The Commentariat -- August 6, 2016

With occasional exceptions (like President Obama's thoughtful weekly address), Reality Chex is not covering the Olympics. Since they're of great general interest, you may comment on any aspect of them in the Comments sections. If you work in a political angle, good for you. Enjoy the games! P.S. Yoo Ess Ay! Yoo Ess Ay! -- Constant Weader

Sam Mintz of the Cape Cod Times: "This year is full of 'lasts' for the Obamas, and today marks the start of one more: their last trip to Martha's Vineyard as a presidential family.... Obama's younger daughter, Sasha, picked up a brief summer job to keep herself busy: The 15-year-old worked for a few days this past week at Nancy's, a seafood restaurant in Oak Bluffs...." -- CW

Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "After months of conflicting signals and economic uncertainty, it became clear on Friday that the American jobs machine has moved back into high gear. A report from the Labor Department that said employers added 255,000 jobs in July had been eagerly anticipated on Wall Street, in Washington and on the campaign trail, and the much-better-than-expected showing immediately rippled through all three arenas. Stocks surged, experts expressed more confidence that the Federal Reserve was likely to raise interest rates at least once this year, and it was evident that long-stagnant wages for ordinary workers were advancing at a more robust pace." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Margaret Talbot of the New Yorker: "The trouble with [Corey] Lewandowski [as a CNN commentator] is not that he came out of a campaign or that he is clearly partisan.... Lewandowski's signal quality is a kind of unsmiling, nonironic loyalty that admits of no countermanding or even complicating detail; he's like the ultimate faithful retainer, still fixedly serving his master as the mansion crumbles around him.... Advancing birtherism in the guise of political analysis is a firing offense." CW: Good read. Lewandowski, best known for manhandling a female Breitbart reporter, had an on-air fit, Talbot reports, when a female correspondent brushed his hand. "Don't touch me!" he said. Twice. What we are seeing in the entire Trump campaign, from Trump on down to those violent supporters the New York Times videotaped, a yuuuge plaintive wail for white mail hegemony. We only have to hope we are close to the last, desperate gasp.

Presidential Race

Yamiche Alcindor & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "After more than 200 days without holding a formal news conference, Hillary Clinton took her most extensive questions from journalists in months on Friday -- and it wasn't so bad after all.... Speaking before] the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists..., Mrs. Clinton said she took 'seriously' the problems she has had winning voters' trust. She clarified her recent mischaracterization of the F.B.I. investigation into her private email server. And she explained that the economic frustration driving many of Donald J. Trump's supporters should be taken as seriously as his 'bigotry' that appeals to some.... On Friday, Mrs. Clinton said she 'may have short circuited' when she made Mr. Comey's remarks seem more favorable toward her than they had, in fact, been. 'I was pointing out in both of those instances that Director Comey had said that my answers in my F.B.I. interview were truthful,' she said. 'That's really the bottom line here.'" -- CW ...

... Charles Pierce: "That's the way you talk when the mule you sold somebody died on the way home." -- CW ...

... She Just Can't Help Herself. Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "In an effort to clarify her most recent statements about her use of a private email server as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton on Friday only further muddled a controversy that has dogged her presidential candidacy from the start. Clinton acknowledged that she had misspoken in two recent media interviews when she claimed that FBI Director James B. Comey had characterized as 'truthful' all of her public statements about her use of a private email server. She explained that Comey was referring only to her interviews with the FBI -- but she also insisted that all of her other public statements on the matter have been consistent with those interviews.... On Friday morning, Clinton reiterated that she never sent or received emails that were classified at the time, which Comey testified to Congress was a statement that was 'not true.'" -- CW ...

... Stephen Braun of the AP: "What resulted Friday were still more mischaracterizations.... Comey has declined to say precisely what Clinton told FBI investigators, but he has never publicly called Clinton's comments truthful. He said only that "we have no basis to conclude that she lied to the FBI" -- a legally calibrated statement.... When Comey was asked during a House hearing the same month about whether Clinton lied to the public, Comey begged off, saying: 'That's a question I'm not qualified to answer. I can speak only about what she said to the FBI.'... Overall, he described her handling of 'very sensitive, highly classified information' as 'extremely careless.'" -- CW ...

(CW BTW: Debbie Wasserman Schultz has learned the Clinton Truthiness Two-Step. Step 1: You lie. Step 2: You "clarify" your lie with another lie. Reporter Cristiano Lima doesn't spell out Step 2, but I'm sure you can spot it.)

Hadas Gold of Politico: "Former CIA director Michael Morell dropped his gig as a CBS News analyst before going public with his support of Hillary Clinton." CW: CBS replaced him with Dubya flak Fran Townsend.

Eric Geller of Politico: "Hackers have compromised the email accounts of a Latino political advocacy group with ties to the Clinton campaign.... In an email obtained by Politico, a staffer for the Latino Victory Project warned people not to open any other emails sent this morning by Latino Victory employees. The infected emails carry the subject line 'Very Important Documents' and include an attached PDF titled 'Important Online PDF.'" -- CW

Rebecca Morin of Politico: "Julian Assange said WikiLeaks is 'working on' hacking Donald Trump's tax returns. In a Friday night video interview on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher questioned Assange about the Democratic National Committee leaks that were released the week before the Democratic convention." -- CW

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Donald Trump endorsed Paul Ryan on Friday night, after refusing to back the speaker's reelection bid earlier this week.... [Trump's] backing came at a rally in Green Bay, Wis., less than a week before Ryan faces a primary challenger whom has Trump praised, though Ryan appears to have little to worry about in the Tuesday race with businessman Paul Nehlen. A new independent pollreleased on Friday showed Ryan leading Nehlen 80 percent to 14 percent." -- CW ...

... Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Trump also endorsed Arizona Sen. John McCain and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte's reelection efforts during the event.... Trump received a cold shoulder from several of the highest profile Republicans in Wisconsin politics during his campaign event there, with [Paul] Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker notably absent." -- CW ...

... Great! Now Trump Is a Totally Normal Guy. Oh, Wait. Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Donald Trump took his insults of Hillary Clinton to another level on Friday night.... 'In one way, she's a monster,' Trump said of Clinton. 'In another way, she's a weak person. She's actually not strong enough to be president. So she's got both.' Trump, who also referred to Clinton as 'unhinged' and 'unbalanced,' relentlessly attacked the former secretary of state in an improvisational tear that contrasted sharply with his scripted endorsement remarks." CW: Once again, Trump attributes his own disorders & deficiencies to an opponent. It's a compensation mechanism.

Patrick Cohen of the New York Times: "On Friday, Mr. Trump announced his economic team, just days before he is expected to give a speech in Detroit on Monday about what he would do to improve American growth. The 13-member team -- all men -- includes several billionaire bankers and investment managers, and even a part-time professional poker player.... Several of those named often have expressed views against the economic mainstream, voicing suspicions about the Federal Reserve and global trade deals." CW: Cohen provides snapshots of the men Trump named -- looks more like a rogue's gallery of big-bucks bad boys than a financial advisory team. ...

... ** Jim Tankersley of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump announced a new team of ultra-rich financiers and businessmen as his core economic advisers, bringing high-profile names to his inner circle but also possibly stepping on his populist claims to save the middle class.... The median net worth of Trump's official economic advisers appears to be at least several hundred million dollars.... He has painted Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton as the candidate of Wall Street, but his team is filled with hedge fund managers, bankers and real estate speculators.... [Hillary] Clinton's inner circle also includes some longtime associates, such as Neera Tanden and Gene Sperling [CW: who, bBTW, are not billionaires]. But she also has spent two years reaching out to more than 200 experts, some of whom she had never met before, to build a sprawling economic agenda." -- CW

Steven Mufson & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: Carter "Page is a little-known Trump adviser with an ambiguous role in his campaign. But since being named to the Republican nominee's team in March, his stature within the foreign policy world has grown considerably, drawing alarm from more established foreign policy experts who view him as having little real understanding about U.S.-Russia relations. Many also say that Page's views may be compromised by his investment in Russian energy giant, Gazprom. Other foreign policy experts from both parties say they are distressed with Page for his criticism of sanctions, praise for Putin and his advisers, and his tepid response to what most U.S. policymakers see as Russian aggression.... [Carter's] open embrace of [Vladimir Putin] is unusual for an adviser to a presidential candidate -- and a break from a decades-old Republican tradition of tough stances toward Moscow." -- CW

(Contributor Diane raises the question: is this fellow a Trump look-alike?

Answer: Well, yes, given that they're a couple of fleshy, old white guys who share a British Isles heritage. Main difference? The guy in the bowler does not have stubby fingers.)

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "Donald Trump said his joke about ejecting a baby from one of his rallies this week was misinterpreted and blamed the 'dishonest' news media for turning a lighthearted moment into a negative story.... The media, he said, instead painted him unfairly:... '... Everyone's having fun, but they say Trump throws baby. You know how terrible that is? It's such a lie. And they know it's a lie.'" ...

     ... CW: Let's see: First he said the baby could stay because he loves babies; then he said, "Actually, I was only kidding; you can get the baby out of here," & dissed the mother for believing he really loved babies who cried when he spoke; now he says, no, he meant what he said the first time, & didn't mean what he said the second time when he said he was kidding the first time. Got that? As for the media, you all are so dumb for not knowing that when Trump says he's not kidding, it means he's kidding. It's Trumpglish! It has all the good words!

Also on the Cape this weekend: Man-of-the-People Donald Trump, who will be attending a fundraiser Saturday night hosted by multi-billionaire William Koch, one of the other-brothers, at his Oyster Harbors mansion. William may be on the outs with his more famous brothers, but he's still a dinosaur. Geoff Spillane of the Cape Cod Times: "The impact of his financial clout on Cape Cod also has been significant throughout the years, especially his opposition to the Cape Wind project. He was chairman of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, donating $1.5 million to stop the offshore wind farm, which was all but dealt a death blow last year when power purchase agreements from NStar and National Grid fell through." CW: In fairness, numerous Kennedys opposed the wind project, too.

Kira Lerner of Think Progress: Trump has pretty much shut up about it this election season, but his campaign surrogates keep wondering out loud and/or claiming that President Obama is foreign-born, a Muslim, or both. -- CW

White Men Dump Trump? Ed Kilgore: "This week's avalanche of not-so-good polling news for the polls-obsessed Donald Trump continues, with signs that maybe this is something more than a temporary post-convention bounce for Hillary Clinton.... But peering inside the polls reveals another finding that should trouble Trump and his campaign more than the top lines: He's even losing steam in the red-hot core of his base of support, the white working class." -- CW

Trump's Forever Plan. Adam Raymond of New York: "Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have options on their websites allowing supporters to set up recurring credit-card donations to their campaigns. But unlike Clinton's, Trump's website has no option to cancel those donations." -- CW

Tales from the GOP Crypt. Dylan Stableford of Yahoo! News: "'If in 96 days Trump loses this election, I am pointing the finger directly at people like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham and John McCain,' [Sean] Hannity said [Wednesday on his radio show]. 'I have watched these Republicans be more harsh toward Donald Trump than they've ever been in standing up to Barack Obama and his radical agenda. They did nothing, nothing -- all these phony votes to repeal and replace Obamacare, show votes so they can go back and keep their power and get reelected,' Hannity continued. 'Sorry, you created Donald Trump, all of you. Because of your ineffectiveness, because of your weakness, your spinelessness, your lack of vision, your inability to fight Obama.'" -- CW ...

... AND Hannity has a Twitter account, too. Also is able to spell "dumbass" & "assholes." -- CW

Congressional Races

Rep. Tim Huelskamp (RTP-Kansas), who lost his primary race to a more moderate Republican, sings his swan song & trashes the Republican leadership & pro-Hillary Clinton billionaires, in a Washington Post op-ed. -- CW

Gail Collins focuses on some U.S. Senate races.

Beyond the Beltway

Justin Jouvenal & Antonio Olivo of the Washington Post: Scott Silverthorne, the Democratic mayor of Fairfax City, Virginia, has been arrested following a sting operation. "... police said the 50-year-old was ... using a website to swap methamphetamine for sex with other men." -- CW

Humayun Khan

** "The Tragedy of Humayun Khan." Michael Hirsh in Politico Magazine: "There is a photograph of Maj. Gen. John Batiste, eyes brimming with tears after the memorial ceremony for Capt. Humayun Khan in Baqubah, Iraq, on June 11, 2004, three days following Khan’s death.... Batiste was in the receiving line after the ceremony, he recalls, and he choked up because he had come to realize the man they were burying that day ... was one of the finest soldiers under his command." -- CW

Dana Pittard, in a Washington Post op-ed: "I was ... Capt. Humayun Khan’s combat brigade commander in Diyala province, Iraq, in 2004. I came to know Humayun after taking command of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, in Germany in 2002.... Humayun died trying to save the lives of innocent Iraqis. His brave effort to approach the vehicle probably saved American lives as well.... I join all those who stand in support of the Khan family. This family is our family, and any attack on this wonderful American Gold Star family is an attack on all patriotic and loyal Americans who have sacrificed to make our country great. Any politically or racially motivated attack on the Khans is despicable and un-American.... I am a Republican.... I’m going to vote my conscience ... this year." -- CW 

By Akhilleus

It's useful to compare the actions of Captain Humayon Khan with the man who has been trying to make political gains off the pain and suffering of his parents. Khan died because he ran headlong into a clear and present danger. No soldier operating in that theater could mistake the possible outcome of an unknown vehicle speeding toward American military personnel. Nonetheless, Khan faced down this attack in order to save others under his command, as unselfish and heroic an act as one could find in the craziness of a war zone.

Now measure Khan's unselfish bravery with the craven opportunism and viciously pursued self interest of Donald Trump who would no more put himself in mortal danger for another human being than he would resist the opportunity to try to somehow take personal advantage of their sacrifice. Trump's lifelong cowardly penchant for pushing others under the bus in order to ensure his own survival is a defining trait in his life story as it remains an essential component of his campaign.

I'm not suggesting that I, or any of us, would have had the guts and astounding sense of duty it took to compel Captain Khan's actions, but I will bet there are few of us who , after the fact, would try to make personal gains off his death, belittle his family, and allow our vile surrogates to question not only his religion and ethnicity, but to attack his patriotism and loyalty to the country for which he had just made the ultimate sacrifice.

And I can't think of anyone, apart from a mentally incompetent person who would then complain that his making billions of dollars was a sacrifice as well.

The problem with Trump is that there have been so many of these incidents of the clarity of his fecklessness and greed that something this astounding becomes somewhat less obvious a lesson for American voters than it should be.

Trump is not only unfit to be president, he is astonishingly unfit for the company of decent men and women of any nation, anywhere.

The Commentariat -- August 5, 2016

Presidential Race

** William Broad & David Sanger of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton has fueled a debate over whether ... Donald J. Trump, is fit to command America's atomic forces.... President Obama was asked about it at a news conference on Thursday, where he echoed Mrs. Clinton's concerns. Her charge raises a question: Is there any check on a president's power to launch nuclear arms that could destroy entire cities or nations? The short answer is no, though history suggests that in practice, there may be ways to slow down or even derail the decision-making process. No one disputes, however, that the president has an awesome authority.... In a March interview on MSNBC, Mr. Trump asked. 'Somebody hits us within ISIS, you wouldn't fight back with a nuke?' He added, 'I would never take any of my cards off the table.' Mrs. Clinton has herself taken hawkish positions in the past. During her bid for the presidential nomination in 2007, she refused to exclude the possible use of nuclear arms against terrorists. Mr. Obama had ruled out such a step against Osama bin Laden...." -- CW ...

Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: Hillary "Clinton's campaign is quietly broadening its outreach to potential Republican converts, including donors, elected officials, and business and foreign policy leaders. The message is simple: Even if you have never before considered voting for a Democrat, and even if you don't like Clinton, choosing her this year is a moral and patriotic imperative." -- CW ...

... Paul Krugman urges Clinton not to "make a right turn" to attract conservative voters. "When Dr. Frankenstein finally realizes that he has created a monster, he doesn't get a reward. Mrs. Clinton and her party should stay the course." -- CW

Burgess Everett of Politico: At a National Urban League meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, Tim "Kaine contrasted the efforts of his father-in-law, former Virginia GOP Gov. Linwood Holton, on integrating the state's public schools with lawsuits alleging [Donald] Trump and his family were hostile to black renters in the 1970s. 'Around the time my father-in-law desegregated Virginia's schools,' Kaine said, 'the Justice Department had filed suit after Donald Trump and his father were refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans. It was one of the largest federal cases of its kind at the time.'... [Kaine also shared his own history of working to improve conditions in Richmond, Virginia.] Though Trump has vowed to help rebuild America's inner cities, the campaign did not send an emissary to address attendees at this conference, despite invitations from Urban League President Marc H. Morial." -- CW ...

... Donald Trump, 20th-Century Guy. Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump is 'confused' about at least a couple of things, Democratic running mate Tim Kaine said, after the Republican nominee on Thursday repeated a claim about seeing footage of money coming off of a plane in Iran after his own campaign earlier said he watched no such video.... 'It doesn't exist. I-- he might be thinking about Iran Contra from, like, 35 years ago or something like this,' Kaine said, before referring to Trump confusing him with a similarly named politician last week. 'He recently criticized me saying I was a bad governor of New Jersey.'" CW: Tom Kean was governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. -- CW

** Donald Trump, Putin's Dupe. Michael Morrell, former Acting Director of the CIA, in a New York Times op-ed: "On Nov. 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton.... First, Mrs. Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief. I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president -- keeping our nation safe. Second, Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security.... The dangers that flow from Mr. Trump's character are not just risks that would emerge if he became president. It is already damaging our national security.... Mr. Trump has also taken policy positions consistent with Russian, not American, interests.... In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation." -- CW ...

     ... CW: Morrell's op-ed is extraordinary, as it comes from a national security expert who claims no political affiliation.

Bernie Sanders, in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee and I will vigorously support her.... On virtually every major issue facing this country and the needs of working families, Clinton's positions are far superior to Trump's. Our campaigns worked together to produce the most progressive platform in the history of American politics.... I understand that many of my supporters are disappointed by the final results of the nominating process.... Going forward and continuing the struggle is what matters. And, in that struggle, the most immediate task we face is to defeat Donald Trump." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Obama Tells Reporters to Do Their Own Jobs. Greg Jaffe, et al., of the Washington Post: "As he prepared to head off for his summer vacation, President Obama on Thursday made clear that he could use a break from talking about Donald Trump.... After the third question on Trump, which focused on the nuclear issue, the president offered a blanket response that would cover any further inquiries about the GOP nominee and his fitness for the Oval Office.... 'I've made this point already multiple times. Just listen to what Mr. Trump has to say and make your own judgment with respect to how confident you feel about his ability to manage things like our nuclear triad.' To ward off further inquiries, the president warned that any further questions on the subject would receive 'variations on the same theme.'" -- CW ...

... Tyler Page of Politico: When asked in the presser if he was concerned about Donald Trump's receiving national security briefings, President Obama said, "'What I will say is that they have been told these are classified briefings and if they want to be president, they have to start acting like a president and that means being able to receive these briefings and not spread them around.'" -- CW ...

... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: A reporter asked President Obama "about Trump's claim that the election will be rigged.... He was laughing as he called Trump 'ridiculous.' 'I don't even really know where to start on answering this question,' he said. 'Of course the elections will not be rigged. What does that mean?' Obama sketched out what a nationwide conspiracy would have to look like, the number of people involved, the silence and complicity even in Republican strongholds like Texas. 'That doesn't make any sense. I don't think anybody would take that seriously,' he said.... 'I think all of us at some points in our lives have played sports or maybe just played in a schoolyard or sandbox, and sometimes folks if they lose, they complain they got cheated,' Obama said. 'But I've never heard of somebody complaining about being cheated before the game was over. Or before the score is even tallied.' Just to be clear what the difference is between Trump's and the serious president Obama is eager to remind people he is, he took this as an opportunity to launch into actual voting problems that his administration has been concerned about..., particularly around potential civil rights violations at the polls that he said his Department of Justice is on the lookout for." -- CW ...

... Video of President Obama's full press conference is embedded below. ...

... Ben Wofford of Politico Magazine: "How to Hack an Election in 7 Minutes. With Russia already meddling in 2016, a ragtag group of obsessive tech experts is warning that stealing the ultimate prize -- victory on Nov. 8 -- would be child's play." -- CW

Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Donald Trump rejected President Barack Obama's latest criticisms in yet another late night tweetstorm, doubling-down on his accusations of election tampering and terror funding." Sample tweet: "President Obama should ask the DNC about how they rigged the election against Bernie." -- CW

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Facing urgent calls to stabilize his candidacy and declining poll numbers, Donald J. Trump struggled on Thursday to refocus his message.... Mr. Trump's campaign has existed in a state of crisis for a full week now.... Mr. Trump played down the friction between him and [Speaker Paul] Ryan at a campaign stop [in Portland, Maine,] on Thursday, calling Mr. Ryan a 'good guy' and discouraging a supportive crowd from booing Mr. Ryan's name.... Testing his appeal with a stump speech in Portland, a liberal downstate city, Mr. Trump was repeatedly interrupted by young demonstrators brandishing pocket-size copies of the Constitution.... Mr. Trump [CW: again] described seeing a video of a plane landing in Iran bearing cash in several currencies -- even though there is no evidence that such a video exists." -- CW ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "Despite Donald Trump's claim of having seen video footage of the $400 million cash delivery to Iran having been acknowledge[d] as false by his own campaign..., [Trump] kicked off a rally Thursday afternoon by repeating the tall tale.... Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks confirmed to The Washington Post on Wednesday after the rally that the video to which the candidate referred was in fact simple B-roll footage from Geneva aired by Fox News, not a secret Iranian tape.... Later Thursday afternoon, during a news conference at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama ... dismissed the story as 'the manufacturing of outrage.' He pointed out that the White House had been up front about the payment in January when it occurred and that White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest had spoken about it during a press briefing at the time." -- CW ...

... Update. Nick Gass: "Donald Trump did something unusual Friday: He admitted he was wrong. 'The plane I saw on television was the hostage plane in Geneva, Switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to Iran!' the Republican nominee tweeted, a day after he doubled down on his claim that he had seen footage of a plane unloading money on the same day the Iranian government released four American prisoners in January." -- CW ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "By now, it is well-established that Trump struggles with the facts, and he's prone to apparently inventing stories about things. But Trump's imagination is especially vivid and prolific when it comes to stories involving ... Muslims.... Trump's stories involving Muslims stand out in part because of 1) how utterly divorced from the available evidence they are, and 2) how much he keeps repeating them even after it's pointed out that they have no basis in reality. And it dates back years. Trump's rise to prominence in conservative circles was largely due to his questioning of the birth story of President Obama. While the 'birther' controversy was about where Obama was born, it is inextricably linked to questions about what Obama's true religion is...." -- CW

CW: As is my usual practice, I skipped David Brooks this morning, but Marvin S. is right: Brooks' column is worth a read. Not only does Brooks psychoanalyze Trump, he excoriates his party quislings. ...

Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly: When Scott Thistle of the Portland Press-Herald asked Donald Trump if he would give Maine Gov. Paul LePage a cabinet position, Trump said, "... he is a very talented guy, he is also a great person, a tremendous person and if he were available I would certainly find something for Paul because he's done a great job up here, he's not only popular, he's done an unbelievable job so I would certainly say that he would be a candidate." ...

     ... CW: Clinton just lost Maine, as the state's voters surely will flock to Trump on the promise of getting rid of LePage. ...

... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump declined to name any possible women he would name to his cabinet as president on Wednesday, instead naming his daughter Ivanka and the woman interviewing him as possible cabinet members. 'Well, we have so many different ones to choose,' Trump told First Coast News in Florida. Trump was speaking with Angelia Savage, who hosts The Chat on the channel; she previously worked for the Trump Organization."...

     ... CW: In case you're saying to yourself, "I wonder if Angelia Savage is a beautiful woman & that's why Trump would select her for a cabinet post," watch the video that accompanies Kaczynski's post. Looks as if Trump's cabinet to date then is Paul LePage, Ivanka Trump & Angelia Savage, although Trump has previously floated the names of Carl Ichan, Chris Christie & Sarah Palin. For some reason, Trump couldn't think of Palin (she didn't go to his convention) Wednesday. ...

... MEANWHILE, Hillary Clinton, in a helpful tweet, reminded Trump that she knows a guy who has "binders full of women," but "He might not take your calls." -- CW

Greg Sargent: "Trump ... has repeatedly said, in various ways, that his strategy is premised on sucking up all the media oxygen. After Melania Trump's convention speech was revealed as plagiarism, Trump said that all the publicity devoted to the speech was a positive, because 'all press is good press.'Before that, Trump flatly stated that he had an advantage in the general election because 'I have the loudspeaker.' But it's becoming increasingly obvious that 'the loudspeaker' is turning voters against Trump, perhaps to a point from which there will be no coming back." -- CW

Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump has "risked alienating a ... pivotal constituency in the swing states that will decide the presidential election: military communities dismayed by his crude and sometimes offensive comments about the armed services. Starting last week when he clashed with Khizr and Ghazala Khan..., Mr. Trump has reignited a set of controversies surrounding his approach to the military. He has drawn fresh attention to his derisive comments about Senator John McCain's capture in Vietnam, as well as to his own avoidance of military service during the same war. He attacked Gen. John R. Allen, a retired Marine who endorsed Hillary Clinton, as a 'failed general' over the weekend, and he joked at a campaign event on Tuesday about receiving a Purple Heart, the military decoration for soldiers wounded in combat." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... BUT. Susan Eastman of the Washington Post: "While the media again and again recounts Donald Trump's latest self-brewed controversy, his supporters say they are nonplused. Telling the Russians to hack a former secretary of state's emails? A joke, many of them say. Insulting the family of fallen war hero? He was baited into it, they say. Refusing to endorse the reelection of Republican stalwarts such as Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.)? They say Trump doesn't need the Republican leadership. Many of Trump's supporters say they don't even care that he seemed to kick a crying baby out of a rally in Virginia earlier this week. At two rallies Wednesday in Florida ... several supporters said they're willing to overlook these jokes and ineloquent comments because Trump has taken on the heroic task of rescuing the United States and returning it to glory." -- CW

... Ryan Sees the Small-Hand-Writing on the Wall. Jenna Johnson & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) sent an urgent fundraising appeal Thursday evening that warned: 'If we fail to protect our majority in Congress, we could be handing President Hillary Clinton a blank check.'... Ryan used the words 'blank check' at least three times Thursday, as Trump sat below Clinton in the polls.... [The term] goes back 20 years.... In the weeks before the 1996 presidential election, as it became clearer and clearer that GOP nominee Bob Dole would not defeat incumbent president Bill Clinton, Republican operatives began urging their struggling congressional candidates to begin making the argument: 'Let's not give Clinton a blank check.'” The suggestion is that Ryan sees the outcome of Trump's campaign as disastrous for Republicans as was Dole's. -- CW ...

 Stubby Fingers

... Benjamin Svetky of the Hollywood Reporter: "... in 1997, a team of wax figure artists from Madame Tussauds visited Trump's office in Trump Tower in New York to take measurements and make impressions of various body parts -- including his hands -- to help them construct a life-size wax replica for the museum's New York branch on 42nd Street. One of those handprints has been hiding in plain sight ever since: on a plaque on the wall as guests exit the museum.... The scientifically objective results: Trump does indeed have hands just below average size, particularly for a man standing 6-foot-2." -- CW

Kim Soffen of the Washington Post: "According to data from Ergonomics Center of North Carolina, the average American male's hand is 7.61 inches long. Trump's hand sits at the 15^th percentile mark. That is, 85 percent of American men have larger hands than Trump. As do a third of women. But bear in mind, that is the 15^th percentile among all American men. Trump is tall -- about 6-foot-3, half a foot taller than the 5-foot-9 average among American men.... If Trump were compared to men of his stature rather than the public at large, his hands would comparatively be even smaller."

You can compare your hand size to Trump's here, courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter. (Adjust your computer screen to the inches gauge on the left or print the page.) CW: Trump's hands are significantly larger than mine, BUT his fingers are the same length as mine.

CW: Reality Chex brings you all the important political news.

We just came out our convention, and yeah [Trump has] had a pretty strange run since the convention. You would think you oughta be focusing on Hillary Clinton, on all of her deficiencies. She is such a weak candidate that one would think we'd be on offense against Hillary Clinton, and it is distressing that that's not what we're talking about these days. -- Paul Ryan, in a radio interview Thursday

... "Tut, Tut." -- Ryan to Trump. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan repeated Thursday that his endorsement of ... Donald Trump was 'not a blank check' and delivered a sharp critique of Trump's flailing campaign two days after Trump declined to endorse Ryan for reelection to his Wisconsin congressional seat.... [But Ryan said] he would remain behind Trump even after the Khan controversy while continuing to speak out against his various controversial utterances." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Morgan Winsor of ABC News: "Donald Trump's campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, acknowledged that 'there's a conflict within the Trump campaign' over the Republican presidential nominee's hesitation to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin for re-election. 'But Ryan is also running against somebody who's not going to win but nonetheless is a strong supporter of Mr. Trump's'' Manafort told George Stephanopoulos on 'Good Morning America.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

James Surowiecki of the New Yorker: "A President's ability to make policies with the stroke of a pen is a good thing if you support those policies. But it means that a new President can change them overnight.... Donald Trump has made it clear that he sees [President] Obama as having 'led the way' in using executive action aggressively and that, if elected, he intends to do the same. 'I'm going to do a lot of right things,' he has said, and he's pledged to reverse many of Obama's executive orders and memorandums 'within two minutes' of taking office.... A radical, authoritarian President could do a great deal to remake economic and regulatory policy before ever running into legal opposition (to say nothing of executive control of foreign policy). The power of the President is greater than ever. The choice of a President matters more than ever, too." -- CW

David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "Donald Trump's incompetence in the general election campaign is breathtaking on almost every level. For a man whose calling card is his supposed success in business, he seems to be incompetent at every talent important to being a successful businessman.... It's hard to see what skills beyond the basest, brashest level of raw showmanship Trump brings to the table. There are tens of millions of Americans with more organizational, diplomatic, financial, academic temperamental and other skills than Donald Trump.... And yet, Donald Trump is an alleged billionaire, while tens of millions of far more deserving Americans struggle to survive in a declining middle class. American capitalism may be many things, but a meritocracy it isn't." -- CW

Rosalind Helderman & Mary Jordan of the Washington Post: "The [Trump] campaign has not responded to questions asking how [nude] photos [of Melania Trump] could be shot [in New York City] in 1995 if Melania Trump arrived in 1996." The report is in Q&A format. A number of the As are "We don't know. The Trump campaign would not answer this question." The reporters do write that if Melania Trump was not compensated in any way -- that is, including such benefits as airfare or housing -- her 1995 photo shoot would not have been illegal if she had traveled to the U.S. a visitor's visa. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kim Soffen: "In response to a Twitter user asking where to obtain a 'Republicans for Hillary' sign, two tweets came Wednesday from the Riverside County GOP official Twitter account. Both depicted a bloodied hangman holding a noose, with the words 'I'm Ready for Hillary' printed at the bottom. The second included a caption, referring to the 'Republicans for Hillary' signs: 'sorry they never arrived but this is pretty popular.'... The party official who sent the tweets, identified as Nathan Miller, remains listed as a member of the Executive Committee for the Riverside County GOP. But he resigned from his job as in the California state government on Thursday, according to his superior Russell Lowery.... A Secret Service investigation into the tweets is pending, the [Riverside, California,] Press-Enterprise said." -- CW

Congressional Race

Lisa Hagen of the Hill: "Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) won his GOP primary Thursday night. DesJarlais led Grant Starrett, a 28-year-old lawyer who served as a former aide to Mitt Romney, 51 percent to 44 percent when the Associated Press called the race with 84 percent of the votes counted.... The pro-life Tennessee Republican has been plagued for years by the 2012 revelation that he pressured his ex-wife to get abortions and that he had sexual relations with his patients while he was practicing medicine." -- CW

Other News & Views

President Obama held a press conference at the Pentagon today, following a meeting of his National Security Council:

Beyond the Beltway

Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "A police officer in southern Virginia was convicted of manslaughter and jurors recommended a sentence of two and a half years in prison on Thursday for his fatal shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old during a confrontation over a suspected shoplifting. Jurors at Portsmouth circuit court found Stephen Rankin guilty of voluntary manslaughter for killing William Chapman in April last year. It was Rankin's second fatal shooting of an unarmed man in the city." -- CW: Two-and-a-half years???

Lindsey Bever of the Washington Post: "... a longtime state representative was arrested for allegedly stealing his opponent's campaign signs -- and then his opponent paid his bail." Both are Republicans, competing in a primary. -- CW

News Lede

Bloomberg: "Employment jumped in July for a second month and wages climbed, pointing to renewed vigor in the U.S. labor market that will sustain consumer spending into the second half of the year. Payrolls climbed by 255,000 last month, exceeding all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of 89 economists, following a 292,000 gain in June that was a bit larger than previously estimated, a Labor Department report showed Friday. The jobless rate held at 4.9 percent as many of the people streaming into the labor force found jobs." -- CW