The Commentariat -- July 6, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Missy Ryan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama announced revised troop plans for Afghanistan on Wednesday, keeping 8,400 U.S. troops in the country when he steps down early next year, the clearest indication yet of his inability to end the long war there.... He had hoped to leave a force of 5,500 in early 2017." -- CW ...

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump raised more than $26 million through online and mail solicitations in June and another $25 million at events with the Republican National Committee, his campaign announced Wednesday.... The combined $51 million falls short of the $68.5 million that presumptive Democratic contender Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party collected in June, which included $40.5 million she raised directly for her campaign." -- CW

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Eric Trump, the son of ... Donald Trump, said in an interview Wednesday that his father gives 'millions and millions and millions' of his own money to charity -- including hundreds of thousands to Eric Trump's own charitable foundation. He did not, however, immediately provide new details to help confirm those donations.... [Eric Trump] denounced its reporting -- often in forceful, profane terms. 'I'm just saying, Jesus Christ, why is this guy trying to f[uck]ing kill us?' Eric Trump said at one point." CW: So that settles that.

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has recently emerged as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday that he has taken himself out of consideration for the position. Corker said that he informed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of his decision during their day together on Tuesday...." -- CW ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: "Joni Ernst all but removed herself from Donald Trump's vice presidential search, telling Politico in an interview that she wants to help Trump become president but that she's focused on Iowa and the Senate, where the freshman senator said she's 'just getting started.' The GOP senator met with Trump on Monday and received effusive praise afterward, with Trump predicting he will 'see her again.'" -- CW

... Steve M.: "Well, I'm relieved.... I don't think I could have endured a Trump-Corker ticket -- if only because the media narrative would be: Bob Corker? Wow, what a serious, respectable choice! Trump really is pivoting! He's so presidential now, just because he's chosen this person we like so much! Trump will never change, but a Corker pick would have allowed Beltway journalists to continuing fooling themselves into thinking that he might. (Of course, some of them will anyway.)" -- CW

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "... James B. Comey, will go before Congress on Thursday to explain his decision to recommend no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, a House committee chairman announced Wednesday morning.... The F.B.I. did not immediately confirm that Mr. Comey would comply, but the announcement by Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, came after the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, said that Mrs. Clinton should be barred from receiving classified information -- an extraordinary recommendation even if it is certain to be ignored by the Obama administration. In addition, Attorney General Loretta Lynch will appear Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, and that committee's chairman, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, made it clear he would focus on Ms. Lynch's impromptu meeting with former President Bill Clinton, ahead of the F.B.I.'s announcement." -- CW

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton's campaign announced plans on Wednesday to eliminate college tuition at in-state public colleges and universities for families with annual incomes under $125,000 -- a significant nod to a core position of Senator Bernie Sanders, who had pledged to make tuition at public institutions free for all students." -- CW

Margaret Hartmann of New York: "It's time to reconsider the possibility that Donald Trump is a secret Hillary Clinton supporter, as opposed to merely a man whose campaign is a garbage fire." On a day when the story should have been Clinton's "extremely careless" handling of secret correspondence, Trump took time out to praise Saddam Hussein. Trump's "admiration of Hussein is no secret. He's made the same point many times, dating back to at least 2004, when he told the Dallas Morning News, 'No matter how much you hate Saddam Hussein, and obviously he was a horror show, he kept terrorists out of Iraq.'... Now suddenly Saddam Hussein was trending on Twitter, and replacing headlines about Clinton's email scandal."...

     ... CW: For fun, read the tweeted reactions to Trump's Saddam remarks which Hartmann embedded. AND this:

Paul Ryan's face as Megyn Kelly tells him about Donald Trump's remark about Saddam Hussein. h/t @Aaron_RS pic.twitter.com/WWxWnUL6E2

Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) July 6, 2016

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum & John Koblin of the New York Times: "Gretchen Carlson, the longtime Fox News anchor, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday saying that Roger Ailes, the powerful chairman of Fox News, fired her from the network last month after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about discriminatory treatment in the newsroom.... The lawsuit ... portrays the Fox chairman as a serial sexual harasser, charging that he ogled Ms. Carlson in his office, called her 'sexy' and frequently made sexually charged comments about her physical appearance. Ms. Carlson ... charges that during a meeting last fall to discuss her concerns about what she considered ill treatment, Mr. Ailes told her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.'" Story includes copy of the complaint. -- CW

AP: "A Louisiana police officer shot and killed a man following a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, authorities said. An autopsy shows Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, died Tuesday of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark.... The owner [of the store] said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting." -- CW ...

... Brandon Patterson of Mother Jones: "Louisiana Governor John Bel-Edwards announced Wednesday morning that the Department of Justice's civil rights division will open an investigation into the police shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man shot multiple times by a Baton Rouge police officer early Tuesday morning. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Middle District of Louisiana will assist the investigation, Bel-Edwards said." -- CW

*****

Peter Markowitz in a New York Times op-ed: "President Obama can still act to bring humanity and justice to an immigration system notoriously lacking in both. He can do so by using the power the Constitution grants him -- and only him -- to pardon individuals for 'offenses against the United States.'... Such pardons have been used by presidents including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Most recently, Jimmy Carter issued a pardon to around half a million men who had violated draft laws to avoid military service in Vietnam." -- CW

Your Government at Work. Christine Grimaldi of Rewire: "Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating questionable reproductive health-care allegations [i.e., Planned Parenthood] have sought an additional $490,000 in funding -- even as Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) publicly indicated that their activities may halt by the end of the year.... All told, the investigation is well on its way to totaling $790,000, using nearly 80 percent of the House;s available supplemental funding.... Administration Committee Democrats protested the original funding request and raised similar objections again this time, to no avail. The current action marks the second time the committee 'decided without a public hearing or a proper vote to pay for the political attack on Planned Parenthood,' they said in a statement...." -- CW

... Charles Pierce: "It came as no surprise that Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-Zygote) of Tennessee has had her name bruited about as a possible running mate for He, Trump. (Also, hello again to my new friend, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa! I'm so proud.) After all, Blackburn was in charge of the second biggest waste of time and money in the House of Representatives this year behind only Trey Gowdy's masterful pursuit of The Truth -- which is Out There -- behind Benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI! (CW: Bear in mind that Benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI! did bring to light Hillary Clinton's "extremely careless" disregard for the security of her correspondence.) ...

... CW: House Republicans' waste of money on this kangaroo court is a pittance compared to the costs to Planned Parenthood and to women across the nation who need access to reproductive health care. ...

... Hey, Let's Waste More Millions! Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) became the first Republican to call for a new, independent investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of email during her years at the State Department, saying in a statement that the defunct independent counsel statute should be revived to 'make an independent and impartial decision' about whether Clinton should be charged.... '[blah-blah] political bias ... [blah-blah] Bill Clinton ... Loretta Lynch [blah-blah].'... Not an hour later, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), who is retiring this year, made a similar request." -- CW ...

     ... Update. In Case You Were Thinking "End of Story." Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Republicans will hold hearings to learn more about the FBI's decision to not recommend criminal charges for ... Hillary Clinton, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday night. 'People have been convicted for far less," Ryan said during an interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News's "The Kelly File.'... Ryan said Clinton 'clearly lives above the law,' saying Comey has 'shredded' Clinton's defense of her email practices while serving as secretary of State. Ryan described Clinton as 'grossly negligent.... Ryan said the FBI should release its findings regarding the Clinton email investigation. He also called for the director of National Intelligence to 'block' Clinton from accessing classified information as a presidential candidate, given her handling of government secrets over her private email server.... Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) ... indicated hours earlier on Fox that he was considering calling Comey to Capitol Hill to testify about the FBI's probe and conclusion not to recommend charges." -- CW ...

... Greg Sargent: "As we've already seen with Benghazi, Republicans don't ever stop, no matter how many investigations fail to turn up that single devastating piece of evidence of Clinton perfidy and lawbreaking they are looking for. The same may prove true in the case of the emails. As Bloomberg Politics puts it, [Paul] Ryan is basically helping Trump 'whip up conspiracy theories over the FBI process' in a manner designed mainly to 'rally the base,' but which 'may do little to convince general election voters' that the fix was in.'" -- CW

Brian Beutler writes an elegant piece on why the Republican party will not change as a result of Trump's exposing its raw underbelly. CW: But his thinking is flawed, in my view, by an assumption that there's something more to modern conservatism than promoting the interests of the well-to-do. Back in the day, there were conservatives like George Romney & Nelson Rockefeller who strove for smarter, not meaner, government, but the remainder of those gentler, kindlier Republicans are now living in assisted living homes in the bucolic recesses of New England. The so-called Party of Lincoln is now the anti-American center of naked tribalism & exclusionary greed.

Good Lord! Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Catholics in Philadelphia who are divorced and civilly remarried will be welcome to accept Holy Communion -- as long as they abstain from sex and live out their relationships like 'brother and sister'. New guidelines published by the conservative archbishop of Philadelphia this month also called on priests within the archdiocese to help Catholics who are attracted to people of the same sex and 'find chastity very difficult', saying such individuals should be advised to frequently seek penance." -- CW

Presidential Race

Hillary Clinton will speak in Atlantic City, New Jersey, today to argue that Donald Trump's business practices there make him unfit to be president. (Sorry if this video, produced for the Clinton campaign, repeats. Just pause it, if necessary.):

Amy Chozick & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama on Tuesday delivered a full-throated stemwinder on behalf of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, making his debut on the campaign trail this year just hours after federal officials criticized Mrs. Clinton's 'careless' handling of emails but said no charges should be filed":

... Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "No president has campaigned strongly for his chosen successor in at least 100 years. Tuesday's event, with President Obama campaigning for Hillary Clinton..., is remarkable for that reason." -- CW

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Tuesday that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges in Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information, lifting an enormous legal cloud from her presidential campaign.... But Mr. Comey rebuked Mrs. Clinton as being 'extremely careless' in using a personal email address and server for sensitive information, declaring that an ordinary government official could have faced administrative sanction for such conduct. To warrant a criminal charge, Mr. Comey said, there had to be evidence that Mrs. Clinton intentionally sent or received classified information -- something that the F.B.I. did not find. 'Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,' he said at a news conference." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... The full transcript of Comey's remarks, as prepared, via the Washington Post, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... NEW. John Cassidy of the New Yorker has quite a good synthesis of Comey's presentation: "... while Comey's decision didn't come as a shock, the manner in which he couched and explained it was startling. Far from saying that Clinton and her aides hadn't done anything wrong, or pooh-poohing the e-mail investigation as a minor matter, the F.B.I. director confirmed that Clinton sent and received numerous e-mails on her private server which contained top-secret information, and he described the decision not to recommend criminal charges only as a professional judgement." -- CW

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress with "what you need to know about why ... charges [against Clinton] were never a realistic possibility." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Liar, Liar. Stephen Braun & Jack Gillum of the AP: "Key assertions by Hillary Clinton in defense of her email practices have collapsed under FBI scrutiny. The agency's yearlong investigation found that she did not, as she claimed, turn over all her work-related messages for release. It found that her private email server did carry classified emails, also contrary to her past statements. And it made clear that Clinton used many devices to send and receive email despite her statements that she set up her email system so that she only needed to carry one. FBI Director James Comey's announcement Tuesday ... left much of [Clinton's] account in tatters and may have aggravated questions of trust...." The reporters fact-check specific claims Clinton made, which according to the FBI investigation, are untrue. -- CW ...

... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post does a similar fact-check, comparing Clinton's claims to Comey's remarks. -- CW ...

... ** Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "... the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, all but indicted [Hillary Clinton's] judgment and competence on Tuesday -- two vital pillars of her presidential candidacy -- and in the kind of terms that would be politically devastating in a normal election year.... In just a few minutes of remarks, Mr. Comey called into question Mrs. Clinton's claims of superiority more memorably, mightily and effectively than Mr. Trump has over the entire past year.... She is running as a supremely competent candidate and portraying Mr. Trump, in essence, as irresponsible and dangerous. Yet the director of the F.B.I. basically just called her out for having committed one of the most irresponsible moves in the modern history of the State Department." -- CW ...

... Ditto. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton may avoid criminal charges, but the searing rebuke of her 'extremely careless' email practices Tuesday by FBI Director James B. Comey is likely to reverberate through the November election and, if she wins, well into her presidency.... Although he said the FBI was referring the decision to the Justice Department, Comey added that 'our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.' It would be highly unusual for federal prosecutors not to follow the bureau's counsel.... The Clinton campaign had no advance warning of the precise timing or contents of Comey's announcement...." -- CW

... CW: You have to suspect that the reason Hillary Clinton used the private server instead of following federal regulations is that he has a habit of keeping around her an entourage of sycophants. None of them had the guts or the inclination to say, "Madame Secretary, you'll have to learn to use the government system." So what kind of advisors would she have in the White House? The same kind of yes-men & women she's employed all her public life. They won't have the guts to say, "Madame President, we must not invade Iraq (or wherever)." ...

... Charles Pierce: "... what Comey is describing above is a more than legitimate issue in the presidential campaign, and that 'Hoorah! I'm Not Indicted!' isn't exactly an inspiring Message Of The Day for your first appearance on the stump with the president.... However, the apparently inexhaustible ability of the Clintons to prompt Republicans to hysterical overreaction is working to HRC's advantage. Of course, He, Trump hit the electric Twitter machine with his hair on fire.... If He, Trump will get the hell out of his own way, the elite political press will do a lot of pretty good work for him." ...

     ... CW: On Pierce's last point, see, e.g., analyses by Patrick Healy & WashPo writers & the AP fact-check above. As for "I'm Not Indicted!" I'm looking for an adaptation of "I'm So Excited":

... New York Times Editors: "James Comey ... may have relieved Hillary Clinton of a legal burden on Tuesday, but he left her with a substantial political one. While announcing that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton for her handling of classified material on nonsecure personal email servers, Mr. Comey issued a strong rebuke of her practices, which he called 'extremely careless' -- and for which she has never given the public a full explanation. He was right on both points." -- CW ...

... Mark Berman of the New York Times: "... for [James] Comey, stepping into a political debate is not new territory. During his years at the Justice Department -- as a prosecutor, an assistant attorney general and, since 2013, the seventh director of the FBI -- Comey has commented on some of the most knotty issues, leaning into arguments and topics that have brought him into conflict with two presidential administrations. Most famously, Comey was involved in a dramatic confrontation inside a hospital room during his time as deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration." -- CW ...

     ... Michael Schmidt & Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times have a similar story here. -- CW ...

... Sara Jerde of TPM: "A spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reportedly told media outlets Tuesday that the FBI's findings on the investigation into Hillary Clinton's server use wouldn't impact Sanders' decision to stay in the race for the White House." -- CW

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump weighed in on the FBI's announcement that it would not recommend charges be brought against Hillary Clinton.... 'The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.... Trump reiterated his claims of a rigged system in a subsequent tweet." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: Really? Petraeus gave classified material to his girlfriend, who was not a federal employee, not cleared to receive classified material, & who carried the stuff around on an unsecured laptop &, I imagine, on flashdrives or other devices. ...

     ... Update. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "In the wake of FBI Director James B. Comey's decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton..., Donald Trump again compared the matter to the criminal case against former CIA director David Petraeus.... But Petraeus had some key differences -- perhaps most notably, he denied ever giving classified information to [Paula] Broadwell, and investigators would later come to believe he had lied to them in asserting that." -- CW

NEW. Jenna Johnson & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Hillary Clinton of trying to 'bribe' Attorney General Loretta Lynch by raising the possibility that she might keep Lynch in her position if she's elected president.... The claim of a potential job offer, apparently based on a news report and erroneously attributed to Clinton herself, marked an extraordinary escalation in Trump's rhetoric against his Democratic rival...." ...

     ... CW: Well, at least Trump's fans are keeping it classy. From the same report:

As Trump spoke at his rally [in Raleigh, North Carolina,] Tuesday, the crowd of about 2,000 frequently jumped to their feet to cheer and shout out their own opinions. His attacks on Clinton were especially popular, and one man in the crowd repeatedly shouted: "Hang that b[itch]!' A reporter for the local News and Observer tweeted that as Trump criticized President Obama, someone near him shouted: 'He's a monkey!'" -- CW ...

... Another Dictator Trump Admires. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump on Tuesday once again expressed his preference for keeping dictators in power in the Middle East.... Trump praised ... [Saddam Hussein]'s efficient killing of 'terrorists' -- despite the fact that Iraq was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism during Hussein's time in power.... 'He was a bad guy -- really bad guy. But you know what? He did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were terrorists. Over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism,' Trump said." -- CW

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is emerging as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, met privately with the presumptive GOP nominee on Tuesday in New York and was scheduled to later fly with the candidate to Raleigh, N.C.... The day of conversation and travel with Trump comes as Corker is being formally vetted for the vice-presidential nomination by Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse Jr." -- CW ...

... As Paul Waldman points out, "Corker is a strange anomaly among Trump's potential running mates, in that he's generally thought of as a reasonable, non-crazy person with no appalling character flaws. Which suggests Trump won't pick him...."

** Jonathan Chait: Hillary Clinton "is the 'most corrupt candidate ever,' [Trump] claims. Corruption is indeed a plausible line of attack against Clinton — or, at least, it would be, if the opposing candidate was anybody other than Donald Trump, who may actually be the most corrupt presidential candidate ever. It should be conceded that the evidence against Clinton is fairly damning.... ... The case against Hillary Clinton is that her administration might be corrupted around the margins.... Trump is flamboyantly corrupt in ways that run to the very core of his identity and prospective governing choices.... Trump has not merely intermingled campaigning with his business interests; the two are one and the same." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Putin's Puppet. Franklin Foer in Slate: "Vladimir Putin has a plan for destroying the West -- and that plan looks a lot like Donald Trump. Over the past decade, Russia has boosted right-wing populists across Europe.... There's a clear pattern: Putin runs stealth efforts on behalf of politicians who rail against the European Union and want to push away from NATO... Donald Trump is like the Kremlin's favored candidates, only more so.... Donald Trump's interest in Russia dates back to Soviet times.... After his 2004 bankruptcy and his long streak of lawsuits, the big banks decided [Trump] wasn't worth the effort.... This sent him chasing less conventional sources of cash [-- Russian oligarchs & other foreign strongmen & mobsters].... The [trump] campaign isn't just one man with an aesthetic affinity for Putin and commercial interests in Russia; his sentiments are reinforced and amplified by an organization rife with financial ties to the Kremlin." ...

     ... CW: Surely this is the first time in modern history that the two major parties have both nominated presidential candidates with extensive histories of currying favor from despots & shady entrepreneurs/racketeers the world over, Trump through his business dealings & Clinton through her association with the Clinton Global Initiative.

From the Horseass's Mouth. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Prominent white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke on Tuesday dismissed Donald Trump's explanation of his controversial tweet featuring Hillary Clinton next to a pile of money, a Star of David, and the words the 'most corrupt candidate ever.'... 'Let's go to the tweet. The tweet again shows Clinton, it shows a Star of David. Of course later the campaign made the excuse, "Well, no, that's like a sheriff's badge." Well, no way, folks...,' said Duke.... Duke said all the 'Jewish extremists' were supporting Clinton." -- CW

Nick Gass: "Donald Trump's campaign has at various times banned publications like Politico, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed News and others from covering its events. But when journalists convene in Cleveland in less than two weeks, none of those outlets will be shut out of Quicken Loans Arena, the director of the House Daily Press Gallery told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Tuesday." CW: I wonder if Trump will be able to keep the press in a pen, which would be a first at any modern-day major-party convention. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

John Hanna of the AP: "Kansas cannot cut off Medicaid funding for two Planned Parenthood affiliates, a federal judge said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas, issued the temporary ruling in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and the organization's St. Louis regional affiliate. Robinson wrote that Medicaid patients have 'the explicit right to seek family planning services from the qualified provider of their choice.' The court also noted that Planned Parenthood is likely to succeed on their claim that the state violated a free-choice provider provision in the Medicaid Act." CW: Robinson is a Bush II appointee.

John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by refusing to produce documents related to her legal battle last year against same-sex marriage, the state Office of the Attorney General said in an opinion released Tuesday." -- CW

Way Beyond

Erlanger and Castle of the New York Times: "The long-awaited report by the Iraq Inquiry Committee, led by John Chilcot, takes up 12 volumes covering 2.6 million words, four times longer than 'War and Peace,' and took seven years to complete, longer than Britain's combat operations in Iraq. It concluded that Mr. [Tony] Blair and the British government underestimated the difficulties and consequences of the war and overestimated the influence he would have over President George W. Bush." -- unwashed It looks like they took longer than Trey Gowdy to determine what we already knew. ...

... The Guardian report, by Luke Harding, is here. ...

... Heather Stewart of The Guardian: "Tony Blair deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime as he sought to make the case for military action to MPs and the public in the buildup to the invasion in 2002 and 2003... --unwashed ...

... Patrick Wintour of The Guardian: "The [George W.] Bush administration repeatedly overrode advice from the UK on how to oversee Iraq after the invasion, including the involvement of the United Nations, the control of Iraqi oil money and the extent to which better security should be put at the heart of the military operation.... The inquiry criticises the way in which the US dismantled the security apparatus of the Saddam Hussein army and describes the whole invasion as a strategic failure." --unwashed

Fred Barbash of the Washington Post: "Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee who dazzled the world by running in the 2012 Olympics on blade-like prosthetic legs, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp. Fifteen years is the minimum sentence for murder under South African law unless the judge finds mitigating circumstances justifying a lesser penalty. Judge Thokozile Masipa said she had indeed found reason for a lighter sentence, in particular, remorse." -- CW

The Commentariat -- July 5, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Tuesday that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges in Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information, lifting an enormous legal cloud from her presidential campaign.... But Mr. Comey rebuked Mrs. Clinton as being 'extremely careless' in using a personal email address and server for sensitive information, declaring that an ordinary government official could have faced administrative sanction for such conduct. To warrant a criminal charge, Mr. Comey said, there had to be evidence that Mrs. Clinton intentionally sent or received classified information -- something that the F.B.I. did not find. 'Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,' he said at a news conference."-- CW ...

... The full transcript of Comey's remarks, as prepared, via the Washington Post, is here. ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress with "what you need to know about why ... charges [against Clinton] were never a realistic possibility." -- CW ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump weighed in on the FBI's announcement that it would not recommend charges be brought against Hillary Clinton.... 'The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.... Trump reiterated his claims of a rigged system in a subsequent tweet." ...

     ... CW: Really? Petraeus gave classified material to his girlfriend, who was not a federal employee, not cleared to receive classified matierial, & who carried the stuff around on an unsecured laptop &, I imagine, on flashdrives or other devices.

** Jonathan Chait: Hillary Clinton "is the 'most corrupt candidate ever,' [Trump] claims. Corruption is indeed a plausible line of attack against Clinton -- or, at least, it would be, if the opposing candidate was anybody other than Donald Trump, who may actually be the most corrupt presidential candidate ever. It should be conceded that the evidence against Clinton is fairly damning.... ... The case against Hillary Clinton is that her administration might be corrupted around the margins.... Trump is flamboyantly corrupt in ways that run to the very core of his identity and prospective governing choices.... Trump has not merely intermingled campaigning with his business interests; the two are one and the same." -- CW

Nick Gass: "Donald Trump's campaign has at various times banned publications like Politico, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed News and others from covering its events. But when journalists convene in Cleveland in less than two weeks, none of those outlets will be shut out of Quicken Loans Arena, the director of the House Daily Press Gallery told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Tuesday." CW: I wonder if Trump will be able to keep the press in a pen, which would be a first at any modern-day major-party convention.

*****

Fourth of July, 2016, Washington, D.C., "1812 Overture":

     ... Update. Or Not. Scandal on Capitol Hill! Emily Yahr of the Washington Post: "If you were watching Washington's Fourth of July fireworks outside on Monday night and also happened to catch PBS's broadcast of 'A Capitol Fourth,' you might have noticed something looked … a little off. The actual weather in Washington was cloudy and misty.... But on 'A Capitol Fourth,' the annual concert special that airs live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, many of the fireworks (primarily in the second half of the display) looked glorious in a clear sky.... Another giveaway? On TV, you couldn't see the construction scaffolding on the Capitol building, which has been there for many months.... As soon as the show ended, producers from Capital Concerts owned up to the fact that not all of its footage was from the live fireworks show.... 'We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do,' the 'Capitol Fourth' account tweeted." ...

     ... The Management regrets it inadvertently foisted a hoax upon Reality Chex readers. No word yet if that's really the National Symphony Orchestra, et al., performing the "1812 Overture."

President Obama celebrates the 4th at the White House, winding up with an off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" to daughter Malia:

     ... Update. If you thought this video of President Obama and Malia Obama looked ... a little off, the White House has owned up to the fact that the Obamas always visit Kenya on the 4th of July weekend and staff substituted footage from a 2007 birthday party for Jenna Bush. "It was the patriotic thing to do," the White House account tweeted.

If you are wondering why Confederates/Trumpbots think they are the "true patriots" & the rest of us are "politically-correct" rabble, here's your answer. It's hardwired into our history. ...

... The American Stain. Robert Parkinson, in a New York Times op-ed: "The Declaration [of Independence]'s beautiful preamble distracts us from the heart of the document, the 27 accusations against King George III over which its authors wrangled and debated.... The very last one '' the ultimate deal-breaker -- was the most important...: 'He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.' In the context of the 18th century, 'domestic insurrections' refers to rebellious slaves.... In fact, Jefferson had originally included an extended attack on the king for forcing slavery upon unwitting colonists.... [But] the Continental Congress cut out [Jefferson's argument against slavery].... This idea -- that some people belong as proper Americans and others do not -- has marked American history ever since.... This notion comes from the very founders we revere this weekend. It haunts us still." ...

... CW: Here is the portion of Jefferson's "original Rough draught" to which Parkinson refers. It is remarkable:

he [George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

... MEANWHILE. Clare Foran of the Atlantic: "The United Kingdom's historic vote to leave the European Union ... has sparked interest in the far-fetched idea that U.S. states might win independence from Washington, D.C. Separatist groups are especially optimistic that Americans will be open to the idea of secession amid a presidential election that has witnessed a groundswell of populist discontent.... The improbable dream of secession is alive and well across the country and across the political spectrum. In the wake of the Brexit referendum, calls for secession everywhere from Alaska to New Hampshire have cropped up on social media." -- CW ...

... AND, in Washington, D.C. ... Lois Beckett of the Guardian: "Nearly two weeks after House Democrats staged a historic sit-in to demand action on gun control legislation, the Republican speaker of the House has agreed to hold a vote on a single gun-related bill: a measure to allow the attorney general to delay the sale of a gun to a suspected terrorist for three days, similar to a Senate measure backed by the National Rifle Association.... Nancy Pelosi slammed the legislation on Friday as 'a toothless NRA bill that will do nothing to keep our communities safe', and promised that Democrats would continue to fight for tougher gun control laws, including expanded background checks on gun sales." -- CW ...

... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is planning to disrupt the House when members return as part of a push for more action to stop gun violence, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner." -- CW

Bernard Avishai in the New Yorker, on Elie Wiesel, whose moral authority, Avishai poses, was marred by his support for Israeli aggression. -- CW

Washington Post Editors: Tesla's "Autopilot" system is not really an autopilot. "... the model [in which a Florida driver was killed by a semi the system did not detect] was not designed to be and should not have been considered to be fully self-driving. The car's semi-autonomous systems, which use onboard sensors to guide it away from hazards, were not advanced enough to steer and brake the car without the driver paying continuous attention and correcting when necessary." -- CW

Presidential Race

... Thanks to Patrick for the link. These ads seldom make me feel warm & fuzzy, though I'll have to admit I loved Bernie Sanders' "America" ads, if mostly for Simon & Garfunkel. But did they affect my vote? Nah.

Wherein David Brooks Casts a Vote for Bernie Sanders. (Well, Not Really): "The big historical context [of current British & American politics] is this: Something fundamental is shifting in our politics. The insiders can't see it. Outsiders get thrown up amid the tumult, but they are too marginal, eccentric and inexperienced to lead effectively. Without much enthusiasm, many voters seem to be flocking to tough, no-nonsense women who at least seem sensible: Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and, now, the Conservative Party front-runner, Theresa May. We probably need a political Pope Francis-type figure, who comes up from the bottom and understands life there, but who can still make the case for an open dynamic world, with free-flowing goods, ideas, capital and people." ...

     ... CW: Actually, Brooks, this isn't a shift; it's an expression of what's been visible all along & you -- being a proud insider -- couldn't see it.

El Pilkington & Mona Chalabi of the Guardian: "A Guardian call-out to online readers in the US asking them to reflect on the race so far was met by a barrage of criticism on the tone and substance of the world's most important election.... Resoundingly, the largest group of participants pointed to climate change ... [as] the 'one issue ... you wish the presidential candidates were discussing more'.... They noted that much of the Republican debate has either focused on blatant denial that climate change even exists or on how to unpick Barack Obama's attempts to fight global warming, while on the Democratic side both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have raised the issue but have rarely pushed it to the top of the political agenda." -- CW

Tim Devaney of the Hill: "WikiLeaks on Monday published more than 1,000 emails from Hillary Clinton's private server during her time as secretary of State about the Iraq War.... WikiLeaks combed through the emails to find all the messages that reference the Iraq War.... The development comes after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said last month the website had gathered 'enough evidence' for the FBI to indict Clinton." Assange said that would never happen as long as Loretta Lynch was AG. -- CW

Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is attacking Donald Trump for ... [his] response to a tweet that critics say included anti-Semitic imagery. 'Donald Trump's use of blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it's part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern,' Sara Bard, the campaign's director for Jewish outreach, said in a statement on Monday. 'Now, not only won't he apologize for it, he's peddling lies and blaming others,' she added." -- CW

Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: Donald Trump attempted to defend his use of a six-sided star superimposed upon $100 bills to criticize Hillary Clinton as corrupt. He tweeted, "Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star!'" CW: Except the original tweet was undoubtedly a copy of a graphic that appeared on white supremacists' sites. Also too, sheriff's badges, unlike the Star of David Trump tweeted, usually have circles at the ends of the points. So, not surprisingly, Trump is the Biggest 4th of Ju-Liar. ...

... Paul Waldman: The tweet isn't the problem. It's a symptom of the problem. "Donald Trump appeals directly to the worst in us, and the worst of us." -- CW

We are going to be so tough, we are going to be so smart and so vigilant, and we're going to get it so that people turn in people when they know there's something going on.... People have to turn people in. And if they don't turn them in, we are going to have more of these things. -- Donald Trump, in Denver last week, complaining about how "political correctness" prevents people from ratting on their terrorist neighbors

Palin Redux. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump met in New Jersey on Monday with Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, as he screens potential running mates in a series of meetings.... According to a source briefed on the meeting, both Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's chief strategist who is handling much of the vice presidential search, and Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, also attended.... In a post on Twitter on Monday, Mr. Trump praised Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, another military veteran who some Republicans hope will be chosen by Mr. Trump." -- CW

President Envy. Kyle Balluck: "Donald Trump is criticizing President Obama's use of Air Force One to travel to a campaign event in North Carolina on Tuesday with Hillary Clinton.... 'Why is President Obama allowed to use Air Force One on the campaign trail with Crooked Hillary? She is flying with him tomorrow. Who pays?'... A White House official told a Time magazine reporter that the Obama administration, like previous administrations, follows 'all rules and regulations to ensure that the [Democratic National Committee] or other relevant political committee pays what is required for the President to travel to political events.'" CW: Gee, I wonder why Trump doesn't have an ex-president or two to campaign for him.

The Übermensch. Conservative writer Peter Wehner in a New York Times op-ed: "This fulsome embrace of Mr. Trump [by evangelicals] is rather problematic, since he embodies a worldview that is incompatible with Christianity.... Time and again Mr. Trump has shown contempt for those he perceives as weak and vulnerable -- 'losers,' in his vernacular.... Mr. Trump embodies a Nietzschean morality rather than a Christian one.... Evangelical Christians who are enthusiastically supporting Donald Trump are signaling, even if unintentionally, that this calling has no place in politics and that Christians bring nothing distinctive to it -- that their past moral proclamations were all for show and that power is the name of the game." Thanks to Marvin S. for the link. -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Amanda Marcotte, in Salon: "Pulling back the curtain, one finds that the movement to transfer federal lands to state ownership is being funded and driven by conservative business groups that want that land to be turned over to corporate interests to be exploited for profit, even if doing so destroys the environment.... [The plan:] First, get the lands out of federal hands into state hands. Then, wait for the inevitable state budget crisis. Then, buy the resource-rich land, turning it from a beautiful, publicly accessible slice of nature into a resource extraction site.... The amount of sleaze and dishonesty in the propaganda effort is truly stunning. [The perps produce] the kind of propaganda that snakes its way down to people like the Bundys and their supporters, convincing them that the existence of national forests is somehow hurting them." -- CW

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: Those "cheap political tricks" are getting expensive. "Lately..., the ammo required in ... culture wars has proved costlier than politicians, or their constituents, may have counted on. In North Carolina, legislators last week voted to transfer $500,000 from the state's emergency response and disaster relief fund to pay for litigation of the so-called bathroom bill.... Legal fees are likewise mounting in states that have attempted to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds (which often turns out to violate federal Medicaid law), to implement constitutionally dicey restrictions on abortion access, or both.... In some cases, such legal expenses are peanuts compared with the broader economic costs of these culture-war laws.... Any time legislators pass a law already facing a major legal challenge in another state, they should have to set aside funding for its defense." -- CW

Way Beyond

Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "A parliamentary inquiry has identified multiple failures by the French intelligence services before the two devastating terrorist attacks that struck the country in 2015, lawmakers said on Tuesday. At a news conference in Paris, the lawmakers who took part in the inquiry urged the French authorities to overhaul the organization of its intelligence services by replacing the overlapping and sometimes competing agencies with a unified structure that could share intelligence more efficiently." -- CW

News Lede

Washington Post: Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, "a former member of the Virginia National Guard, was arrested Sunday and accused in federal court of plotting a domestic terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State, authorities announced Tuesday." ...

     ... CW: This actually is your government at work. Not only that, according to the report, Jalloh "had told someone close to him" about his plans, & it was that person who informed authorities. Tho it ain't necessarily so, there's a fair chance that person was a Muslim. So to whoever that person is & whatever his beliefs, thank you for savings the lives of strangers. And to Donald Trump, STFU.

The Commentariat -- July 4, 2016

... James Davidson, in Slate, has more on Douglass's speech, delivered July 5, 1852.

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "... one of the Obama administration’s most ardent policy initiatives has been a concerted campaign to end the scourge of sexual assault on college campuses.... Already the efforts of this White House have dramatically transformed the way colleges and universities respond to allegations of sexual misconduct.... The administration’s approach — through federal enforcement of civil rights protections and a campus-based advocacy campaign — was spurred in part by an emboldened group of survivors who have gone public... But it also reflects the activism of [Vice President] Biden and President Obama, who became alarmed at the idea of rape as a fixture of college life." ...

     ... CW: Now ask yourself what a Trump administration would do about campus sexual assault. Still want to sit out this election because you don't trust Hillary? Or because "politicians are all the same"? No, they're not.

Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "Last week’s revelation that the [Obama] administration is proposing increased military cooperation with Russia in Syria, in exchange for Russian agreement to abide by the cease-fire it had already agreed to, was a stark example of how the administration’s theory about how to work with Russia is being misapplied on the ground.... Washington cannot ignore Russia’s increasingly horrendous behavior." -- CW 

** "I Dissent." Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor ... [wrote] eight dissents before the term ended last Monday. Read together, they are a remarkable body of work from an increasingly skeptical student of the criminal justice system, one who has concluded that it is clouded by arrogance and machismo and warped by bad faith and racism." -- CW 

AP: "Financial inequality became even wider in the United States last year, with average income for the top 1% of households surging 7.7% to $1.36 million. Income for the richest sliver rose twice as fast as it did for the remaining 99% of households, according to an updated analysis of tax data by Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.... Still, the incomes of households outside the top 1% appear finally to be recovering from the Great Recession.... After accounting for inflation, their average income rose 3.9% last year to $48,768 — the strongest annual gain since 1998." -- CW 

Pamela Constable of the Washington Post: "At a time when foreigners in Western garb are being singled out for deadly attacks by the Islamic State and other militants, the United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens against wearing traditional Muslim clothing while traveling in the West.... [An Emirati,] Ahmed al-Menhali, was detained at gunpoint last week in Avon, Ohio, after a suspicious hotel clerk alerted relatives, who called 911. Menhali, a 41-year-old businessman, was in the United States for medical treatment and tried to book a hotel in the Cleveland suburb. He was wearing a flowing white headscarf and a full-length white robe at the time. Police accosted and handcuffed him outside the hotel entrance while he was speaking on his phone in Arabic." -- CW 

Rarely in the history of the United States has the nation been so ill-served as during the presidency of George W. Bush. -- Jean Smith, opening sentence in "Bush" ...

... Book Review. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "If [George W.] Bush eventually gets a more sympathetic hearing by history, as he hopes, it will not start with Jean Edward Smith’s 'Bush,' a comprehensive and compelling narrative punctuated by searing verdicts of all the places where the author thinks the 43rd president went off track.... The value of Mr. Smith’s account is not original reporting but a thorough assimilation of the existing record." -- CW 

** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "... in a small but significant way, [CNN's hiring of Corey] Lewandowski ... represents a signal moment in political journalism’s evolving embrace of political operatives: A major mainstream news organization is using a commentator who is legally prohibited from sharing the unvarnished truth on the subject — Mr. Trump — he was hired to talk about.... What happens to the balance between truth and falsehood when an important portion of the national news media hands the political debate over to partisan operatives who, as a rule, skew the facts — or abandon them — in the service of their own political ends or business interests?" -- CW  

Presidential Race

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Politically turbulent North Carolina, where Barack Obama won in 2008 and then Republicans rose up to engineer a conservative revolution, has suddenly emerged as a focal point in the presidential race. The battle lines will be clear Tuesday in dueling rallies in the state’s two major cities.... Hillary Clinton will appear in Charlotte alongside President Obama, who is making his debut on the campaign trail and will try to reenergize his multiethnic coalition. That night..., Donald Trump will take the stage in Raleigh...." -- CW 

Julie Davis of the New York Times: "The White House has forbidden members of President Obama’s cabinet to address the Democratic National Convention this month, a stark break from past policy that is intended to avoid the appearance that the administration’s final months are being consumed by the politics of Hillary Clinton’s campaign." -- CW 

CW: The New York Times has a crystal-ball story -- currently running on the front page -- on what Hillary Clinton's first hundred days as president would be like. Whatever the headline is, Steve M. has a better one: "Hillary Clinton Thinks Republican Lucy Might Let er Kick the Football." He goes on: "She'll learn, just as Obama eventually did. Frankly, I don't even think they intend to let her fill Supreme Court vacancies.... If they control the Senate, they'll block her picks. If they don't, they'll declare any attempt by the Democrats to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court picks an assault on the Constitution. No, Hillary -- they won't let you kick the football." -- CW 

Kristen East of Politico: "An aide to the former president gave a statement on condition of anonymity to both CNN and The Associated Press, describing the meeting as 'entirely social in nature.'... But recognizing how others could take another view of it, he agrees with the attorney general that he would not do it again,” the aide said." CW: Really? Apology by anonymous aide? Heartfelt, I'm sure. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "For at least the fifth time, Trump’s Twitter account had shared a meme from the racist 'alt-right.”... On white-supremacist forums, Trump was cheered for apparently declaring his solidarity through not-so-subtle code." -- CW ...

... The New York Times story, by Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman, is here. CW: I'm glad to see the major media picking up this story. The CNN suits who hired Corey Lewandowski should hang their heads in shame. No teeny improvement in ratings is worth having a staff that condones & excuses anti-Semitism, which is exactly what Lewandowski did when he accused critics of Trump's alt-right tweet as "political correctness run amok." ...

... Anthony Smith of Mic.com: Donald Trump got that anti-Semitic Star of David graphic he tweeted yesterday "from an Internet message board for the alt-right, a digital movement of Neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and white supremacists newly emboldened by the success of Trump's rhetoric." CW: Trump is really plugged in to the hatemonger network. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kevin Robillard of Politico: "Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Sunday blamed the blowup over his former campaign's use of imagery some saw as anti-Semitic on 'political correctness.'" CW: We really must all stop being so squeamish about a presidential nominee retweeting anti-Semitic, white supremacist messages. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) -- CW ...

... Judd Legum of Think Progress introduces you to three white supremacists "who have inspired Donald Trump." ...

... CW: What's important to see here is that these extreme racists are Donald Trump's people; he identifies with them to the extent that he repeatedly relies on them as a "news source." The only difference between Trump & the swamp is that Trump has the savvy to pretend, albeit sometimes with apparently intentional irony, that he "loves the Mexicans," etc. Underneath that fake mop is an unrepentant skinhead. It's sickening.

Washington Post Editors: "... the shamelessness by which [Donald Trump's] actual giving to worthy causes has trailed his public claims of generosity is stunning.... The issue is not that Mr. Trump has been stingy, although he has made no bequests to his foundation since 2008, and his giving levels before that appear to have been far lower than those of others who have the wealth Mr. Trump insists he enjoys. The issue is the cavernous gulf between his words and deeds.... [Trump's] whoppers come so fast and thick that it’s easy to lose track, and it’s tempting to ignore much of what he says. That would be a mistake. Contempt for the truth is a disqualifying feature in a candidate for the presidency." -- CW ...

     ... New Word: eleemosynary: "of, relating to, or supported by charity." Thanks, WashPo.

Paul Krugman: "... Trumponomics goes beyond the usual Republican assertions that cutting taxes on corporations and the rich, ending environmental regulation and so on will conjure up the magic of the marketplace and make everyone prosper. It also involves posing as a populist, claiming that getting tough on foreigners and ripping up our trade agreements will bring back the well-paying jobs America has lost.... Adding a bit of China-bashing to a fundamentally anti-labor agenda does no more to make you a friend of workers than eating a taco bowl does to make you a friend of Latinos." -- CW 

Ashley Parker & Steve Eder of the New York Times: "In the birther movement, Mr. Trump recognized an opportunity to connect with the electorate over an issue many considered taboo: the discomfort, in some quarters of American society, with the election of the nation’s first black president. He harnessed it for political gain.... Mr. Trump ... said repeatedly that he had sent a team of investigators to Hawaii to unearth information about Mr. Obama’s birth records. 'They cannot believe what they are finding,' Mr. Trump told ABC’s 'The View.'... But for all of his fascination with the president’s birth certificate, Mr. Trump apparently never dispatched investigators or made much of an effort to find the documents. Dr. Alvin Onaka, the Hawaii state registrar who handled queries about Mr. Obama, said recently through a spokeswoman that he had no evidence or recollection of Mr. Trump or any of his representatives ever requesting the records from the Hawaii State Department of Health.” ...  

     ... CW: It's worth remembering that Trump's political career is founded on a lie about investigating a debunked conspiracy theory.

Mark Singer of the New Yorker: "Trump often speaks of how much 'fun' he has running his business and running for President, but he plainly is having less of it lately.... Stephanie Cegielski, the former communications director of the Make America Great Again super pac ...  told of being informed by colleagues, in March, 2015, that Trump would be running for President, with the goal of polling at, say, twelve per cent, and finishing second in the delegate count.... The poor fellow wanted only to extend the 'Donald Trump' brand, not to impose upon Donald Trump the task of learning the sorts of things that would require self-discipline commensurate with the awe-inspiring responsibilities of the Presidency." -- CW 

Jenni Miller of New York: "Ivanka Trump, whose father Donald once suggested that he would date her if they weren't already related, went to bat for her dear old daddy in the Sunday Times of London. The fashion mogul, whose scarves are classified as fire risks and who has been sued numerous times for stealing shoe designs, declared, "My father is a feminist. He's a big reason I am the woman I am today." -- CW  ...

Eric Trump.... In Another Tale of Trump Progeny, we learn that the pustule Eric Trump (whose appearance for some reason reminds me of Count Dracula) "attacked a Washington Post article that found his father ... donated only $10,000 to charities over seven years, millions less than he has publicly claimed. Eric Trump dismissed the article as a 'hack job' while calling the media the 'worst part of society.'" -- CW 

Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, said on Sunday Donald Trump’s recent comments were 'clearly' racist, a day after ... [Trump] faced accusations of antisemitism and in the same week that he said he would consider firing government employees who wear hijabs. 'He has said 100 things that would disqualify anyone else from running for president but it doesn’t seem to affect him,' Johnson told CNN’s State of the Union. 'The stuff he’s saying is just incendiary. It’s racist.'” -- CW ...

     ... CW: I missed the hijab story, so here it is, although the brilliant lady who posed the "issue" called hijabs "hibi-jabis." But I'm sure she's not a racist.

Beyond the Beltway

Christal Hayes of the Orlando Sentinel: "The father of the 2-year-old boy who was killed in an alligator attack near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa told officials a second gator was involved, records show.... In total, five alligators were killed in the 16-hour search for Lane [Graves]. His body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.... Three days after the tragedy Disney raised fencing around the lake at that and other lakefront resorts and announced signs would be posted reading 'Danger! Alligators and snakes in area. Stay away from the water. Do not feed the wildlife.'" -- CW 

Way Beyond

Falih Hassan, et al., of the New York Times: "As celebrations for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan stretched past midnight into Sunday in central Baghdad, where Iraqis had gathered to eat, shop and just be together, a minivan packed with explosives blew up and killed at least 143 people — the third mass slaughter across three countries in less than a week. The attack was the deadliest in Baghdad in many years — at least since 2009 — and was among the worst Iraq has faced since the American invasion of 2003. The bombing came barely a week after Iraqi security forces, backed by American airstrikes, celebrated the liberation of Falluja from the Islamic State, which almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. -- CW (This is an update of a story linked yesterday."

Rowena Mason & Peter Walker of the Guardian: "Nigel Farage is stepping down as leader of [the right-wing] Ukip, saying he has done his bit for the cause of Britain leaving the EU." -- CW 

Owen Bowcott of the Guardian: "A prominent law firm is taking pre-emptive legal action against the government, following the EU referendum result, to try to ensure article 50 is not triggered without an act of parliament.... [A partner at the firm bringing the suit] said, '... said: 'The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke article 50 without the approval of parliament is unlawful.'... Another legal initiative began last week to seek an opinion on whether the advisory status of the referendum means that it should be the prime minister or parliament that ultimately pulls the trigger on article 50." -- CW ...

... ** Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat & former Deputy Prime Minister, in a Guardian op-ed: A general "election must be held before any attempt is made to activate article 50, the legal mechanism triggering the negotiations for EU exit.... Finally, the definitive, negotiated terms both of our exit from, and our future relationship with, the EU must then be put back to parliament for a vote of consent." CW: Clegg has fun knocking everybody on both sides of the Brexit.