the system longer. They know that the younger you incarcerate, it’s more likely they will stay in the system. They keep customers coming back...”

Hiding From tRump

GOP senators literally snuck out of a back alley behind a gas station to avoid talking about Trump:

...Given this, you shouldn’t be surprised that they go to pretty silly lengths to avoid being questioned by the media. Dogged Roll Call reporter Niels Lesniewski, however, knew just where to look for GOP senators after they met with Donald Trump on Thursday.

It seems that the National Republican Senatorial Committee HQ building where the senators met Trump has a back alley that’s located behind a gas station that makes it a perfect place for a sneaky exit. Lesniewski figured some senators would try to escape the building using this route and caught Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and others doing just that...

Death By Open Carry In LA

Alton Sterling Had a Gun in Open-Carry Louisiana:

...By the way, for those who will make a point of Sterling's carrying a gun, which has been reported in a number of places, remember that Louisiana is an open-carry state. If he were armed, then, right up until the moment somebody shot him to death, Alton Sterling was exercising his Second Amendment rights in exactly the way the NRA and its noisy apologists have suggested we all should.

Except that we're not all black, the true original American Exceptionalism has come home again.

On Police Shootings

From Baton Rouge To Minnesota: Stop Dealing With Police Brutality Episodically And Deal With It Systematically:

...For years, organizations like my National Action Network have pushed for accountability and reform across the board. We have repeatedly stated that the problem is not isolated; it’s not a Louisiana problem; it’s not a Minnesota problem; it’s not a Staten Island problem — it’s a national problem that requires national reform of police culture and the criminal justice system itself. Nothing short of that will turn this calamity around. We must have independent investigations and prosecutions so that police are held accountable by an objective neutral entity, and the community is assured that there isn’t even an appearance of a conflict of interest. Officers cannot be investigated by those that they interact with on a daily or regular basis — that is common sense. Secondly, there must be extensive training and residency requirements that police live in the cities that they serve. That is the only way that they will respect and treat that community fairly...

tRumpers Advocating Murder

The New Trump Supporter Battle Cry: “Hang That B*tch!” | Crooks and Liars:

...Now we have been reduced to throngs of angry Trump supporters actually calling for the death of a presidential candidate? And why? Because she is beating their candidate? Because she is more competent? Because she is smarter and more successful? Because she is a woman?

Do any of those reasons warrant her death?

Did Trump stop those chants? No. He smiled. A gleeful, happy, psychopathic smile of a man who enjoys riling up crowds, encouraging violence (implied or actual) and loves winning at all costs. Would her death bother him? Did the death of 49 innocent people in Orlando bother him? No, that was a chance for him to declare he was "right" about terrorism...

St. Hillary

Hillary, Beyond Email - The New York Times:

...But think positive: Between the F.B.I.’s 11-month email investigation and the eight congressional Benghazi inquiries, Clinton has now probably been examined more thoroughly than any candidate not up for canonization in the Catholic Church. How many times have you, as a concerned citizen, witnessed a famous politician felled by a terrible revelation and thought, “My God, who knew?” Not likely to be a problem with this one...

Vets Deported!??

The U.S. Has Been Unfairly Deporting Veterans For Years, ACLU Alleges - BuzzFeed News:

The U.S. government has for years been unfairly deporting veterans after botching their naturalization process, leaving them alone abroad and without access to adequate medical care, the ACLU alleges in a new report...

Go Away, Again, Bernie

Sanders booed by House Democrats - POLITICO:

...“The goal isn’t to win elections, the goal is to transform America,” Sanders said at one point, according to multiple lawmakers and aides in the room.

Some Democrats booed Sanders for that line, which plays better on the campaign trail than in front of a roomful of elected officials...

GOPer Social Programs Info

Roundup: Our Take on House GOP Leaders’ New Poverty and Health Proposals | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:

We’ve compiled CBPP’s analyses and blog posts to date on the poverty and health care proposals that Speaker Paul Ryan and other House Republican leaders released this month...

Very thorough.

Boffin' Nasty At Fox News

Fox News' Roger Ailes Sued for Sexual Harassment by Ousted Anchor Gretchen Carlson - Hollywood Reporter:

The longtime Fox News host says she rebuffed sexual advances and also suffered gender discrimination from 'Fox & Friends' co-host Steve Doocy.

Gretchen Carlson, a broadcast veteran, claims in a sexual harassment lawsuit that she was let go from Fox News on June 23 as retaliation for rebuffing Roger Ailes' sexual advances...

Votes From Where You Can Get Them

I want every Republican to support Hillary - AMERICAblog News

NRA Thumbs Nose At Veterans

Veterans’ Groups Call Out The NRA: "Don't Use Our Dead To Score Political Points":

Veterans’ groups are criticizing the National Rifle Association for releasing a pro-Donald Trump ad that was apparently filmed at a national cemetery in violation of government policy, calling for the ad to be taken down and accusing the gun group of “using our dead to score political points.”

The ad, launched Thursday by the NRA Political Victory Fund, features veteran Mark Geist –- a survivor of the 2012 Benghazi terror attacks -- as he walks in and stands in front of a national cemetery; the graves of military personnel are featured prominently...

Shameful MSM Spin On Non-Indictment

Ex-DOJ Spox Rips FBI Director's 'Really Reckless Statements' | Crooks and Liars:

Andrea Mitchell's palpable disappointment at not getting the chance to report Hillary Clinton's indictment was a shameful performance on MSNBC. Fortunately, her guest took the wind right out of her sails and put responsibility on Comey for making one of the most nakedly political statements about closing an investigation I have ever seen anywhere...

It was just as bad on ABC where the relentless spin was about Clinton being "careless." No mention of tRump raping a 13 year old.

Rape And tRump

Why The New Child Rape Case Filed Against Donald Trump Should Not Be Ignored:

An anonymous “Jane Doe” filed a federal lawsuit against GOP presumptive nominee 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. Serious journalists have publicly apologized for turning a blind eye to the Cosby accusers for over a decade, notwithstanding the large number of women who had come forward with credible claims. And now history is repeating itself...

No Indictments From FBI-- The Official End Of Emailgate

A Dark Day for Hillary's Opponents: FBI Says 'NO CHARGES' on Her Emails | BNR:

For months, Hillary’s opponents have been awaiting the results of the federal investigation into her use of a private server for her State emails. The results are in — and although mistakes were made (as Hillary has acknowledged), FBI Director Comey was clear: “No reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case...”

Bernie Is Not The Only Progressive

The Privilege of Never Having to Say You'll Concede | Dame Magazine:

...Moving the Democratic platform to the left is a laudable goal, but it isn’t one that he alone has led. There have been many movements, including the movement to end the Hyde Amendment, the “Fight for 15,” and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, that have pushed the Democratic party to the left. But Bernie Sanders is presenting it as if he himself is the leader of this progressive revolution, as if he and his candidacy have been doing all of the work. This is privileged ignorance at best, and sinister appropriation at worst. Sanders has constructed himself as the progressive revolutionary savior that we have all been waiting for, a privileged and entitled point of view if there ever was one. He is unwilling to stop mansplaining to the country that he’s right because either he believes so deeply that he is right and we are wrong or does he sense that this is the one time that he will ever be this relevant to American politics and his male ego is unwilling to let this go?...

tRumpian Dispatch From The Future

Tony Norman: Trump in 2017 — a loser and laughingstock | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

It’s hard to believe we spent the last Fourth of July partly in dread. A year ago we thought Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had a 20 percent chance of becoming president, as said our greatest secular prognosticator Nate Silver...

The "Tragedy" Of Decent Wages

The comment thread here is particularly interesting. (Troll Alert! Media Matters always has large numbers of trolls, some professional.) Fox's Stuart Varney: Raising The Minimum Wage To $15 Per Hour Is "A Tragedy"

Sensible Gun Laws

Why Gun Nuts Lie – I Know From Experience:

...I detailed my proposal for gun legislation on Dogma Debate #211: Guns & Atheists. But here’s the gist of it:

Treat guns like cars.
Mandatory licenses
License renewals
Mandatory training
Mandatory insurance
Operating laws
Operating age limits
Restrict some models
Require safety inspections
Mandatory registration
Background checks...

Dean Says Get Off The Tarmac And The Email

Howard Dean Blasts MSNBC For Focusing On Bill Clinton's Tarmac Meeting: 'This Is Crap' | Crooks and Liars:

..."Here's what's inexcusable," Dean shot back. "We're spending all this time on television talking about a visit between Loretta Lynch and President Clinton. Why aren't we talking about how to get jobs back in America? Why aren't we talking about what we're going to do about healthcare? Why aren't we talking about foreign policy? This is ridiculous. This goes on and on and on and on. Nobody wants to take the serious issues seriously..."

Second Amendment Ammosexual Head Hurting Over M-16

Machine Guns Are Not Protected By The Second Amendment, Appeals Court Rules:

In a unanimous ruling issued Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit rejected Hollis’ arguments, categorically noting that “machine guns are not protected arms under the Second Amendment...”

A Real Email Uh-Oh

Hacked Emails Reveal NATO General Plotting Against Obama on Russia Policy:

Gen. Philip Breedlove, until recently the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, plotted in private to overcome President Barack Obama’s reluctance to escalate military tensions with Russia over the war in Ukraine in 2014, according to apparently hacked emails from Breedlove’s Gmail account that were posted on a new website called DC Leaks.

Obama defied political pressure from hawks in Congress and the military to provide lethal assistance to the Ukrainian government, fearing that doing so would increase the bloodshed and provide Russian President Vladimir Putin with the justification for deeper incursions into the country...

Leaded Hypocrites In Congress

After Lead Contamination In House Office Building's Water, Lawmakers Demand EPA Reforms | ThinkProgress:

A day after House members learned that the drinking water in one of the Congressional office buildings had been shut off due to lead contamination, a bipartisan group of 61 representatives sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency demanding that it improve its lead regulations...

Rumor has it that residents of Flint, Michigan were not amused by the irony.

tRump Controls The Future

Trump: 'Rivals Shouldn't Be Allowed To Run' | The Daily Caller: DailyCaller 

Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump told Maine supporters Thursday that “rivals” who failed to endorse him for president shouldn’t be allowed to run in any future election...

Going Way Too Far In SD

‘There’s a lot of screaming’: South Dakota cops are collecting suspects’ urine by force:

...The Argus Leader reports that police in South Dakota have resorted to using catheters to extract urine samples from uncooperative suspects. This procedure, while endorsed by the state’s top prosecutor, has been decried by critics as a potential violation of suspects’ constitutional rights...

On Blue Collar Democrats

Dems Need Better Answers for the Working Class -- NYMag:

...Democrats need to detail this new social compact. And then, they need to demand it with the same urgency that Trump demands his wall. Through rhetoric and policy, liberals must affirm the value of the work that most Americans perform everyday. Blue-collar laborers — of all colors — deserve better "right" answers than the ones they've been given.

Lying Liars: Clinton Email Edition

Early History Of Abortion In The US

The surprising history of abortion in the United States - CNN.com:

There was a time when abortion was simply part of life in the United States. People didn't scream about it in protest, and services were marketed openly...

Time For The Turks?

ISIS just messed with the wrong Islamic country:

ISIS's November terrorist attack in Paris might have made a bigger splash around the world, but its Istanbul attack Tuesday might actually prove its undoing. That's because it might finally persuade Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who commands the second largest NATO army after America, to stop playing footsie with this noxious outfit and start dealing with it...