The Commentariat -- August 2, 2016

Afternoon Update:

** Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In his strongest denunciation of Donald J. Trump so far, President Obama on Tuesday said Mr. Trump was 'unfit to serve as president' and urged the leaders of the Republican Party to withdraw their backing for his candidacy. Mr. Obama said the Republican criticisms of Mr. Trump 'ring hollow' if the party's leaders continue to support his bid for the presidency this fall, particularly in light of Republican criticisms of Mr. Trump for his attacks on the Muslim parents of an American soldier, Humayun Khan, who died in Iraq.... Mr. Obama said that ... Mr. Trump ... had demonstrated that he was 'woefully unprepared to do this job.' The president said Mr. Trump lacked knowledge about Europe, the Middle East and Asia." -- CW ...

... C-SPAN has video of the full joint press conference, held with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

David Goodman & Al Baker of the New York Times: "William J. Bratton, the commissioner of the New York Police Department and the most widely recognized face in American policing, will step down next month to take a job in the private sector, ending a 45-year career in public life that spanned the country, from Boston to Los Angeles, and that reshaped the image of what a police commander could be." -- CW ...

... Amber Jamieson of the Guardian: "Protesters in New York City began occupying the park next to city hall in Manhattan on Monday, declaring they would not leave until police commissioner Bill Bratton was fired. Organized by Millions March NYC, a group affiliated with Black Lives Matter movement, the #ShutDownCityHallNYC protest has been inspired by protesters setting up encampments in public spaces in Chicago and Los Angeles to fight for the abolition of the police." CW: Hmm, nothing about this is the Times story. But then the Times often doesn't think protests are news fit to print.

Julie Zauzmer of the Washington Post: "In May, Pope Francis remarked that the Catholic Church should study whether women could be 'reinstated' as deacons -- a proposal that could introduce a role for women in the Catholic clergy that has been open only to men for centuries. On Tuesday, he made good on that comment.... The Vatican announced the members of the new Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women...." -- CW

Air Force mom attacked by Trump supporters: Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: Catherine Byrne, "stood before [a] crowd of hundreds at a town hall-style event [in Carson City, Nevada] with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and announced that her son serves in the Air Force. The crowd applauded. But then the woman said, 'Time and time again, [Donald] Trump has disrespected our nation's armed forces and veterans. And his disrespect for Mr. Khan ... ' The reaction of the crowd was immediate and fierce, drowning out her words.... [Byrne] continued to speak through the jeers." Akhilleus: Anyone wondering if Trump's continued attacks against a Gold Star mother bothered the stormtrumpers has their answer. There will be no questioning of der Führer. Achtung!

Trees and Rotten Apples: Little Eric Trump appeared on CBS morning to further rip the Khans and lie some more. Surprised? David Wright of CNN: "Eric Trump defended his father Tuesday from criticism for his treatment of the family of a slain Muslim US soldier and said that he had already apologized to the Khans and Gold Star families -- despite the fact that the senior Trump has pointedly declined to apologize. Appearing on 'CBS This Morning,' Trump was pressed about his father's lack of apology for his criticism of the Khan family, even amid stinging bipartisan condemnation for his remarks." Akhilleus: Another proficient Trump liar. Even better, little Eric began the segment by implying that the Khans were ruthless for "attacking" daddy. A bit later, in response to a question about sexual harrassment in the workplace, especially if it involved his sister, Ivanka, Trump sniffed that she would never allow herself to be "objected" to such a thing. Another English scholar.

Not just an excuse: Trump's declaration that the upcoming election will be rigged is a lot more than just a cover for losing: Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Meanwhile, longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone is explicitly encouraging Trump to make this case to his supporters. 'I think we have widespread voter fraud, but the first thing that Trump needs to do is begin talking about it constantly,' Stone told a friendly interviewer, adding that Trump should start saying this: 'If there's voter fraud, this election will be illegitimate, the election of the winner will be illegitimate, we will have a constitutional crisis, widespread civil disobedience, and the government will no longer be the government.'" Akhilleus: What Trump and Stone are trying to arrange with their scheme is nothing short of treason. Republicans have been trying to deligitimize any government run by or even with Democratic input. This goes far beyond that. This is preparation for an uprising and for directing supporters to ignore the rule of law in favor of anarchy and the Rule of Trump.

*****

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama said on Monday that his administration had made strides in turning around the veterans health care system, highlighting a decline in the number of veterans facing long waits for doctor visits. The president acknowledged that many veterans remained frustrated by the health care bureaucracy, calling continued delays in seeing doctors 'inexcusable.' And he said the country needed to do more to help economically struggling veterans. But veteran homelessness, he said, has been cut almost in half since 2010, when the administration outlined a national strategy on the issue. He vowed to continue working with states and cities toward 'ending the tragedy, the travesty of veterans' homelessness.'" -- CW ...

Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "A longtime FBI employee with top-secret clearances pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of China and providing officials in that country with sensitive information, prosecutors announced Monday. Kun Shan Chun was secretly arrested in March and held on charges of lying repeatedly about his contacts in China, who lavished him with prostitutes, cash and expensive hotel rooms, according to the criminal complaint." -- CW

Presidential Race

Eric Bradner of CNN: "Jeb Bush's top adviser, Sally Bradshaw, has left the Republican Party to become an independent, and says if the presidential race in Florida is close, she'll vote for Hillary Clinton. Bradshaw, who's been close to the former Florida governor for decades and was senior adviser to his 2016 campaign, officially switched her registration to unaffiliated. She told CNN's Jamie Gangel in an email interview that the GOP is 'at a crossroads and have nominated a total narcissist -- a misogynist -- a bigot.'" -- CW ...

... Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "In a scathing letter read on CNN, Sally Bradshaw, who co-authored an RNC report showing what went wrong in the 2012 election [-- CW: the so-called 'GOP autopsy report' --] said she would hold her nose and vote for ... Hillary Clinton if the election is close.... 'As much as I don't want another four years of Obama's policies, I can't look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump,' she wrote. 'I can't tell them to love their neighbor and treat others the way they wanted to be treated, and then vote for Donald Trump.'" -- CW

Trump Sets Up His General Election Loss. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump on Monday took his complaints about the 'rigged' political system one step further. 'I'm afraid the election's going to be rigged. I have to be honest,' Trump told voters in Ohio, a crucial swing state....Trump added that he has heard 'more and more' that the November election will be rigged -- suggesting to his supporters that the outcome of the election is out of the hands of voters." -- CW ...

... Update. Greg Sargent: "It is perhaps not a coincidence that Trump has suddenly stopped tweeting about polls (which are now showing Clinton taking a meaningful lead) at precisely the moment that he is escalating his efforts to cast doubt, in advance, on the legitimacy of the general election's outcome. Trump and his supporters have now said in a series of new public remarks that the outcome of the election is likely to be 'rigged.'... It's also about delegitimizing the Hillary Clinton presidency, should she win. Indeed, it bears recalling the GOP convention itself was to no small degree framed around this idea." -- CW

Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump unabashedly trumpeted his support for warmer relations with Russia at a campaign rally [in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania,] on Monday night, acidly mocking opponents who say he is too friendly to Vladimir V. Putin, the country's strongman president.... Mr. Trump also reiterated his view that NATO, the security alliance formed as a bulwark against the Soviet Union, was 'obsolete.'... He derided Mrs. Clinton at length and accused her Democratic primary opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, of having made a 'deal with the devil' to support her in the general election. 'She's the devil,' Mr. Trump said of Mrs. Clinton." -- CW ...

... A Neville Chamberlain for Our Times. David Graham of the Atlantic: "Speaking on Monday in Columbus, Ohio, Donald Trump delivered a new series of head-spinning remarks. Most notably, Trump defended controversial comments he made about Ukraine and Crimea over the weekend, and he preemptively questioned the legitimacy of the elections, suggesting that the election might be 'rigged.'... 'So when I said, "Believe me, Russia's not going into Ukraine...." The person said, "But they're already in Ukraine,"' Trump said. 'I said, "Yeah, that was two years ago." You want to go back? You want to have World War III to get it back?'" ...

     ... CW: No, that's not what Trump said. Not at all. It was crystal-clear in the interview that Trump had no idea Russia had taken control of part of Ukraine "two years ago." Or ever. He doesn't seem to know Crimea is -- or was -- part of Ukraine. Trump promised, "He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want." When George Stephanopoulos said, "... he's already there, isn't he?" Trump replied,

OK, well, he's there in a certain way, but I'm not there yet. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama, with all the strength that you're talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this, in the meantime, he's going where -- he takes -- takes Crimea, he's sort of -- I mean

Well, [Vladimir Putin has] done an amazing job of taking the mantle. And he's taken it away from the president [Obama?? Ukraine didn't have a president at the time], and you look at what he's doing. And so smart. When you see the riots in a country because they're hurting the Russians, okay, 'We'll go and take it over.' And he really goes step by step by step, and you have to give him a lot of credit. Interestingly, I own the Miss Universe pageant. We just left Moscow. He could not have been nicer. He was so nice and so everything. But you have to give him credit that what he's doing for that country in terms of their world prestige is very strong. -- Donald Trump, on Fox "News," April 2014

Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "In an interview with a local Ohio television station on Monday, Donald Trump said that Khizr Khan was really bothered by his position on border security -- specifically his promise to keep radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country.... [Trump said,] 'And border security's very big. And when you have radical Islamic terrorists probably all over the place, we're allowing them to come in by the thousands and thousands. And I think that's what bothered Mr. Khan more than anything else.'" CW: See also stories linked today & yesterday about Trump surrogates claiming Khan is a secret member of the Muslim Brotherhood. Trump doesn't go that far, but that's what he means, wink, wink. ...

... Richard Cowan & David Morgan of Reuters: "Donald Trump's presidential campaign appealed to Capitol Hill for support on Monday as his attacks on the Muslim parents of a decorated American soldier killed in Iraq drew sharp rebukes from fellow party members." -- CW ...

... Scott Horsley of NPR: "In an implicit rebuke of Donald Trump, President Obama praised the nation's Gold Star families, saying those who've lost loved ones in military service are 'a powerful reminder of the true strength of America.' 'No one has given more for our freedom and our security than our Gold Star families,' Obama said Monday, in a speech to the Disabled American Veterans in Atlanta. 'Our Gold Star families have made a sacrifice that most of us cannot even begin to imagine.'... While Obama did not cite Trump by name Monday, there was no mistaking the target of his remarks.... The president also took a veiled swipe at Trump for criticizing America's military readiness. Back in January..., [Trump] said the U.S. military was 'a disaster,' and last month he told a Virginia TV station 'we have a military that's depleted and in horrible shape.' Obama told the veterans group, 'I'm pretty tired of some folks trash talking America's military and troops.'" -- CW ...

... Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "A bipartisan constellation of decorated combat veterans, members of Congress and family members of slain soldiers admonished Donald Trump on Monday for criticizing the Muslim American parents of an Army officer killed in Iraq, threatening to undermine Trump's support among core Republican voters. The condemnations by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and dozens of veterans and family members of those killed in the line of duty served as the most forceful rebuke yet of the mogul's comments and his anti-Muslim rhetoric.... A bipartisan coalition of veterans, family members of military personnel killed in the line of duty, a veteran serving in Congress and an ex-diplomat sent a letter to Trump calling his criticism of the Khans an affront to each of them. It also called for him to apologize." -- CW ...

... Margaret Hartmann has a good overview of Trump's latest slanders of the Kahns & on Republicans' reactions (and non-reactions). -- CW ...

... And Away We Go! Judd Legum of Think Progress: "New Hampshire [State] Representative Al Baldasaro..., co-chair of the Trump campaign for veterans' issues..., told ThinkProgress that he believes Khizr Khan ... is an agent of the Muslim Brotherhood. Baldasaro explained that he believes Khan has 'long ties to the Clinton and Obama campaign.' That is damning because 'in the White House there is the Muslim Brotherhood.' Baldasaro suggested 'looking it up on the internet' for more information. There is no evidence that Khan had any connection to Clinton or Obama prior to agreeing to speak at the Democratic convention.... Last month, Baldasaro called on Hillary Clinton to be executed by firing squad and refused to apologize." -- CW ...

... The Sacrifices of the Donald, Elaborated. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Donald Trump surrogate Scottie Nell Hughes defended the GOP hopeful over the weekend after he came under fire for appearing to equate the death of a soldier in the Iraq war to 'sacrifices' he made during his business career.... 'Is creating a job considered a sacrifice?' CNN host Fredricka Whitfield wondered. 'You know what, creating jobs caused him to be at work, which cost him two marriages,' Hughes asserted. 'Time away from his family to sit there and invest.'" (Emphasis added.)

     ... CW: Now I feel terrible about being so mean to Trump. ... Okay, I'm over it. Let's go to #DonaldTrumpTheMovie.

Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "The investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett unleashed a withering attack on Donald J. Trump on Monday for refusing to release his tax returns, asserting he had something to hide, and for misleading voters about his success as a businessman and ability to improve the American economy. Mr. Buffett, known to investors as the Sage of Omaha, said a monkey throwing darts at the stock pages in 1995, when Mr. Trump first offered stock in his Atlantic City hotels, would have come out far ahead of anyone who listened to Mr. Trump's 'siren song' and invested in his company that lost money year over year.... Mr. Buffett appeared at a rally with Hillary Clinton..., in his hometown, Omaha. Taking on Mr. Trump, he pledged to personally transport 10 Nebraskans to the polls on Election Day on behalf of Mrs. Clinton and urged others to do the same." -- CW ...

... Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: Warren Buffett challenged Donald Trump to a tax release "duel." "'I'll bring my return, he'll bring his return, we're both under audit,' Buffett said.... 'He's not afraid because of the IRS, he's afraid because of you, he [told the crowd at the Clinton rally].... In addition..., Buffett criticized [Trump] for suggesting that "building a bunch of buildings" is a sacrifice like the one made by the families of fallen soldiers. 'I ask Donald Trump: Have you no sense of decency sir?'" -- CW ...

... CW: Reporters suggested yesterday that Hillary Clinton's trip to Omaha in search of a single Electoral College vote was a bit of a fool's errand. Evidently not.

Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump reveled in The Washington Post's recent fact check [linked here yesterday] of Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, tweeting a video and alleging that the Democratic nominee has lied on multiple occasions about her use of private email while secretary of state. 'The Washington Post calls out #CrookedHillary for what she REALLY is. A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR! Watch that nose grow!' Trump said in tweeting a 60-second video from the campaign featuring footage of Clinton denying wrongdoing, the nose on a cartoon version of Clinton at the bottom of the screen grows precipitously." ...

     ... CW: Thanks, Hillary, for forcing me to agree, at least in part, with Both-Sides-Do-It King Ron Fournier: "I'm not angry at Trump; I expect him to be repugnant. I am angry at Clinton, because she followed up her convention with another unnecessary lie; another excuse for people to distrust her...." Politifact, BTW, also gave Clinton a Pants-on-Fire rating for her false claim on Fox "News" that "FBI director James 'Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people.'" A commenter today wrote, "... she's made mistakes but I believe she learns from them." No, she doesn't. And her failure to learn creates openings for Donald Trump, of all people, to credibly call her a pathological liar.

<'>Brian Stelter of CNN Money: "By the looks of Donald Trump's Twitter feed, you might think he is running against CNN, not Hillary Clinton. On Monday afternoon Trump fired off six tweets in a row attacking CNN's news coverage and accusing the network of being the 'press shop for Hillary Clinton.'" -- CW ...

You look at The New York Times, I mean, the fail [[ I call it 'The Failing New York Times' because it won't be in business for another, probably more than a few years unless somebody goes in and buys it and wants to lose a lot of money. But The New York Times is so unfair. I mean they write three, four articles about me a day. No matter how good I do on something, they'll never write good.... They don't write good. They have people over there, like Maggie Haberman and others, they don't -- they don't write good. They don't know how to write good. -- Donald Trump, on Sean Hannity's show, Monday

For one thing, Haberman seldom confuses a common adjective with a common adverb, and if she does, she doesn't repeat it five times in short succession. -- Constant Weader ...

... Because They Don't Write Good... Kelsey Sutton of Politico: "Donald Trump suggested that his campaign may take away press credentials from The New York Times, his latest attack on the media over the course of his presidential campaign. At a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday..., [Trump] called the Times' coverage of him 'very dishonest' and suggested adopting the same ban on the newspaper as he has on The Washington Post. Trump revoked the Post's press credentials in June after the newspaper published an article critical of Trump's statements about a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida." -- CW

New York Times Editors: "... even as [Donald Trump] creates a political whirlwind with each utterance, leading members of his own party haven't the spine to rescind their support. Sure, some have come out with strong criticisms, but none have gone far enough. Repudiation of his candidacy is the only principled response." -- CW ...

... Mark Weiner of the Syracuse (New York) Post-Standard: "U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a three-term Republican, said Tuesday he will vote for Hillary Clinton for president because Donald Trump is 'unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country.' Hanna becomes the first Republican member of Congress to publicly declare he will vote for Clinton in November." -- CW ...

     ... Here is Hanna's letter to the Post-Standard explaining his decision.

Robert Kagan in a Washington Post op-ed: "The fact that Trump could not help himself, that he clearly did, as he said, want to 'hit' everyone who spoke against him at the Democratic convention, suggests that there really is something wrong with the man.... The man cannot control himself ... even when it is manifestly in his interest to do so.... His psychological pathologies are ultimately self-destructive.... What we have seen in the Trump campaign is ... a personality defect that has had the effect of stirring up anger. And because it is a defect and not a tactic, it would continue to affect Trump's behavior in the White House." -- CW

Dana Milbank: "Donald Trump's long-tortured relationship with the truth is nearing a point of total estrangement.... Journalists hesitate to call these falsehoods 'lies' because it's hard to know whether ignorance or malice is to blame. But in Trump's case, there's a third possibility that is particularly alarming: He may not be able to tell fact from fiction.... In March, Politico analyzed a week's worth of Trump's words and found that he averaged one misstatement every five minutes." -- CW ...

... Jim Fallows also runs down a shortlist of Trump's recent calumnies & foibles: "I want to steer clear of 'medicalizing' discussion of Trump's fantasies, his microscopically thin skin, his seemingly uncontrollable outbursts. I have no idea whether we're seeing his basic personality and temperament, or something else. And from a civic perspective, it doesn't matter. Either he doesn't know the difference between truth and falsehood, or he knows it and does not care. Either is a big problem in a president. Either way, something is wrong with him." -- CW ...

... Yeah, Trump Lies about Everything. Steve Eder & Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's public statements about his draft experience sometimes conflict with his Selective Service records, and he is often hazy in recalling details." For instance, "In a 2011 television interview, Mr. Trump described watching the draft lottery as a college student and learning then that he would not be drafted. 'I'll never forget...,' he said in the interview, on Fox 5 New York. 'I was going to the Wharton School of Finance, and I was watching as they did the draft numbers, and I got a very, very high number.' But Mr. Trump had graduated from Wharton 18 months before the lottery -- the first in the United States in 27 years -- was held." -- CW ...

... No, Trump Can't Let Go Any Criticism. On July 29, 2016, Donald Trump made an extended excuse for attempting to imitate the effects of reporter Serge Kovaleski's physical disability. Glenn Kessler runs down the lies in Trump proffers in his self-defense, including the Big Lie -- that he didn't mock Kovaleski.

It remains a mystery why Trump feels to need to revisit past controversies, particularly ones that reflect poorly on his tenor and judgment. But, as the evidence shows, Trump clearly mocked Kovaleski -- who in any case never 'groveled' [as Trump claimed] or in any way took back his reporting [as Trump also claimed]. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

... Steve M. is unimpressed over all the sturm und drang over Trump's mistreatment of the Kahns: "By November, no voter is going to say, 'I would have voted for Trump, but he attacked those Muslim Gold Star parents; -- either you were already disgusted by Trump's hatemongering or you're incapable of seeing people like the Khans as human. And if you're in the latter category, you're in the majority of white Americans -- which is the real problem." The video Steve posts in an update is instructive. ...

     ... CW: I think Trump's attack on the Kahns will make a difference, albeit a small one. Steve is right on the minutiae, and he's right about the press's (and, incidentally, my )overreaction. But most of the stories about Trump's instability & his lies don't trickle down to disinterested voters. However, each individual story of Trump's Barbarity of the Day increases the odds a low-info voter will get wind of a Trump atrocity, and that atrocity could repel the voter. For some conservative voters who are paying attention, there will be a cumulative effect of story after story that reveals Trump's pathology. After awhile, a decent conservative is going to hit a tipping point, just as Jeb!'s advisor Sally Bradshaw did.

Danielle Keeton-Olsen of TPM: "Donald Trump's efforts to make the Republican National Convention 'unlike any we've ever seen' produced an unexpected first: the first time more voters came away from a convention less likely to vote for the party's nominee than they were to support him or her, according to Gallup. Gallup has surveyed on this question since 1984, and the 2016 GOP convention was the first time where a candidate ended up in negative territory.... ... In direct contrast, 45 percent say they are more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton based on what they saw of the Democratic National Convention, with 41 percent saying the opposite." -- CW ...

... Jeffrey Jones of Gallup: "Trump's speech was rated less positively than any Gallup has asked about since 1996. The positive rating of [Hillary] Clinton's speech is slightly below the historical average of 47%, but similar to Barack Obama's 2012 acceptance speech.... Also, Obama's job approval rating is now up to 54%, tied for the highest it has been since early 2013." CW: So more people watched Trump's speech than Clinton's (possibly because he asked supporters not to tune in to Clinton's speech), but Trump turned them off. Great strategy, Donaldovich. Guess what? Nobody dumb enough to follow your instructions is likely to vote for Hillary Clinton anyway.

Jonathan Chait thinks he has found "the craziest endorsement of Trump yet." It comes from Hugh Hewitt, who argues that "'Hillary Clinton is thoroughly compromised by the Russians,' because Russia has hacked her emails, and thus, 'Hillary is already a Putin pawn.' On planet Earth, the evidence that Trump is compromised by Putin is vast.... If you care at all about Russian influence in American politics, Trump is ... the most alarming major-party candidate in history by a huge margin. It is also clear to reporters who follow the subject closely that Putin loathes Hillary Clinton." -- CW

News Ledes

Reuters: "A Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said on Tuesday a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter had been shot down hours earlier. The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) accused President Bashar al-Assad of being behind the attack. Assad has denied previous accusations of using chemical weapons." -- CW

Washington Post: "Federal health authorities on Monday urged pregnant women not to visit a South Florida neighborhood where new cases of the Zika virus have emerged, the first time officials have warned against travel to part of the continental United States due to the outbreak of an infectious disease." -- CW

The Commentariat -- August 1, 2016

Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "The United States has conducted airstrikes on the Islamic State stronghold in Sirte, Libya, the Pentagon said on Monday, the first direct U.S. military involvement in Libyan forces' battle against militants there. In a statement, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said that Libya's Western-backed unity government had requested air support as forces under its command battle to reclaim the coastal city of Sirte, which has become an Islamic State stronghold since militants seized it last year." -- CW

Michael Wines of the New York Times: "...since the Supreme Court's 5-to-4 ruling in the voting-rights case, Shelby County v. Holder, critics argue, the blatant efforts to keep minorities from voting have been supplanted by a blizzard of more subtle changes. Most conspicuous have been state efforts like voter ID laws or cutbacks in early voting periods, which critics say disproportionately affect minorities and the poor. Less apparent, but often just as contentious, have been numerous voting changes enacted in counties and towns across the South and elsewhere around the country. They appear as Republican legislatures and election officials in the South and elsewhere have imposed statewide restrictions on voting that could depress turnout by minorities and other Democrat-leaning groups in a crucial presidential election year." ...

... CW: Wines couches his report in the "critics say" caveat, the go-to evasion of both-sides "journalism." He goes on to report instance after instance of actual voter suppression. So once again, the New York Times features journalistic malpractice on its front page. ...

... Oh, P.S. Driftglass highlights Chuck Todd's Luminous Contribution to Both-siderism. -- CW

Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post: "The modern era of mass shootings began [in Austin, Texas,] on a searing summer day in 1966. Just before noon, from high atop the University of Texas Tower, an ex-Marine sharpshooter named Charles Whitman leveled his rifle over the railing ... and fired at will for 20 minutes -- the time it took for students and residents to fetch their own high-powered rifles and shoot back, helping an unprepared and outgunned police force.... On Monday, survivors will attend the unveiling of a memorial on the 50th anniversary of Whitman's rampage, which left 17 dead and more than 30 wounded. That same day, Texas becomes the nation's eighth state to allow students to brings guns onto university campuses and, in some cases, into classrooms and dorms.... Gun rights advocates are delighted." -- CW ...

... Rebecca Onion of Slate: "A graduate class at the University of Texas at Austin has put together a new website about the mass shooting at the [University of Texas].... The result is an intriguing suite of essays, accompanied by archival documents, biographies of the shooting victims, and a timeline of mass shootings." -- CW

Presidential Race

 Alicia Parlapiano & Adam Pearce of the New York Times: "... half of the primary voters chose ... candidates [other than Clinton or Trump]. Just 14 percent of eligible adults -- 9 percent of the whole nation -- voted for either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton." -- CW

Steve Coll of the New Yorker: "American Presidential elections reduce the country's complexity to a binary choice. This year's is admittedly not the happiest one. The revival, on the big screens at the Convention hall, of the Clinton family's political 'narrative' was at times exhausting, evocative of Argentina. Still, there can be no doubt that Hillary Clinton is deeply qualified to serve as President, whereas Donald Trump has proved himself a transparently serious threat to the Constitution. Attached to Clinton's candidacy are the futures of Supreme Court jurisprudence, European and Asian security, the health of American pluralism, and the rule of law. 'It truly is up to us,' Clinton observed. The worry is whether, in this hot summer of disequilibrium, her country is adequate to the task." -- CW ...

... Jill LePore of the New Yorker attended both conventions & talked to the people there, including, or especially, the protesters. -- CW

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton is heading to heavily Republican Nebraska on Monday in search of a single electoral vote. In a move that suggests the Democratic presidential nominee is taking nothing for granted against Republican Donald Trump, Clinton has scheduled a late afternoon rally in Omaha, a moderate pocket of an otherwise conservative state. Here's why: Nebraska is one of only two states that awards part of its electoral votes based on outcomes in congressional districts.... In 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) edged out GOP nominee John McCain in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha, picking up exactly one of the 270 electoral votes needed to secure the presidency." -- CW ...

... Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "As Hillary Clinton closed out her three-day bus tour with a stop in Columbus, Ohio, she had a dire warning for voters: ..."I don't want folks to be misled, to listen to the rhetoric and the demagoguery. I think Donald Trump poses a serious threat to our democracy, and it's going to be up to all of us to repudiate the hatefulness.'... The comments came at the tail end of her journey through two battleground states -- Ohio and Pennsylvania -- with stops focused on swing or Republican voters. Clinton traveled with her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.), and his wife, Anne Holton. Former president Bill Clinton joined the group for several stops on the tour." -- CW

Director Comey said my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails. -- Hillary Clinton, interview on "Fox News Sunday," July 31, 2016

As we have seen repeatedly in Clinton's explanations of the email controversy, she relies on excessively technical and legalistic answers to explain her actions. While Comey did say there was no evidence she lied to the FBI, that is not the same as saying she told the truth to the American public -- which was the point of [Chris] Wallace's question.... Although Comey did say many emails were retroactively classified, he also said that there were some emails that were already classified that should not have been sent on an unclassified, private server. That's the uncomfortable truth that Clinton has trouble admitting. -- Glenn Kessler, Washington Post

Jonathan Mahler of the New York Times: "During Tim Kaine's six years in Richmond's local government, he became known for his commitment to the city's African-Americans. But there were also stumbles as he began to fashion himself as the centrist conciliator that he is known as today, trying to steer a middle path in a majority-black city drenched in Confederate history." -- CW

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Charles Koch on Sunday forcefully shot down the possibility that he would support ... Hillary Clinton in this year's White House race, calling such an idea 'blood libel...,' comparing the notion to false accusations throughout history that Jews killed Christian children for ritualistic purposes. 'At this point, I can't support either candidate,' Koch said...." -- CW

Steve Benen: "On Monday, Sept. 26, the major-party candidates -- and any third-party candidate with more than 15% support in national polls -- will meet for the first of three ... [debates]. What's unclear is whether or not Donald Trump will agree to participate.... On 'Face the Nation' yesterday, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort [said]..., '... He [Trump] said he wants to participate in it.... So, we're going to sit down with the commission in the next week or so and we're going to start talking to them.' In other words, it sounds as if Team Trump sees the existing schedule as the starting point for negotiations.... Hillary Clinton has already agreed to participate in the three scheduled debates." -- CW

She's a very dishonest person. I have one of the great temperaments. I have a winning temperament. She has a bad temperament. She's weak. -- Donald Trump, contrasting his "temperament" with Hillary Clinton's

David Sanger & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Sunday offered a muddled explanation of his views about the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and its continued efforts to undermine Ukraine's control of other parts of the country, and he amplified his earlier suggestion that, if elected president, he might recognize Russia's claim and end sanctions against it.... Not since 1976, when President Gerald Ford committed a major gaffe in one of his debates with Jimmy Carter, declaring that 'there is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe,' has the issue of American support of Eastern European states, both those in NATO and those outside it, emerged as a major presidential campaign issue." -- CW ...

... Atlantic: ": Speaking to ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, 'He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want.' Stephanopoulos pointed out that Russia had already annexed Crimea. The response was classic Trump: This is all proof of how terrible Obama is, but also it's not really so bad. He confirmed that he would consider recognizing the annexation: 'But, you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.'... At first glance, this looks like a classic example of Trump just not really knowing what he's talking about.... But on closer glance..., in his worldview, Russia seizing sovereign territory in violation of international law is acceptable. He even parrots the Kremlin line that Crimeans have a right to self-determination -- further evidence of a close alignment between Putin and Trump." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Aaron Rupar of Think Progress: "Trump's line on Crimea is essentially the same one being pushed by Russian media. The New York Times reported that the referendum [on whether to annex Crimea to Russia] took place while the peninsula was being occupied by 'heavily armed Russian troops.' Western leaders denounced the vote as illegal." -- CW

#Trumpelthinskin, Ctd. Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Donald Trump on Monday said the country needs to focus on radical Islamic terrorism following the candidate's attacks on Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. 'Mr. Khan, who does not know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC and is now all over T.V. doing the same - Nice!' Trump tweeted Monday. 'This story is not about Mr. Khan, who is all over the place doing interviews, but rather RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM and the U.S. Get smart!'" -- CW ...

... Rebecca Savransky: "Families of fallen service U.S. members are demanding ... Donald Trump apologize for his 'offensive' and 'anti-American' comments. The group of Gold Star families on Monday wrote a letter to the billionaire condemning his treatment of the family of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq. 'Ours is a sacrifice you will never know...,' the group said in a letter published Monday on VoteVets.org." -- CW ...

... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "In a remarkable and lengthy rebuke of his party's nominee, Senator John McCain sharply criticized Donald J. Trump's comments about the family of a fallen Muslim Army captain, saying, 'While our party has bestowed upon him the nomination, it is not accompanied by unfettered license to defame those who are the best among us.'... 'In recent days, Donald Trump disparaged a fallen soldier's parents,' he wrote of the parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan. 'He has suggested that the likes of their son should not be allowed in the United States -- to say nothing of entering its service. I cannot emphasize enough how deeply I disagree with Mr. Trump's statement.'" -- CW ...

... Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump faced mounting criticism from leaders of his own party Sunday, as a confrontation between the Republican nominee and the Muslim American parents of a soldier killed in Iraq continued to consume the presidential race." -- CW ...

I've had a flawless campaign. -- Donald Trump, on ABC News

... Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump reeled on Sunday amid a sustained campaign of criticism by the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq and a rising outcry within his own party over his rough and racially charged dismissal of the couple. The confrontation between the parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, and Mr. Trump has emerged as an unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election. Mr. Trump ... has repeatedly answered the Khan family's criticism with harsh and defensive rhetoric.... He earned no reprieve with his complaints that Mr. Khan had been unfair to him or with his repeated attempts to change the subject to Islamic terrorism.... Mr. Trump on Sunday morning made a third attempt to deflect Mr. Khan's criticism, writing on Twitter that the real issue at stake in the election was terrorism. And he continued to complain that Mr. Khan had been unfair to him." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times: "Trump could have let the moment pass, or simply praised [the Kahn family's] sacrifice without confronting them, as other politicians have done when met by military families ... [as did Hillary Clinton on Fox "News" Sunday when asked about parents who faulted her for their sons' deaths in Benghazi, Libya]. On Sunday, as the controversy festered, Trump complained on Twitter that 'I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!'" -- CW ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic: "In late 1953, Senator Joe McCarthy turned his red-baiting crusade toward the Army, accusing it of being stocked with Communists. McCarthy and his chief counsel, Roy Cohn, had miscalculated, and the reaction doomed McCarthy's crusade and career. Decades later, Cohn became a close friend of a young real-estate developer named Donald Trump. If Cohn's protégé learned anything about from him about why it's unwise for a politician to go to war with the U.S. Army, it isn't showing today." -- CW ...

... Wait, Wait! There's More. Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate: "Trump adviser and friend Roger Stone escalated things way, way further than all but the most cynical/drug-addled among us could have imagined: [In a tweet, Stone writes,] 'Mr. Khan more than an aggrieved father of a Muslim son- he's Muslim Brotherhood agent helping Hillary'. The link [Stone provides] goes to an article on a low-budget conspiracy site.... Roger Stone ... appears to have been Donald Trump's primary political adviser for decades." -- CW ...

... Huh. A Muslim Brotherhood infiltrator? Not according to winger Charles Hurt, writing in the Hill. He says Hillary Clinton "duped" nice-guy Khizr Khan into "smearing Donald Trump," which was a neat trick because "it was was her vote that sent Capt. Khan to his death." (CW: See also my thanks to mike pence, below.) ...

     ... CW BTW: If you are looking for some context on Clinton's Iraq War vote, Fred Kaplan has it (Feb. 4, 2016). It wasn't exactly Bloody Hillary waving a sword & calling for Saddam's head. ...

... Greg Sargent: "Donald Trump's continuing war with the Khan family -- which Trump inexplicably continued to keep in the news this morning with a series of new tweets -- raises the specter of a brutal trap for Republicans.... If Republicans don't break off their support for Trump's candidacy now, they run the risk of having no choice but to do so after Trump sinks even further into wretchedness and depravity, to a point of true no return.... As Peter Wehner, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, put it: 'Trump is a man of sadistic cruelty. With him there's no bottom.' If ... Republicans such as [Paul] Ryan will have [to cut Trump loose] not in defense of their own principles, but because events forced them to." -- CW ...

... Kim Soffen of the Washington Post: After Khizr Khan raised his pocket-copy of the Constitution, "sales of the little book are skyrocketing. A $1 edition of the pocket Constitution printed by the nonpartisan National Center for Constitutional Studies became the second-bestselling book on Amazon. It remains there today. It's not just sales; Google searches for the document increased more than tenfold on Friday compared to the daily average of the previous month." -- CW

Another Trump Conspiracy Theory. Connor O'Brien of Politico: "Donald Trump is slamming Michael Bloomberg's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, speculating that the former New York mayor cut a deal with the former secretary of state to get a job in any new Clinton administration. 'Personally, I think he made a deal with Hillary, where ... he gets a job,'... [Trump] said in an interview airing Sunday on ABC News' "This Week." CW: Dark, evil forces are conspiring against the noble mogul; there's no other possible explanation. Except paranoia.

Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "With an imaginary letter, a disputed invitation and controversial comments about a fallen soldier's parents, Donald Trump's weekend was not going well even before he seemed to endorse the Russian annexation of Crimea, in opposition to U.S. policy and international law. This was a weekend ... [that] seemed to demonstrate all of the flaws -- trouble with the truth, an inability to let criticism go unanswered and a lack of knowledge of world affairs -- that Republicans fear Trump will be unable to put behind him and that Democrats hope will be the billionaire's undoing come November." CW: So being a lying, thin-skinned, ignorant bully is maybe not so presidential?

Rebecca Sinderbrand of the Washington Post: "... after [Donald Trump] and nine others were trapped in an elevator at the Mining Exchange Hotel [in Colorado springs,] 'The firefighters were able to secure the elevator, open the top elevator hatch, lower a ladder into the elevator, which allowed all individuals to self-evacuate, including Mr. Trump, onto the second-floor lobby area,' fire spokesman Steven Wilch told Colorado station KRDO in a Saturday report.... If you think that's the sort of thing that might prompt him to mention the fire department in his remarks at that event..., you're right! 'We have a fire marshal that said we can't allow more people,' Trump said, as the crowd booed. '... The reason they can't let them in is because they don't know what they're doing.' [He].. said that Fire Marshal Brett Lacey was "probably a Democrat, probably a guy that doesn't get it.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Cyra Master of the Hill: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence defended his running mate in a statement Sunday night, blaming President Obama and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for the 'disastrous decisions' that led to the death of Capt. Humayun Khan in Iraq.... 'Captain Khan gave his life to defend our country in the global war on terror. Due to the disastrous decisions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a once stable Middle East has now been overrun by ISIS...,' Pence said." ...

... CW: Thanks for putting everything in perspective, mike. When Kahn was killed in Iraq in 2004, Barack Obama was an Illinois state senator & Hillary Clinton was a U.S. senator. It's true Clinton voted to allow President Bush to go to war against Iraq, if necessary, but so did you, mike. Clinton has repeatedly called the vote a mistake; you have not. (Note: Clinton was also among the majority of Democratic senators who voted to fund the Iraq War; John Kerry, John Edwards & Teddy Kennedy were among the 12 [including one then-Independent] who voted nay.) In addition, David Graham of the Atlantic reminds us, "Trump supported the war in Iraq, though he has repeatedly claimed he did not." One thing I wish you would clear up: exactly when was the Middle East "stable"? As far as I know, war, unrest, & shifting borders have characterized the region since prehistoric times.

Steven Myers & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: Trump campaign manager Paul "Manafort's influence in [Ukraine] was significant, and his political expertise deeply valued, according to Ukrainian politicians and officials who worked with him. He also had a voice in decisions about major American investments in Ukraine, said a former spokesman for Ukraine's foreign ministry, Oleg Voloshyn, who also ran as a candidate in the new bloc Mr. Manafort helped form.... It is not clear that Mr. Manafort's work in Ukraine ended with his work with Mr. Trump's campaign." -- CW

Show Us the Returns! New York Times Editors: No issue "is more important for voters to keep in mind than the failure of Mr. Trump to disclose his full income tax returns, something he is not likely to do by Election Day. He is the first major party candidate since 1976 -- since Watergate, essentially -- to deny voters that vital measure of credibility.... Mr. Trump has not hesitated to attack the I.R.S. as 'very unfair,' but now he stands before the voters using the agency as a shield against disclosure.... Mr. Trump's contention that there's nothing to learn from his tax returns should be a red alert to voters." -- CW

Driftglass codes Trump. -- CW

Paul Krugman: "... the great majority of ... not-crazy Republicans are still supporting Mr. Trump for president.... No non-crazy person, even on the right, thinks that this president is acting like a dictator, or that the woman he wants to succeed him would threaten basic liberty. On the other side, anyone watching her opponent has to be very, very worried about his authoritarian streak." ...

... CW: I hope Krugman is just pretending he has no idea what's going on. Congressional Republicans have been all about power & showed almost no interest in governance at least since Newt Gingrich rose to power within the GOP Congressional ranks.

The Stupid Party. Conservative Max Boot, in a New York Times op-ed: "The Republican embrace of anti-intellectualism was, to a large extent, a put-on. At least until now.... The trend has now culminated in the nomination of Donald J. Trump, a presidential candidate who truly is the know-nothing his Republican predecessors only pretended to be.... In a way, the joke's on the Republican Party: After decades of masquerading as the 'stupid party,' that's what it has become. But if an unapologetic ignoramus wins the presidency, the consequences will be no laughing matter." -- CW

Dave Weigel & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator who became one of Bernie Sanders's most passionate surrogates, confirmed Sunday night that she has been offered a spot on the Green Party's 2016 ticket. She hasn't decided whether to accept it.... Turner attended the Democratic National Convention as a Sanders surrogate, expecting to second his nomination for president. She was blocked by Clinton's campaign. That, and the roiling controversy over the Democratic National Committee's hacked emails, may have made Turner more receptive to the Green Party pitch." CW: Nice work, Clintonistas!

Way Beyond the Beltway

Yesim Dikmen & David Dolan of Reuters: "Turkey dismissed nearly 1,400 more members of its armed forces and stacked the top military council with government ministers on Sunday, moves designed by President Tayyip Erdogan to put him in full control of the military after a failed coup. The scale of Erdogan's crackdown - more than 60,000 people in the military, judiciary, civil service and schools have been either detained, suspended or placed under investigation since the July 15-16 coup - has unnerved Turkey's NATO allies, fuelling tension between Ankara and the West." ...

... CW: Not to dismiss the importance of Erdogan's takeover, but it's useful to view it in the context of U.S. politics. If you watch the video accompanying the Reuters story, you'll see that Erdogan & Donald Trump share not only the same autocratic bent but also the same interior decorator. Isn't Trump's preference for what contributor Patrick called the "Louis Farouk" style all the proof you need that Trump would become a repressive dictator?

The Commentariat -- July 31, 2016

I did not intend to do an Afternoon Update today, but Patrick posted a link that was too much to ignore:

Rebecca Sinderbrand of the Washington Post: "... after [Donald Trump] and nine others were trapped in an elevator at the Mining Exchange Hotel [in Colorado springs,] 'The firefighters were able to secure the elevator, open the top elevator hatch, lower a ladder into the elevator, which allowed all individuals to self-evacuate, including Mr. Trump, onto the second-floor lobby area,' fire spokesman Steven Wilch told Colorado station KRDO in a Saturday report.... If you think that's the sort of thing that might prompt him to mention the fire department in his remarks at that event..., you're right! 'We have a fire marshal that said we can't allow more people,' Trump said, as the crowd booed. '... The reason they can't let them in is because they don't know what they're doing.' [He].. said that Fire Marshal Brett Lacey was "probably a Democrat, probably a guy that doesn't get it.'" -- CW

Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump reeled on Sunday amid a sustained campaign of criticism by the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq and a rising outcry within his own party over his rough and racially charged dismissal of the couple. The confrontation between the parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, and Mr. Trump has emerged as an unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election. Mr. Trump ... has repeatedly answered the Khan family's criticism with harsh and defensive rhetoric.... He earned no reprieve with his complaints that Mr. Khan had been unfair to him or with his repeated attempts to change the subject to Islamic terrorism.... Mr. Trump on Sunday morning made a third attempt to deflect Mr. Khan's criticism, writing on Twitter that the real issue at stake in the election was terrorism. And he continued to complain that Mr. Khan had been unfair to him." -- CW

Have you even read the Constitution? -- Khizr Kahn, at the Democratic convention

... Mr. Khan who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, (which is false) and say many other inaccurate things. -- Donald Trump, in a statement

I read all the way to Article 12, and it doesn't say anything about freedom of speech or freedom of religion, okay? But I personally have a god-given right to misquote Mr. Kahn and say many other inaccurate things. -- Donald Trump, in his twisted little mind (no link)

Atlantic: ": Speaking to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Trump said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, 'He's not going into Ukraine, OK? Just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down and you can put it down, you can take it anywhere you want.' Stephanopoulos pointed out that Russia had already annexed Crimea. The response was classic Trump: This is all proof of how terrible Obama is, but also it's not really so bad. He confirmed that he would consider recognizing the annexation: 'But, you know, the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were.'... At first glance, this looks like a classic example of Trump just not really knowing what he's talking about.... But on closer glance..., in his worldview, Russia seizing sovereign territory in violation of international law is acceptable. He even parrots the Kremlin line that Crimeans have a right to self-determination -- further evidence of a close alignment between Putin and Trump." -- CW

*****

Presidential Race

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "On the second day of a three-day bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio, Hillary Clinton continued a balancing act: painting a relatively rosy picture of national progress under President Obama -- in contrast to Donald J. Trump's grim appraisal of the country's state -- while insisting there is much more to be done.... Winding westward through Pennsylvania, with plans to cross into Ohio late Saturday, Mrs. Clinton has emerged from the party's four-day showcase to pitch herself, at least in part, to voters with a history of antipathy toward Democrats." ...

... CW: Sorry, Hillary, if you want to draw the top headlines, you have to insult more people, whine more & make up more lies. P.S. Quit rigging the system & being so unfaaaair to Donald, who has been sacrificing for his country all his life by donating jobs to people (especially foreigners, and except maybe for that little part where he doesn't pay his workers and contractors and investors but skims off the top for himself). ...

Houston Chronicle Editors endorse Hillary Clinton. "The Chronicle editorial page does not typically endorse early in an election cycle.... We make an exception in the 2016 presidential race, because the choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is not merely political.... Any one of Trump's less-than-sterling qualities - his erratic temperament, his dodgy business practices, his racism, his Putin-like strongman inclinations and faux-populist demagoguery, his contempt for the rule of law, his ignorance - is enough to be disqualifying. His convention-speech comment, 'I alone can fix it,' should make every American shudder. He is, we believe, a danger to the Republic." -- CW ...

... Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times: On the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton Tim Kaine has proved to be an effective surrogate. "With an 'aw, shucks' demeanor, he skewered Republican nominee Donald Trump and never failed to tell the audience how much he likes and trusts Clinton, a candidate who has struggled with voters in both of those crucial departments." -- CW

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump suggested in an interview with ABC News that the Muslim mother of a United States soldier killed in Iraq had let her husband do all the talking at the Democratic National Convention because she was not 'allowed' to speak.... When Stephanopoulos said that [Khizr] Khan had pointed out that his family would not have been allowed into the United States under Mr. Trump's proposed ban on Muslim immigrants, the candidate replied, 'He doesn't know that.' And when asked what he would say to the grieving father, Mr. Trump replied, 'I'd say, "We've had a lot of problem with radical Islamic terrorism."' Mr. Stephanopoulos also noted that Mr. Khan said that Mr. Trump had 'sacrificed nothing,' and had lost no one. 'Who wrote that? Did Hillary's scriptwriters?' Mr. Trump replied. 'I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I've worked very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs[, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot].'" -- CW ...

     ... New Lede (with additional reporting by Richard Oppel): "Donald J. Trump belittled the parents of a slain Muslim soldier who had strongly denounced Mr. Trump during the Democratic National Convention, saying that the soldier's father had delivered the entire speech because his mother was not 'allowed' to speak. Mr. Trump's comments, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News that will air on Sunday, drew quick and widespread condemnation and amplified calls for Republican leaders to distance themselves from their presidential nominee." ...

     ... Jose DelReal & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Republican Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at two Muslim American parents who lost their son while he served in the U.S. military in Iraq and who appeared at the Democratic National Convention last week, stirring outrage among critics who said the episode proves that Trump lacks the compassion and temperament to be president.... [Trump's] remarks drew strong rebukes Saturday -- but only silence from several senior GOP leaders, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the vice-presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence." CW: Don't tell me Donald Trump hasn't served our country. Not only did he go to military school, not only did he evade sexually-transmitted diseases (which is just like serving in a war zone), he's now the leader of a whole brigade of chickenshits. ...

... NEW. Ghazala Kahn responds to Donald Trump in a Washington Post op-ed. -- CW ...

... Mary Bruce of ABC News: Khizr & Ghazala Kahn respond to Donald Trump's smearing them. Includes video. -- CW ...

... AND contributor Gloria adds: "... on the subject of silenced women, we would like to hear your wives speak, comrade trump. They are gagged by you and your lawyers." -- CW ...

... Ezra Klein: "Trump listened to a speech by the bereaved father of a fallen Muslim soldier and used it to slander the fallen soldier's family. That was his response. That is his character.... This is what I mean when I write that the 2016 election isn't simply Democrat vs. Republican, but normal vs. abnormal.... I honestly do not understand how a human being can respond to a family that lost their son for this country by saying that he has sacrificed too, he's worked really hard, he's built 'great structures,' he's had 'tremendous success.' -- CW ...

... Joe Cunningham of the right-wing Red State: "Just so we're clear, that is Donald Trump saying his years spent as a business man means he has made sacrifices like the type Khan was referring to. A man gave his life for his country while serving overseas, and Donald Trump believes that his efforts to make himself rich are comparable. One soldier made the ultimate sacrifice and one egomaniac gained money and influence. That's his argument." -- CW ...

... Nick Eilerson of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump complained Friday that Hillary Clinton and her fellow Democratic cronies were rigging this fall's presidential debates by scheduling them alongside NFL games. That claim was easy to disprove -- the debate schedule was determined almost a year ago by a private group made up of both Democrats and Republicans. On Saturday, Trump doubled down on his bogus grievance.... 'I'll tell you what I don't like,' Trump told George Stephanopoulos. 'It's against two NFL games. I got a letter from the NFL saying, "This is ridiculous.'"... The NFL says it never sent him a letter." -- CW ...

... Josh Marshall of TPM: "Donald Trump gave his first hint [Friday] night that he might try to get out of the Fall presidential debates. I have thought for months that he'd likely try to get out of them.... I suspect Trump will start claiming that that the process is 'rigged' because Gary Johnson and Jill Stein aren't included.... Trump didn't so much debate in the Republican primaries as use them with some skill to enact a series of dominance rituals at the expense of his opponents.... He can't help picking fights.... Even if he eventually agrees to participate in one or more of the debates, he will try mightily to force some change or break some dishes in order to assert dominance over the process." -- CW

Marc Fisher of the Washington Post: "... scholars of the presidency say that Barack Obama, George W. Bush and their predecessors have added so many powers to the White House toolbox that a President Trump could fulfill many of his promises legally -- and virtually unchecked by a Congress that has proven incapable of mustering much pushback for decade.... Presidents already have the power to do much of what Trump has proposed.... A president who might act unilaterally was one of the chief fears expressed in the original debates about the Constitution." -- CW

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "... after almost two weeks of Conventions, there is one area of Republican foreign policy that Trump has completely reinvented in his image: the Party's posture toward Russia. There is almost no issue on which Trump has been more consistent than his interest in strengthening ties with Vladimir Putin and clearing away the obstacles that have hindered the U.S.-Russia relationship.... If he is President, there will be little that a Republican Congress can do to stop Trump’s embrace of Russia." -- CW ...

... Alan Yuhas of the Guardian recounts at least some of "the lies Trump told this week." Yuhas explores Trump's various comments about his Russian Connection, which is worth a read as he includes some background that isn't commonly reported. -- CW ...

... (CW: Remember during the last presidential race when Steve Benen kept a running tally of Mitt Romney's lies & contradictions? Ha! He'd have to hire a staff of 17 to keep up with Trump's lies.)

Paul Musgrave, in a Washington Post op-ed: "The United States and Russia (or the Soviet Union) have meddled in elections because it has served their national interests and because the inherent risk has often paid off.... But the Soviets never successfully intervened in a U.S. election, because no major political figure wanted to be associated with the Soviet Union. Collaboration would have been unthinkable. Until this past week, one might have thought a similar taboo would prevent candidates from capitalizing on foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections.... Regardless of whether this document leak resulted from a foreign government's actions, Trump's response has once again weakened the foundation of American democracy." -- CW

Ezra Klein contrasts the Democratic & Republican conventions:

CW: Yesterday I mentioned that Charles Koch, who reportedly refused a meeting with Donald Trump, appeared to be more principled than McConnell & Ryan. But that doesn't mean he & his brother have been embarrassed into becoming decent human beings, using their vast wealth for the common good. ...

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "The Koch political network, which has steadfastly refused to engage in the 2016 presidential contest, plans to invoke ... Hillary Clinton in paid messages to voters as part of its campaigns supporting GOP Senate candidates, top officials said Saturday.... But [Mark] Holden[, who chairs the funding arm of Kochs' political network] said the network has no plans to run an explicit campaign opposing Clinton's efforts to reach the White House, saying: 'We are going to differentiate on policies alone. It's not going to be anti-Hillary.'" ...

... CW P.S. Holden denies knowledge of any discussions about meeting with Trump. As for Trump, well, he's Trump. Gold reports, "Moments before Holden addressed reporters, Trump -- who had been in Colorado Springs for a rally Friday -- tweeted ... 'I turned down a meeting with Charles and David Koch.... Much better for them to meet with the puppets of politics, they will do much better!"

Other News & Views

How to Succeed in Business: Vote in Democrats. Jacob Hacker & Paul Pierson in a New York Times op-ed: "Red states dominated by Republicans embrace cut and extract. Blue states dominated by Democrats do much more to maintain their investments in education, infrastructure, urban quality of life and human services.... Blue states are generally doing better [economically].... This red-blue divergence is all the more striking because red states still receive much more in federal spending relative to the federal taxes their residents pay. In other words, blue states are generally outperforming red states even while heavily subsidizing them.... We should remember that the key drivers of growth are science, education and innovation, not low taxes, lax regulations or greater exploitation of natural resources." -- CW

Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: In their decision to strike down North Carolina's voter suppression law, the judges "point to a 'smoking gun' in North Carolina's justification for the law, proving discriminatory intent. The state argued in court that 'counties with Sunday voting in 2014 were disproportionately black' and 'disproportionately Democratic,' and said it did away with Sunday voting as a result." (CW: Read that twice; it's hard to believe lawyers for the state would argue the state wasn't discriminating by asserting the state's intent was to discriminate against black voters.) And there's more: legislators requested data to find out what kinds of IDs blacks were unlikely to have, so they made sure "that the only acceptable forms of voter identification were the ones disproportionately used by white people." They also learned from the research that black voters disproportionately took advantage of the first days of early voting, so they eliminated those days. Gov. Pat McCrory (R[eprihensible]) said the state would appeal the court's ruling. ...

     ... CW: I wonder if any of this is making it through the steel trap door that guards Chief Justice John Roberts' mind.