The Commentariat -- June 28, 2016

Afternoon Update:

David Herzenhorn of the New York Times: "Ending one of the longest, costliest and most bitterly partisan congressional investigations in history, the House Select Committee on Benghazi issued its final report on Tuesday, finding no new evidence of culpability or wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton in the 2012 attacks in Libya that left four Americans dead."

     ... Akhilleus: No kidding. But nonetheless...

Trey Gowdy was just doing his job...No, really. Karoun Demirjian of the Washinton Post: "Rep. Trey Gowdy on Tuesday defended his committee's lengthy and expansive Benghazi probe, saying that it was intended to reveal the facts and not to torpedo Hillary Clinton's presidential chances. The South Carolina Republican, a former federal prosecutor, insisted that former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and current speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) never 'asked me to do anything about presidential politics.... My job is to report facts,' Gowdy told reporters. 'You can draw whatever conclusions you want to draw.'"

     ... Akhilleus: Sure. Just the fact, ma'am. So we should pay no attention to all the ripe canards and out and out lies and smears perpetrated by committee Republicans for the last two years, like the time former committee chair "...[Darrell] Issa famously claimed that Clinton had personally issued a 'stand-down' order in which a CIA operative allegedly told his troops not to rush to the rescue of those in danger. That narrative repeatedly has been proven to lack any evidence -- including by the Washington Post's Fact Checker, which awarded the claim 'Four Pinnochios.'"

Was Benghazi the Biggest Scandal in History as many Republicans claim? Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog: "The Republicans have won on Benghazi. To much [sic] America, the incident in which four people died was the worst foreign policy failure imaginable. The investigations may be over now that we have today's two Republican reports -- one report, ostensibly objective, that's offered as the voice of the committee as a whole, plus one extra-tendentious report from two hard-right committee members -- but the stench will linger ... even if Americans are told that other administrations have suffered deaths of diplomatic personnel -- far more deaths, in many cases, I don't think the public can even process that notion. How could anything be worse than Benghazi?

     ... Akhilleus: Far more Americans stationed abroad died during the Bush II and Reagan administrations: 87 under Bush and over 300 under Saint Ronnie of Reagan. In fact, in Reagan's case, even after a congressional committee (which lasted weeks, not years) issued recommendations for improving security and safety of Americans abroad nothing was done. Three months after 254 Marines were killed by a truck bomb, a CIA station chief was kidnapped, tortured, and killed, and shortly thereafter, another US outpost in Beirut was bombed. Reagan's excuse? Well, it's like having your kitchen redone. Things never get finished on time. Seriously. That's what he said...Just imagine the outrage if Obama had issued a flip response like that. They'd want him flayed alive on national television.

*****

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico will pledge on Wednesday that by 2025 half of their overall electricity generation will come from clean power sources, according to administration officials. The commitment -- which will be a joint one, rather than an individual commitment by each nation -- represents an aggressive target given the reliance by the United States and Mexico on fossil fuels for much of their electricity supply.... President Obama will travel to Ottawa on Wednesday to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as part of this year's North American Leaders Summit. The upcoming pledge highlights how collaboration on climate between the United States and Canada has accelerated since Trudeau ... was elected last fall." CW: AND, as much as "remembering the Supremes," this is why U.S. voters should choose Democrats.

** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday struck down parts of a restrictive Texas law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10 from what was once a high of roughly 40. The 5-to-3 decision was the court's most sweeping statement on abortion rights since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. It applied a skeptical and exacting version of that decision's 'undue burden' standard to find that the restrictions in Texas must fall. Monday's decision means that similar restrictions in other states are most likely also unconstitutional, and it imperils many other kinds of restrictions. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "The task of judging whether a law puts an unconstitutional burden on a woman's right to abortion, the new ruling declared firmly, belongs with the courts, not the legislatures.... A key part of the majority opinion was that it struck down both provisions 'facially' -- that is, the very words of the provisions were invalid, no matter how they might be applied in any practical situation." -- CW

... Tara Culp-Ressler of Think Progress: "The high court reversed two major provisions in Texas' law -- first, a requirement that abortion doctors obtain 'admitting privileges' from local hospitals; second, a requirement that abortion clinics bring their standards in line with 'ambulatory surgical centers' -- siding with the plaintiffs' argument that these policies do nothing to improve patient health and safety. In the majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that these 'unnecessary health regulations' ultimately pose an 'undue burden' on women's right to abortion.... Monday's decision doesn't mean that those state laws will automatically be rolled back.... But it is clear that TRAP laws are now on much, much shakier ground than they were before the high court waded into this issue." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kevin Drum: "This means that probably the most important thing we've learned today is just how far Kennedy can be pushed. He's voted in favor of several abortion restrictions over the past decade, but this one went too far. In practical terms, that means abortion opponents have tested the limits of what they can get away with, and the Texas law represents the outer boundary." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Ann Friedman of New York: "In America, it's gotten surprisingly difficult to tell whether abortion is a right or a luxury. Today's Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt would seem to reinforce that it's a right.... But it also reveals a hard truth about the decades-long effort to deliberately deter women from getting abortions. Thanks to federal restrictions and state-level laws, most low-income women have to pay for an abortion out-of-pocket. " --safari...

... Olga Khazan, in The Atlantic, has a long read on "the myriad legal, financial, and cultural obstacles" faced by abortion providers operating in strongly conservative, Christain towns across America. --safari

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously overturned former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell's public corruption conviction, and made it harder to prosecute public officials for alleged wrongdoing. The court said it had no opinion on whether McDonnell should be retried under the stricter standards the decision imposes, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. described the former governor's actions as 'tawdry' in announcing the decision from the bench." CW: So we know what about Bob. But what about Maureen? I'm not sure what this means for Maureen McDonnell, who also was convicted & sentenced to jail. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Rick Hasen: "The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling throwing out the conviction of Gov. McDonnell (while leaving open the possibility of a retrial on a narrower theory of the case) is sensible and courageous, and shows the continuing important influence of Justice Scalia in this area of the law. It is hard to write an opinion letting off the hook someone whose actions were as odious as Gov. McDonnell.... But it was the right thing to do. In an earlier case, Sun-Diamond, Justice Scalia wrote a majority opinion (involving the conviction of Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy on illegal gratuity charges) in which Justice Scalia warned about the criminalization of ordinary politics." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)...

... Betsy Woodruff of The Daily Beast: "The Supreme Court just threw a lifeline to politicians looking to play and get paid -- and perhaps even to some big fish in New York who have already been caught and convicted for doing just that." --safari ...

... Ditto, Say Experts. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "As it unanimously overturned Bob McDonnell's corruption convictions Monday, the Supreme Court may have given a green light to politicians and their allies to trade access for money, according to legal experts and disappointed advocates for government ethics laws." -- CW

Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "[A] quick thought on the Texas immigration case: The irony of Paul Ryan and his fellowTrump boosters celebrating U.S. v. Texas as a big win for curbing executive excesses cannot be lost on any of you. That same contingent that this week lauded the Supreme Court as a vital check on presidential overreach is also proudly maintaining that a paralyzed court is a terrific idea, all while claiming that Donald Trump -- who has never met a check or balance to which he might someday accede-- is their top choice for the White House." --safari

AP Brief: "The Supreme Court is upholding the broad reach of a federal law that bans people convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. The justices on Monday rejected arguments that the law covers only intentional acts of abuse and not those committed in the heat of an argument." -- CW ...

     ... Ann Marimow of the Washington Post has a more detailed report on the ruling. [Link fixed.] -- CW

Elijah Cummings Has Had Enough of Trey Gowdy. David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "House Democrats on Monday moved to pre-empt the findings of a two-year Republican-led investigation into the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed, by issuing their own 339-page report that cast the inquiry as a politically motivated crusade that wasted time and money. The release of the Democrats' report came amid signs that the House Select Committee on Benghazi, led by its chairman, Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, was nearing the release of its official findings." -- CW ...

     ... Update. Rachel Bade of Politico: "In their long-awaited final report, Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee have concluded that the Obama administration -- including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- failed across multiple agencies and levels to protect American diplomats in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack. The 800-page report, to be released Tuesday, is the culmination of a two-year investigation that has haunted the 2016 Democratic front-runner on the campaign trail, even as Clinton's campaign has consistently slammed the probe as a political vendetta." -- CW

Alison Smale & Sewell Chan of the New York Times: "... leaders of the [European Union] member states began converging in Brussels on Tuesday to respond to what is arguably the greatest challenge ever to confront the 28-nation bloc. Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain will join his counterparts to discuss the aftershocks from the British referendum on Thursday, but he will then return to London -- leaving the other leaders to ponder their response to Britain's decision. Before departing for Brussels, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she would use 'all her strength' to prevent the European Union from drifting apart in the wake of Britain's decision." -- CW ...

... Here's the latest hoohah via the Guardian's liveblog. -- CW ...

... A Rudderless Ship of State. Steven Erlanger, et al., of the New York Times: "Leaders on both sides of the Channel said there was no viable option but to move gradually toward the withdrawal process. Yet the day's developments did little to dispel the possibility that the crisis could drag on for a long time, possibly generating enough economic and political damage to encourage negotiation of a new arrangement between Europe and Britain that would sidestep the need for a formal withdrawal or at least minimize its effects.... Leaders of the Leave campaign, including Boris Johnson, the former London mayor who is now a leading candidate to succeed Mr. Cameron, notably modulated their tone and some positions on Europe, leaving unclear exactly what issues they want to address through a withdrawal." -- CW ...

... Cameron to Spend More Time with Family Sooner than Planned. Heather Stewart & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Britain will have a new prime minister by 2 September, after the executive of the Conservative party's backbench 1922 Committee set a tighter than expected timetable for selecting a new leader. David Cameron announced last Friday that he would step down following the historic EU referendum result, paving the way for a new prime minister to be appointed by the time of the party's conference in October. But the 1922 executive, chaired by the MP Graham Brady, which met on Monday lunchtime, said it would recommend a more rapid process.... [Brady] added that if a new prime minister presses ahead with the crucial renegotiations, they could then call a general election to allow the public to give their verdict on Britain's new relationship with the EU.... Leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson and the home secretary, Theresa May, are seen as the frontrunners...." -- CW ...

... Griff Witte & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "By picking a new leader in September rather than October, the country could be free to move faster with its departure from the 28-member club. Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Monday that the country will delay the triggering of exit talks -- a point from which there will be no turning back -- until his successor is in place. The move came as markets tumbled worldwide, the pound hit a 31-year low and a respected financial agency cut Britain's credit rating. Amid the growing tumult, President François Hollande of France said his country's island neighbor needs to get out quickly to end the uncertainty." -- CW ...

... Tom McTague of Politico: David Cameron washes his hands of the international crisis he created. -- CW ...

... Simon Denyer & Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "U.S. and European stock markets stumbled again Monday as investors digested the implications of Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

...Jill Treanor & Katie Allen of the Guardian: "The UK has been stripped of its last AAA rating as credit agency Standard & Poor's warned of the economic, fiscal and constitutional risks the country now faces as a result of the result. The two-notch downgrade came with a warning that S&P could slash its rating again...That downgrade was swiftly followed by a cut to the UK's credit score from rival agency Fitch." --safari...

... Hortense Goulard of Politico: "Brussels should avoid the temptation to embrace 'revengeful premises' after British voters chose to leave the European Union in last week's referendum, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. EU leaders need to ensure that during the exit negotiation with the U.K., 'nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don't start ginning up scattered-brained or revengeful premises,' Kerry said, after a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini in Brussels." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)...

... Jennifer Rankin & Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "European diplomats have dismissed claims from Boris Johnson that the UK could negotiate access to the EU single market without obeying any of the rules. 'You cannot have your cake and eat it,' said an EU diplomat, echoing a phrase the former mayor of London used during the campaign and which looks set to come back to haunt him...EU diplomats are slowly groping towards a consensus on a Brexit timetable, following crisis talks between 27 senior diplomats on Sunday that excluded the UK. The increasingly dominant view is that Britain should trigger article 50 by the end of the year, starting the clock on two years of divorce negotiations. This would allow the UK to leave the EU before European parliament elections and the appointment of a new European commission in 2019." --safari

...Tina Brown of The Daily Beast: "There were ritual denials from the Palace last week after the Queen's (pro-EU) biographer Robert Lacey, writing in the Daily Beast, quoted the monarch as having issued this icy challenge to her dinner guests: 'Give me three good reasons why Britain should be part of Europe.' [T]here is little doubt that Her Maj was a keen Brexiteer.... Brexit has added new gradations to the class divide.... In further gradations of the new class divide, there is the now deeply divisive figure of Boris Johnson, the man who led the Brexit movement to victory...Boris, I fear, belongs to a peculiarly dangerous British type a type that in my days as the editor of Tatler in the 1980s, I christened the Gentleman Hack.... All hail the next prime minister of the United (though maybe not for long) Kingdom." --safari...

... Harriet Sherwood, et al., of the Guardian: "David Cameron has condemned 'despicable' xenophobic abuse after the EU referendum& as figures suggested a 57% increase in reported incidents. The country would not stand for hate crime, the prime minister told MPs.... Senior police chiefs have discussed how to respond amid concerns the continuing heated debate may contribute to heightened tensions. Cameron's condemnation came amid a growing chorus of concern over intolerance and hostility." --safari...

... Juan Cole: "The oil-rich Gulf Cooperation countries may see additional buying opportunities in the British market after Brexit.... In general, former British colonies often feel they have a special opportunity for trade and investment with the UK, with which EU commitments sometimes interfered. They now hope to step in to fill the vacuum left by UK departure from the EU...Meanwhile Turkey seems to be offering itself to the European Union as a substitute for the UK." --safari...

... Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "If Boris Johnson could, with a squint, be seen as Britain's answer to Donald Trump,then Jeremy Corbyn -- the opposition leader at heart of a post-Brexit revolt in the Labour party -- is best explained in an American context by comparison to Bernie Sanders.... Opinion polls suggest a Trump presidency is even more unlikely than Britain leaving the European Union once seemed. But Sanders will now be under more pressure to join Clinton and make sure the US does not follow the UK down the path of nationalism." --safari...

... Nadia Khomani of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has predicted the breakup of the European Union and warned Scotland against the risks of a second independence referendum. During a visit to Scotland hours after Britain opted to leave the EU in a historic referendum..., [Trump] said that without strict migration controls Europe would be unrecognisable within a decade." --safari

Hiroko Tabuchi & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Volkswagen has agreed to pay up to $14.7 billion to settle claims stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal, in what would be one of the largest consumer class-action settlements ever in the United States. The proposed settlement involving the federal government and lawyers for the owners of about 475,000 Volkswagen vehicles, includes a maximum of $10.03 billion to buy back affected cars at their pre-scandal values, and additional cash compensation for the owners, according to two people briefed on the settlement's terms. The cash compensation offered to each car owner will range from $5,100 to $10,000." -- CW

Bethone Butler & Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: Actor Jesse Williams, who costars in the television show "Gray's Anatomy," gave a powerful speech, which has gone viral, when accepting BET's Humanitarian Award Sunday night. Williams "has been a consistent presence in the Black Lives Matter movement since its beginning." -- CW Here's the audio:

Presidential Race

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton & Elizabeth Warren, "who built rival power centers on the political left but this spring gradually became allies, together electrified a crowd of thousands [in Cincinnati, Ohio,] by locking their arms, punching the air and excoriating Donald Trump. Clinton may be the one running for president, but Warren, her new surrogate and possibly future running mate, stole the show with her eviscerating takedown of Trump -- and her enthusiastic endorsement of Clinton." -- CW

Kylie Atwood of CBS News reprises the highs & lows of Bernie Sanders' campaign. ...

... CW: Is the "system" "rigged"? Well, yeah: "At one point shortly before the caucuses, [Sanders' Nevada director Joan Kato] instructed staff to buy double-sided coins -- in case coin-flips were needed to decide any of the caucuses in the event of a tie, according to staffers." ...

... Which also was evidence of not just dishonesty but also incompetence. Eric Levitz of New York: According to Jon Ralston, Nevada political guru, "ties were not decided by coin flip but by cutting cards!" -- CW

The good thing is, we have a candidate who doesn't need to figure out what's going on in order to say what he wants to do. -- Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, Sunday on 'Meet the Press'

MEANWHILE. John Amato of Crooks & Liars: "Donald Trump was interviewed by NBC News' Hallie Jackson on the telephone today and he responded to remarks made by Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a campaign event in Cincinnati with Hillary Clinton by calling her a 'racist' and a fraud.' Apparently Donald Trump believes the same failed strategy that was used by Scott Brown to undermine her senatorial campaign will suddenly turn into a pot of gold for him." ...

She made up her heritage, which I think is racist. I think she's a racist, actually because what she did was very racist. -- Donald Trump, Monday

This dimwit could not think his way out of a paper bag: "I'm stuck in a paper bag, which I think means I'm stuck in a paper bag. I think I'm stuck in a paper bag, actually because where I am is stuck in a paper bag." -- Constant Weader ...

     ... CW: Trump repeated his charges against Warren quite a few times. AND of course he had to call her "Pochahontas," using it as a perjorative, because there's nothing racist about that. ...

... Speaking of Dreamboat Scottie. "Fauxchahontas." Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "As Donald Trump continues to call Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" for claiming Native American heritage, former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown -- who lost to her in 2012 -- is defending that line of attack.... 'Harvard can release the records, she can authorize the release of those records, or she can take a DNA test,' he said, insisting that Warren took a job that might have rightly gone to a nonwhite applicant. 'It's a reverse form of racism, quite frankly,'" [Brown said.] CW: BTW, I suspect that blue-haired Smurf standing next to Brown in the photo accompanying the article is Scottie's alterego. Either that, or it's his Picture of Dorian Gray.

Fredreka Schouten & Christopher Schnaars of USA Today: "Thousands of wealthy donors who helped fuel Republicans' presidential ambitions in the last two election cycles have not donated to Donald Trump's campaign or to other committees supporting his bid, underscoring the challenge the real-estate magnate faces in securing the hundreds of millions he needs to finance his general-election campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: This appears to me to be a place where Hillary has a real advantage over Bernie. Establishment Republicans are not afraid of President Hillary MOR Clinton; they might be digging deep if the alternative was President Bernie Socialist Sanders. ...

...Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "After releasing fundraising reports that were anemic at best, Donald Trump's campaign announced in one single email blast he had raised at least $3.3 million. If that figure seems impossible, that's because it is.... Digital marketing experts are viewing Trump's current claims with deep skepticism." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "A slot at the Republican National Convention used to be a career-maker.... In the year of Trump: Not so much.... Politico contacted more than 50 prominent governors, senators and House members to gauge their interest in speaking. Only a few said they were open to it, and everyone else said they weren't planning on it, didn't want to, or weren't going to Cleveland at all -- or simply didn't respond." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Nick Gass of Politico: "Less than half -- 45 percent -- of Republican voters say they are satisfied with Donald Trump as their party's presidential nominee, according to the latest results from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday. Another 52 percent said they would have preferred someone else as the GOP standard bearer, while the levels of satisfaction are reversed among Democratic voters, 52 percent of which said they are satisfied with Hillary Clinton as their party's nominee in November. The results break down ideological and educational lines." --safari

Bianco Padró Ocasio of Politico: "More than nine hours after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn two provisions of a Texas anti-abortion law on Monday, the Republican Party's presumptive nominee has yet to comment.... Donald Trump, who has said in the past that he is 'very pro-choice,' has struggled to clearly explain his position on abortion during the 2016 campaign." --safari

Beyond the Beltway

Bryce Covert of ThinkProgress: "In the eight months that Michigan has been running a pilot program to drug test applicants and recipients of its welfare program, not a single person has tested positive, according to preliminary results. The program began in October in three different counties. As of May, 303 people who applied for benefits or were already receiving them participated, but they turned up zero positive drug test results. An applicant can refuse a test, forfeiting benefits if he or she does, and some argue that low positive testing rates can be due to those who abuse drugs simply declining to get tested. But no one in Michigan's pilot program refused to take a test." --safari

AP, Via RawStory: "A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas on Monday ordered former billionaire Sam Wyly to pay $1.11 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties after finding he committed tax fraud by shielding much of his family's wealth in offshore trusts...Sam Wyly, now 81, appeared on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans as recently as 2010." --safari

Way Beyond

Juan Cole: "As Shakir Jawdat, Chief of the Iraqi Federal Police, announced the complete liberation of the last, northern neighborhoods of Fallujah from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), [Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi, the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, called on all Iraqis to issue from their homes into the streets and to celebrate the liberation of Fallujah...That al-Abadi and his American allies were able to have Shiite militias and Sunni al-Anbar tribesmen fight on the same side was a substantial victory of its own sort..... But al-Abadi is the head of a Shiite religious party that no Sunni believes includes them. That has to change if Iraq is to survive." --safari

Krishnadev Calamur of The Atlantic: "Israel and Turkey have ended their six-year-long diplomatic disputesparked by the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed 10 Turkish nationals." --safari

News Lede

New York Times: "Pat Summitt, who was at the forefront of a broad ascendance of women's sports, winning eight national basketball championships at the University of Tennessee and more games than any other Division I college coach, male or female, died on Tuesday. She was 64.... Ms. Summitt stepped down after 38 seasons and 1,098 victories at Tennessee in April 2012, at 59, less than a year after she learned she had early-onset Alzheimer's disease." -- CW

The Commentariat -- June 27, 2016

Early/Afternoon Update:

Art by MAG. Nasty mouths by the usual suspects.

... Maybe they're so mad because .... Fredreka Schouten & Christopher Schnaars of USA Today: "Thousands of wealthy donors who helped fuel Republicans' presidential ambitions in the last two election cycles have not donated to Donald Trump's campaign or to other committees supporting his bid, underscoring the challenge the real-estate magnate faces in securing the hundreds of millions he needs to finance his general-election campaign." ...

     ... CW: This appears to me to be a place where Hillary has a real advantage over Bernie. Establishment Republicans are not afraid of President Hillary MOR Clinton; they might be digging deep if the alternative was President Bernie Socialist Sanders.

The good thing is, we have a candidate who doesn't need to figure out what's going on in order to say what he wants to do. -- Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, Sunday on "Meet the Press"

Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "After releasing fundraising reports that were anemic at best, Donald Trump's campaign announced in one single email blast he had raised at least $3.3 million. If that figure seems impossible, that's because it is.... Digital marketing experts are viewing Trump's current claims with deep skepticism." -- CW

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "A slot at the Republican National Convention used to be a career-maker.... In the year of Trump: Not so much.... Politico contacted more than 50 prominent governors, senators and House members to gauge their interest in speaking. Only a few said they were open to it, and everyone else said they weren't planning on it, didn't want to, or weren't going to Cleveland at all -- or simply didn't respond." -- CW

** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday struck down parts of a restrictive Texas law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10 from what was once a high of roughly 40. The 5-to-3 decision was the court's most sweeping statement on abortion rights since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. It applied a skeptical and exacting version of that decision's 'undue burden' standard to find that the restrictions in Texas must fall. Monday's decision means that similar restrictions in other states are most likely also unconstitutional, and it imperils many other kinds of restrictions. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented." -- CW ...

... Tara Culp-Ressler of Think Progress: "The high court reversed two major provisions in Texas' law -- first, a requirement that abortion doctors obtain 'admitting privileges' from local hospitals; second, a requirement that abortion clinics bring their standards in line with 'ambulatory surgical centers' -- siding with the plaintiffs' argument that these policies do nothing to improve patient health and safety. In the majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that these 'unnecessary health regulations' ultimately pose an 'undue burden' on women's right to abortion.... Monday's decision doesn't mean that those state laws will automatically be rolled back.... But it is clear that TRAP laws are now on much, much shakier ground than they were before the high court waded into this issue." -- CW ...

... Kevin Drum: "This means that probably the most important thing we've learned today is just how far Kennedy can be pushed. He's voted in favor of several abortion restrictions over the past decade, but this one went too far. In practical terms, that means abortion opponents have tested the limits of what they can get away with, and the Texas law represents the outer boundary." -- CW

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously overturned former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell's public corruption conviction, and made it harder to prosecute public officials for alleged wrongdoing. The court said it had no opinion on whether McDonnell should be retried under the stricter standards the decision imposes, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. described the former governor's actions as 'tawdry' in announcing the decision from the bench." CW: So we know what about Bob. But what about Maureen? I'm not sure what this means for Maureen McDonnell, who also was convicted & sentenced to jail. ...

... Rick Hasen: "The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling throwing out the conviction of Gov. McDonnell (while leaving open the possibility of a retrial on a narrower theory of the case) is sensible and courageous, and shows the continuing important influence of Justice Scalia in this area of the law. It is hard to write an opinion letting off the hook someone whose actions were as odious as Gov. McDonnell.... But it was the right thing to do. In an earlier case, Sun-Diamond, Justice Scalia wrote a majority opinion (involving the conviction of Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy on illegal gratuity charges) in which Justice Scalia warned about the criminalization of ordinary politics." -- CW

AP Brief: "The Supreme Court is upholding the broad reach of a federal law that bans people convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. The justices on Monday rejected arguments that the law covers only intentional acts of abuse and not those committed in the heat of an argument." -- CW

The Guardian is liveblogging developments relating to Brexit. At 11:45 am ET, PM Cameron is speaking before the Parliament. He says he's not planning a Brexit vote redux. -- CW ...

... Simon Denyer & Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "U.S. and European stock markets stumbled again Monday as investors digested the implications of Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union." -- CW ...

... Hortense Goulard of Politico: "Brussels should avoid the temptation to embrace 'revengeful premises' after British voters chose to leave the European Union in last week's referendum, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. EU leaders need to ensure that during the exit negotiation with the U.K., 'nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don't start ginning up scattered-brained or revengeful premises,' Kerry said, after a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini in Brussels." -- CW ...

*****

... Steve Erlanger of the New York Times: "Britain's political crisis intensified on Sunday after its decision to leave the European Union, with the opposition Labour Party splitting into warring camps, Scotland's leader suggesting that its local Parliament might try to block the departure and many Britons wondering if there was a plausible way for the nation to reconsider its drastic choice." -- CW ...

... Dan Balz, et al., of the Washington Post: "The political fallout from Britain's stunning decision to leave the European Union sharply escalated Sunday, with debate growing inside the governing Conservative Party over choosing a successor to Prime Minister David Cameron and a coup attempt emerging against the leader of the opposition Labour Party.... The turmoil here underscored the degree to which the decision to break with Europe -- an action seen widely here as the most significant event in the postwar history of Britain has left the country politically divided, deeply unsettled and in uncharted territory on multiple fronts." -- CW ...

... Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Tilbury [-- a southeastern port town --] is one of England's poorest places -- and one of its most Euroskeptic. More than 72 percent of voters here and in surrounding Thurrock voted for Britain to leave the European Union in Thursday's referendum. Few places voted more decisively. But by Sunday, the initial excitement among some pro-Brexit voters had already started to disappear, making room for worries about what's next for an increasingly divided Britain. Some in this town of 12,000 have also begun to wonder whether they had been misled by politicians advocating to leave the E.U...." -- CW ...

... Max Bearak of the Washington Post: "... one of the biggest reasons for regret may end up being that promises made to 'leave' voters by leading Brexit proponents are being walked back by those very leaders. On talk shows over the weekend, three of them in particular were confronted by flabbergasted hosts over their playing down of integral elements of the Brexit campaign." -- CW ...

... Max Bearak: "After Thursday's referendum on a 'Brexit,' a wave of racist incidents have been reported to British police and documented in widely shared social media posts. Through the weekend, #Postrefracism has been trending, and its contents provide a disheartening view of how Britain's vote to leave the European Union may be emboldening those who harbor virulent racist sentiments." -- CW ...

... Max Bearak: "Sometimes, amid the I-told-you-so editorials and breathless think pieces that follow a major political event, the best take is actually in the comments section. Such is the case with a comment left by a user of the Guardian's website under the name Teebs (as shown above), written in the aftermath of Britain's Thursday vote to exit the European Union. The commenter has left many around the world, especially anxious 'remain' voters, hopeful...." The comment is reproduced in full at the top of the story. CW: I think you'll enjoy reading it. ...

... Gabriel Roth of Slate, in a pithy post on the British character(s) & how this all led to Brexit: "... for another term as prime minister, [David Cameron] gambled with his country's future, and with the future of Europe -- with the whole historic struggle to transcend nationalism and ethnic grievance. As it happens, he lost." -- CW ...

... E.J. Dionne: "History is unlikely to be kind to British Prime Minister David Cameron.... [He] called [last week's election] to solve a short-term political problem and get through an election. His Conservative Party was split on Europe and feared hemorrhaging votes to the right-wing, anti-Europe, anti-immigrant U.K. Independence Party.... He turned a normal electoral challenge into a profound crisis.... The devastating complaint of Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament: 'A whole continent is taken hostage because of an internal fight in the Tory party.'... Across Europe and in the United States, politicians can either respond to these cries of protest or face something worse than Brexit." -- CW ...

... Emily Badger of the Washington Post on why the types of decisions normally made by legislatures should not be left to popular votes. -- CW ...

... Alison Smale, et al., of the New York Times: "As Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President François Hollande of France and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy meet on Monday in Berlin, and again with the heads of all 28 European Union members in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, they will have to decide whether to continue pressing for immediate negotiations on the terms of Britain's withdrawal or to let passions cool in the hopes that some kind of deal might be worked out to keep Britain in the bloc." -- CW ...

... Damian Carrington of the New Republic on the many ways Brexit will be bad for the environment. It seems the EU forced Great Britain to clean up a lot of its polluting ways. -- CW

Obama Has Had Enough of Trey Gowdy. Rachel Bade of Politico: The White House and the House Select Committee on Benghazi are at a standoff over whether President Barack Obama should answer a series of questions about the 2012 terrorist attack in Libya that left four Americans dead. Neil Eggleston, counsel to the president, blasted the committee for sending the president a list of questions about the attack -- an inquiry the administration deemed inappropriate and a partisan attempt to frame the White House as uncooperative." -- CW

When the Cure Is Worse than the Disease. Matthew Goldstein, et al., of the New York Times: After the banking system failed homeowners to the extent it triggered a global recession in 2008, private equity firms stepped in, "promising to do better. But some of these new investors are repeating the mistakes that banks committed throughout the housing crisis.... Private equity firms, and the mortgage companies they own, face less oversight than the banks." Also, unlike banks, they are under no obligation to lend to poorer communities. And they're crooks: "If foreclosing on a homeowner is the most profitable option, Lone Star [one of the private equity entities] is likely to foreclose." ...

     ... CW: We can thank that little shit Tim Geithner for getting homeowners into this mess: "The Obama administration supported private investment in foreclosed homes, with Timothy F. Geithner, then the Treasury secretary, remarking in 2011 that it would 'support neighborhood and home price stability.'" There's a real danger Hillary Clinton will put Geithner-like boneheads in key administration posts.

A Healthcare Plan for the Rich, the Young & the Healthy. Washington Post Editors: "House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) ... released an Obamacare alternative that is less detailed in a variety of crucial ways than previous conservative health reform proposals. The outlines that the speaker did provide suggest that it would be hard on the poor, old and sick." -- CW

Alicia Parlapiano of the New York Times: According to analyses, the eight-member Supreme Court has leaned left in its decisions. -- CW

Mark Mazzetti & Ali Younes of the New York Times: "Weapons shipped into Jordan by the Central Intelligence Agency and Saudi Arabia intended for Syrian rebels have been systematically stolen by Jordanian intelligence operatives and sold to arms merchants on the black market, according to American and Jordanian officials.Some of the stolen weapons were used in a shooting in November that killed two Americans and three others at a police training facility in Amman, F.B.I. officials believe.... The existence of the weapons theft, which ended only months ago after complaints by the American and Saudi governments, is being reported for the first time after a joint investigation by The New York Times and Al Jazeera." -- CW

Verena Dobnik & Jennifer Peltz of the AP: "Rainbow flags were held high along with portraits of the dead as thousands of people marched Sunday in gay pride parades tempered by this month's massacre at a Florida gay nightclub. Crowds of onlookers stood a dozen deep along Fifth Avenue for New York City's parade. Some spectators held up orange 'We are Orlando' signs, and indications of increased security were everywhere, with armed officers standing by." -- CW ...

... Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg: "Hillary Clinton ... on Sunday marched the final few blocks of New York's annual gay pride parade through throngs of cheering supporters packed along iconic Christopher Street. 'Hillary! Hillary!' crowds chanted as she walked slowly to shake hands and pose for photos, flanked by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. An entourage of dozens, including other elected officials, campaign aides and Secret Service agents, surrounded her...." -- CW

Presidential Race

Jill LePore of the New Yorker offers a fine, short history of how U.S presidential candidates have been selected. -- CW

Our Very Occasional Poll Report. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Weeks of provocative and outlandish behavior have hurt Donald J. Trump's standing in two new national polls of registered voters, which showed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee falling further behind Hillary Clinton. A Washington Post-ABC News survey had Mrs. Clinton with a double-digit lead: 51 percent to 39 percent. A Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll had Mrs. Clinton with a smaller advantage of five percentage points." -- CW ...

... James Downie of the Washington Post: "Just about everything that could have gone right for [Hillary] Clinton in the past month has.... Sixty-four percent call Trump 'not qualified' for the presidency, up six points from May.... Only 77 percent of Republicans now support Trump, down eight points from a month ago.... In other good news for Clinton, Sanders voters are already coming around to supporting her.... Finally, Trump will have to deal with a newly popular president on the campaign trail.... Hillary Clinton hasn't even had to go out of her way to hurt Trump. He has already self-destructed." -- CW ...

... Elena Schneider of Politico: "Sen. Mitch McConnell hedged on whether he considers Donald Trump as qualified for the job, saying he would 'leave that to the American people to decide.'... McConnell added that he doesn't believe Trump can win the presidency with so little money in the bank. According to recent filings, Trump has $1.3 million in cash on hand to Clinton's $42.5 million." -- CW

Jeremy Peters: "The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee are moving quickly and aggressively to head off the fledgling effort to stage a revolt at their convention next month in Cleveland, hoping to spare the party an embarrassing spectacle that could deeply wound the presumptive nominee. They are employing hard-nosed tactics, warning delegates that attempting to undermine Donald J. Trump's claim to the nomination violates party rules, and threatening to deny speaking slots to Republicans they deem disloyal.... 'If there's no endorsement, then I would not invite them to speak,' Mr. Trump said in an interview, adding that former rivals like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio should not expect to address the convention if they continue to withhold their support." -- CW ...

... MEANWHILE. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Anti-Trump forces will be sending an 'advance team' to Cleveland this week to begin preparing their effort to strip the Republican presidential nomination from Donald Trump." -- CW

Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump reacted to the news that former Bush administration Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has endorsed Hillary Clinton with a familiar retort. 'Don't know anything about him,' Trump told reporters in Scotland, where he is visiting his golf properties in an overseas trip. Convenient memory lapses are a common dodge for Trump over the years. When confronted with unpleasant remarks made by prominent people, Trump often says he has never heard of such person (despite usually having commented them directly in the past by name).... In the case of Paulson..., [Trump] actively praised him at length in an appearance on CNN in October 2008." -- CW ...

Trump Forgets He Has the World's Greatest Memory. Seth Millstein of Bustle: "... Donald Trump claimed in December to have 'the world's greatest memory.' But according to newly released documents, Trump doesn't remember saying that.... This claim came up again weeks later when Trump testifying in the Trump University lawsuit.... In a deposition..., [when] Trump claimed he couldn't remember certain aspects of the case ... the plaintiff's attorney [said.] 'You've stated, though, that you have one of the best memories in the world.'... Trump eventually admitted that 'I don't remember saying that.'" Includes excerpt of deposition transcript. -- CW

"Jan Brewer Goes Berserk on CNN." David Edwards of the Raw Story: "During an explosive CNN segment on Sunday, former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) lashed out at President Barack Obama because she said she was tired of being called a 'bigot' for supporting ... Donald Trump. At a fundraiser for Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) on Friday, Obama took a shot at Trump. 'We don't have time for charlatans and we don't have time for hatred and we don't have time for bigotry and we don't have time for film-flam,' the president said.... The comments appeared to hit a nerve with Brewer when she was asked about them during a panel segment on CNN." Includes video. -- CW

Daniel Strauss of Politico: "Sen. Bernie Sanders' national press secretary has decided to leave the campaign, she confirmed on Sunday night. Symone D. Sanders (no relation to the senator) said she was departing the campaign amicably." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Jazmine Ulloa, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "Seven people were stabbed, with some injured critically, during clashes between rallying neo-Nazis and counter-protesters Sunday at the state Capitol, authorities said.... The Traditionalist Worker Party had a permit to hold a rally at noon.... Hours before the scheduled rally, more than 400 counter-protesters began showing up.... Around 11:45 a.m., when word spread that about 30 people showed up for the rally, the counter-protesters swarmed towards them and a brawl immediately broke out, [George] Granada [of the California Highway Patrol] said. 'I don't think there was any verbal exchange, just full on fight,' he said.... No arrests have been made. The Capitol was placed on lockdown...." -- CW

Jessica Contrera of the Washington Post: "Tyriece Travon Watson, better known as [rapper] Lor Scoota, had just finished hosting a charity basketball game. The fliers advertising the event had said, 'Pray for peace in these streets.'... Lor Scoota was about a mile away from the arena when he was shot and killed.... Homicide detectives are investigating the shooting as a targeted attack." -- CW

Desiree Stennett of the Orlando Sentinel: "Sanford[, Florida] Mayor Jeff Triplett was standing outside a friend's home ... Saturday when he was forced to the ground by 18-year-old Jermine Horne and a 17-year-old accomplice, who then threatened to kill him.... Police say Horne and the 17-year-old were both armed. The duo is accused of stealing the mayor's wallet.... The suspects are also accused of stealing the keys to Triplett's 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML350 and using the vehicle as a getaway car.... [The] two suspects ... have been arrested.... [A] third suspect escaped." -- CW

Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "In the beginning, Ken Ham made the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky. And he saw that it was good at spreading his belief that the Bible is a book of history, the universe is only 6,000 years old, and evolution is wrong and is leading to our moral downfall. And Mr. Ham said, let us build a gargantuan Noah’s ark only 45 minutes away to draw millions more visitors. And let it be constructed by Amish woodworkers, and financed with donations, junk bonds and tax rebates from the state of Kentucky. And let it hold an animatronic Noah and lifelike models of some of the creatures that came on board two-by-two, such as bears, short-necked giraffes -- and juvenile Tyrannosaurus rexes." -- CW

Way Beyond

Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "A mammoth [Chinese] ship bearing 9,472 containers ... began the first official voyage through the new expanded Panama Canal, a $5.25 billion project designed to modernize a 102-year-old landmark of human ambition, determination and engineering prowess.... Officials say the larger locks and new lane will double the waterway's cargo capacity.... The Boston Consulting Group and C.H. Robinson, a transportation logistics company, estimated last year that as much as 10 percent of the container traffic from East Asia to the United States could shift to East Coast ports instead of landing on the West Coast and finishing the journey by truck or rail." -- CW

Sinan Salaheddin & Susannah George of the AP: "Five weeks after a military operation began, a senior Iraqi commander declared Sunday that the city of Fallujah was 'fully liberated' from the Islamic State group, giving a major boost to the country's security and political leadership in its fight against the extremists. Recapturing Fallujah, the first city to fall to the Islamic State group more than two years ago, means that authorities can now set their sights on militant-held Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city." -- CW

AP: "Dozens of activists assembled on Istanbul's main pedestrian street to publicly read a statement marking the end of the gay, lesbian and transgender pride week and to denounce the ban. Several of them were detained however, before they could speak. Turkish police later used tear gas and rubber pellets to chase activists from side streets." -- CW

Nicole Winfield of the AP: "Pope Francis says gays -- and all the other people the church has marginalized..., -- deserve an apology.... 'I think the church must not only apologize ... to a gay person it offended, but we must apologize to the poor, to women who have been exploited, to children forced into labor, apologize for having blessed so many weapons' and for having failed to accompany families who faced divorces or experienced other problems." -- CW

The Commentariat -- June 26, 2016

The "Special Relationship" Frays. Julian Borger of the Guardian: "When [President Obama} came to Britain in April to help make the case for the remain camp, he warned that, if the UK left the EU, it would have to go to the back of the queue for a deal like the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) being negotiated between Washington and Brussels. The White House made clear on Friday that the threat he made then still stuck. 'Obviously, the president stands by what he said and I don't have an update of our position,' spokesman Eric Schulz told reporters.... Reactions from the rest of the world's leaders ranged from trepidation to thinly disguised glee in Moscow and Tehran." -- CW ...

... AFP: "Top US diplomat John Kerry will fly to Brussels and London on Monday for talks with Washington's key allies in the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. US officials travelling to Rome with the secretary of state told reporters on the flight that two stops had been added to his European itinerary at the last moment." -- CW ...

... Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "A petition calling for another referendum on whether Britain should stay in the European Union has now received at least 2.1 million signatures -- a level that means it must now be debated by British politicians. It was apparently so popular that the British Parliament's website, where the petition was hosted, briefly crashed.... This referendum was only called in a bid by Prime Minister David Cameron to calm tensions over the E.U. within his own Conservative Party ahead of a general election. Cameron thought he could win. Obviously he was completely mistaken.... Meanwhile, Britain has not yet triggered Article 50 -- the procedure for actually leaving the E.U. -- and there are signs it may try to delay doing so as long as possible." -- CW ...

... Where Dimwits Prevail. Kim Soffen of the Washington Post: "Polling showed the areas that had the most to lose and the least to gain from the Brexit are precisely those where the referendum saw the most support. In other words, the places -- the most export-heavy regions -- most hurt by the economic disruptions caused by Brexit could be the places that pushed hardest for it, as this scatter plot shows." CW News Flash: Racist hurts racists, too, sometimes in the pocketbook. ...

... Let's look at idyllic Cornwall, where 56 percent of voters, along with its Members of Parliament voted to leave. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "The county is heavily dependent on the more than 60 million British pounds ($82 million) in E.U. subsidies per year that are transferred to the region and that have helped finance infrastructure projects and education schemes. Now, county officials are panicking -- fearing the worst for the county's future and wondering why one of the most E.U.-dependent counties in Britain voted against the E.U. -- and its money." -- CW ...

... Tara Palmeri of Politico: "According to a poll, commissioned by the Sunday Times, support for Scotland to break away from the U.K. has risen by seven points since Scotland's independence referendum last year. More than 52 percent now say they'd leave while 48 percent would vote to stay in the U.K." -- CW

... The Guardian is liveblogging more fallout from the Brexit vote, including a Labour party crash-and-burn. -- CW

Michael Olivas, in a Los Angeles Times op-ed, explains why the Supreme Court's failure to rule on President Obama's executive action re: undocumented immigrants is not a decision & that -- eventually -- a full Court might act in (probably a future) president's favor. In the meantime, "the deadlock in the court only underlines the pressing need for Congress to act on comprehensive immigration reform. The real malefactors on immigration aren't the Supreme Court justices, but the House and Senate." -- CW

Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "Conservative columnist George Will has left the Republican Party over its presumptive nomination of Donald Trump. Will, who writes a column for The Washington Post, spoke about his decision Friday at an event for the Federalist Society in Washington. 'This is not my party,' he told the audience, the news site PJ Media first reported. Speaking with The Post, Will said that he changed his voter registration from 'Republican' to 'unaffiliated' several weeks ago, the day after House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) endorsed Trump." ...

     ... CW: A moment in Reality Chex history: the first time George Will made the Commentariat two days running. The interesting bit: Ryan, may have ticked off more than half the Republican base with his half-baked endorsement of Trump: Trump supporters must be irritated by his continuing dissing of Trump, while anti-Trump establishment types like Will found the endorsement appalling. ...

     ... Update. Trump tweets back: "George Will, one of the most overrated political pundits (who lost his way long ago), has left the Republican Party.He's made many bad calls" -- CW

Presidential Race

Ken Thomas of the AP: "A draft of the Democratic Party's policy positions reflects the influence of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign: endorsing steps to break up large Wall Street banks, advocating a $15 hourly wage, urging an end to the death penalty. Hillary Clinton's supporters turned back efforts by Sanders' allies to promote a Medicare-for-all single-payer health care system and a carbon tax to address climate change, and freeze hydraulic fracking. While the platform does not bind the Democratic nominee to the stated positions, it serves as a guidepost for the party moving forward. Party officials approved the draft early Saturday." -- CW

Brexit Makes the U.S. the Last, Best Hope for Liberalism. Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: "The Democrats have become the party of vocal American exceptionalism. This is partly a direct response to Donald Trump's paranoid claims that the United States is a 'third-world country' and the subject of collective global mockery. But it's also the case that, against the nationalism rising across Europe and at home, American liberalism does look more isolated, and more singular.... One irony of [Hillary] Clinton's candidacy is that she is projecting a globalism not obviously shared by others around the globe -- not even by America's most traditional ally. The liberal project is increasingly an American one." -- CW ...

... Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "... Hillary Clinton ... shares more with the defeated 'Remain' campaign than just their common slogan, 'Stronger Together.' Her fundamental argument, much akin to Prime Minister David Cameron's against British withdrawal from the European Union, is that Americans should value stability and incremental change over the risks entailed in radical change and the possibility of chaos if Donald J. Trump wins the presidency.... According to their friends and advisers, Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton have worried for months that she was out of sync with the mood of the electorate, and that her politically safe messages ... were far less compelling to frustrated voters than the 'political revolution' of Senator Bernie Sanders or Mr. Trump's grievance-driven promise to 'Make America Great Again.' Mr. Sanders and Mr. Trump won a combined 25 million votes during the primary season, compared with 16 million for Mrs. Clinton." -- CW

I speak to foreign policy advisors all the time. But the advice has to come from me.... These people don't have it. Honestly, most of them are no good. Let's go to the 14th! -- Donald Trump, Saturday

You know, they're advisers, they're like everybody else. They probably know less, every one of these advisers. -- Donald Trump, Saturday

I've been in touch with them [his foreign policy advisors] there's nothing to talk about. -- Donald Trump, Friday, in reply to a question about whether or not he'd spoken to advisors about Brexit

When Trump says "they know less," he means "they know less than I do." (Trump has a habit of dropping predicates, as in "I renounce.") Several high-profile Republicans, in backing Trump, have claimed that Congress & the professional bureaucracy (like the Pentagon) would constrain a President Trump's impulsiveness. Clearly, they will not. Trump is certain he "knows more" than any of these lesser gods, and he would do whatever he thought, in his glorious ignorance, that "best" thing might be. -- Constant Weader

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: On Saturday, at a Trump-owned golf course in Balmedie, Scotland, the course's VP said "Mr. Trump would love to take advantage of the weather and give reporters a tour -- but that it would not be an opportunity for them to ask questions. But Mr. Trump quickly threw his team's plans aside, urging reporters to follow his 'golf buggy' through perhaps the 'largest dunes anywhere in the world' and answering questions along the way. At one point, when Secret Service agents tried to halt the press, Mr. Trump looked down from his perch atop a dune and hollered, 'Guys, get up here!' At each hole, Mr. Trump riffed and ad-libbed...." -- CW ...

... Muslims in Kilts Okay -- Maybe. Ali Vitali of NBC News: "Donald Trump once again muddled the points of his Muslim ban, telling reporters Saturday on the 14th hole of his Aberdeen course that it 'wouldn't bother' him if a Scottish Muslim came into the United States. But he later revised his past remarks that the proposed prohibition would be a blanket ban and is more a question of proper vetting -- with extra emphasis placed on certain countries. 'I don't want people coming in -- I don't want people coming in from certain countries,' Trump clarified to The Daily Mail.... 'I don't want people coming in from the terror countries. You have terror countries! I don't want them, unless they're very, very strongly vetted.'" -- CW

A Boor Abroad. Ewen MacAskill & Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The Guardian appeared on Saturday to have been barred by Donald Trump's presidential campaign after a spat the previous day.... A Guardian reporter and photographer were denied access to Trump's golf resort in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Saturday morning.... The decision had come from the highest authority, [Trump security personnel] said.... At a press conference on Friday at his Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire, Trump took offence when the Guardian asked him why UK and Scottish senior politicians had not come to meet him, suggesting it might be because he was toxic. He replied by saying the questioner was a 'nasty, nasty guy'." -- CW ...

... Here's part of the Clinton campaign's response to the Idiot Abroad:

Hours after the #BrexitVote, Donald Trump was in the U.K.

Talking about how he, personally, would benefit.https://t.co/YEt5LozDpt

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 24, 2016

... Cockwomble! Heather Timmons of Quartz reprints some Scots' reactions to Donald Trump's claim that Scots had "taken their country back" by voting for Brexit (which the majority didn't). Thanks to Whyte O. for the lead. -- CW

Con-Man-in-Chief. The Trumps Are Even Sleazier than You Knew. Mike McIntire of the New York Times: "'Easy target' might describe the audience for several enterprises stamped with the Trump brand that have been accused of preying upon desperation, inexperience or vanity.... [One is] Cambridge Who's Who, which generated hundreds of complaints that it deceptively peddled the promise of recognition in a registry, as well as branding and networking services of questionable value. Dozens of people who paid Trump-endorsed businesses were also sold products by Cambridge, which benefited from its partnership with Donald Trump Jr.... Cambridge employees played up the Trump association when pursuing customers.... When Donald Trump Jr. joined Cambridge, the company had already had about 400 complaints filed against it with the Better Business Bureau since 2006.... On one of several Cambridge websites for its members, a chat group ... contained an appeal to join ACN, a multilevel marketer of telecommunications and energy services that was 'endorsed by Donald Trump....' Mr. Trump's financial disclosure shows that he has collected more than $1 million in speaking fees from ACN...." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Marina Villeneuve of the AP: "The wife of Maine Gov. Paul LePage has taken on a summer waitressing job near their Boothbay home. And she's saving up for a Toyota RAV4. Ann LePage had kept quiet about the gig, but her husband told a crowd at a recent town hall that his wife took a job to 'supplement' his lowest-in-the-nation $70,000 salary. This year, the Republican governor unsuccessfully proposed to more than double his successor's salary to $150,000." CW: If they paid the governor what he was worth, he would have to moonlight as a waitperson.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Bill Cunningham, who turned fashion photography into his own branch of cultural anthropology on the streets of New York, chronicling an era's ever-changing social scene for The New York Times by training his busily observant lens on what people wore -- stylishly, flamboyantly or just plain sensibly -- died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 87." -- CW

New York Times: "Michael Herr, who wrote 'Dispatches,' a glaringly intense, personal account of being a correspondent in Vietnam that is widely viewed as one of the most visceral and persuasive depictions of the unearthly experience of war, died on Thursday at a hospital near his home in Delaware County, N.Y. He was 76." -- CW