The Commentariat -- June 25, 2016

Steve Erlanger of the New York Times: "Britain's startling decision to pull out of the European Union set off a cascade of aftershocks on Friday, costing Prime Minister David Cameron his job, plunging the financial markets into turmoil and leaving the country's future in doubt.... The British pound and global stock prices plummeting in value as the vote tally showed the Remain camp falling further behind.... European officials met in Brussels to begin discussing a response and to emphasize their commitment to strengthening and improving the bloc, which will have 27 members after Britain's departure.... [Brexit] was seized on by far-right and anti-Brussels parties across Europe, with Marine Le Pen of the National Front in France calling for a 'Frexit' referendum and Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands calling for a 'Nexit.'" CW ...

... OR, as a wag named Jaideep Krishna put it, "Upcoming risky events in Europe: Brexit to be followed by Grexit. Departugal. Italeave. Fruckoff. Czechout. Oustria. Finish. Slovlong. Latervia. Byegium, until EU reach the state of Germlonely." Thanks to LT for that. ...

... Ylan Mui of the Washington Post: "The domino effect of Britain's vote was on full display as the Dow plummeted more than 600 points, with even more dramatic effects in Europe and Asia. Experts said Britain's exit from the E.U. could prove to be the final straw to send the economy into recession.... Britain will spend at least two years negotiating the terms of its departure from the 28-member alliance.... Britain must elect new leadership, strike new trade deals and craft a dizzying array of new regulations about issues such as immigration and investment." -- CW ...

... Kevin Liptak of CNN: "Instability in Europe and beyond is providing 'fertile terrain for reactionary politicians and demagogues,' Vice President Joe Biden cautioned during remarks in Ireland on Friday. Listing global irritants like mass migration, terrorism, climate change, Biden said those factors are leading to leaders 'peddling xenophobia, nationalism, and isolationism,' including in the United States.... Biden is on a mutli-day trip to Ireland, meeting with leaders there and visiting sites in the West that relate to his ancestry.... The White House was vocal in its opposition to Britain's exiting the EU, a rare foray into another country's political affairs." -- CW ...

... Charles Pierce: "Some of the Oldest and Whitest people on the planet leapt at a chance to vote against the monsters in their heads.... Without the accelerant of pure racism -- the existence of which among the British comes as no surprise to those of who descend from involuntary members of their old Empire -- this thing never gets off the ground." -- CW ...

... Could Be Why George Will, one of the oldest, whitest people on the planet, likes it. CW: George's favorable opinion remains one of the best ways to tell something is awful. ...

... Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "The British are frantically Googling what the E.U. is, hours after voting to leave it." -- CW ...

... Haroon Siddique (June 23): "The simple answer to the question as to whether the EU referendum is legally binding is 'no'. In theory, in the event of a vote to leave the EU, David Cameron, who opposes Brexit, could decide to ignore the will of the people and put the question to MPs banking on a majority deciding to remain. This is because parliament is sovereign and referendums are generally not binding in the UK." CW: Siddique's report is echoed elsewhere in the news. Of course, Cameron now says he's leaving on a slow train to his country estate, but it does seem possible that a new government could just say "Never mind." ...

... BUT. Ta-Ta, Mofos. Jennifer Rankin, et al., of the Guardian: "The EU's top leaders have said they expect the UK to act on its momentous vote to leave the union 'as soon as possible, however painful that process may be' and that there will be 'no renegotiation'.... There were early warnings of difficulties ahead. The German MEP Elmar Brok, who chairs the European parliament's committee on foreign affairs, told the Guardian ... 'They will have to negotiate from the position of a third country, not as a member state. If Britain wants to have a similar status to Switzerland and Norway, then it will also have to pay into EU structural funds like those countries do. The British public will find out what that means.'" -- CW ...

... MEANWHILE, We're Stuck with at Least One Texas. Aneri Pattani of the Texas Tribune: "In the wake of Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union ... speculation of a Texit on the horizon has cropped up once again. The secessionist movement has a long history in the Lone Star State. Delegates for the Texas Republican Party even recently debated adding secessionist language to the party's platform. But ... historical and legal precedents make it clear that Texas could not pull off a Texit -- at least not legally.... The European Union is a loose association of compound states with pre-existing protocols for a nation to exit. In contrast, the U.S. Constitution contains procedures for admitting new states into the nation, but none for a state to leave.... Texas can split itself into five new states.... Even before Texas formally rejoined the nation, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that secession was not legal...." -- CW ...

... Andy Borowitz: "Across the United Kingdom on Friday, Britons mourned their long-cherished right to claim that Americans were significantly dumber than they are." -- CW

Katia Hetter & Kevin Liptak of CNN: "President Barack Obama announced Friday he was designating the area around the Stonewall Inn in New York City as the country's first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights." President Obama's statement is here. ...

Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today: "The Pentagon plans to announce the repeal of its ban on transgender service members July 1, a controversial decision that would end nearly a year of internal wrangling among the services on how to allow those troops to serve openly, according to Defense officials. Top personnel officials plan to meet as early as Monday to finalize details of the plan, and Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work could sign off on it by Wednesday...." -- CW

Presidential Race

The people of the United Kingdom have exercised the sacred right of all free peoples. They have declared their independence from the European Union and have voted to reassert control over their own politics, borders and economy. Come November, the American people will have the chance to re-declare their independence. Americans will have a chance to vote for trade, immigration and foreign policies that put our citizens first. They will have the chance to reject today's rule by the global elite, and to embrace real change that delivers a government of, by and for the people. -- Donald Trump, Friday, on a promotion tour of his golf courses in Scotland, where the majority of the people did not exercise their sacred right ...

... ** How to Make Dubya Look Like a Statesman. Steve Benen: "Even by the low standards of Donald J. Trump, it was among the most baffling press conferences anyone has ever seen. The entirety of Scotland is reeling; the future of the U.K. and the continent is uncertain; and an American presidential candidate arrived to deliver a testimonial about a country club and how fond he is of the design of a golf course. Wait, it gets worse.... This was a test he failed so spectacularly, it's as if Trump isn't even trying to succeed." (Emphasis added.) CW: Now, there's a thought. Read the whole post. ...

... Hunter of Daily Kos: "And now here's Donald Trump, human NASCAR crash, promising in a hastily-scribbled fundraising letter to do for America what Brexit is doing for the United Kingdom.... 'With your help, we're going to do the exact same thing on Election Day 2016 here in the United States of America.... Let's send another shockwave around the world.'... In general, mind you, financial 'shockwaves' are considered a bad thing. Promising that if you're elected, financial markets will tank three percent in an afternoon is certainly not your average campaign vow -- but it may be the one promise Donald Trump can keep." -- CW

Jonathan Martin & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Although [Donald] Trump may struggle to convert a message of national retrenchment into victory here, some of the stark divisions on display in Britain do mirror political trends in this country.... But beneath those generalities, there are crucial distinctions between the Brexit vote and the 2016 presidential election.... American presidential elections are largely decided by a diverse and upscale electorate, anchored in America's cities and suburbs. These communities more closely resemble London than Lincolnshire.... And while Britain decided to leave the European Union through a popular vote, the White House race will be determined by the Electoral College, which is tilted toward the Democrats.... Further, the vote in Britain was a referendum on a European entity that was easy to rally against, while the presidential vote here is increasingly becoming a referendum on a polarizing individual." -- CW ...

... Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "The biggest difference is that the UK is a lot whiter. According to the most recent census data, 86% of the British population is white. In the US, only 63% is non-Hispanic white.... The Brexit vote looked a lot more like that in a Republican presidential primary.... Trump may yet regret this attempt to tie his campaign to the Brexit victory. After all, he is facing a different electorate, one familiar with the precipitous collapse in global markets that followed Thursday's vote." -- CW

Henry Paulson, former Bush II Treasury Secretary & current CEO of Goldman Sachs, in a Washington Post op-ed: "The GOP, in putting Trump at the top of the ticket, is endorsing a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism. This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American. Enough is enough. It's time to put country before party and say it together: Never Trump.... When Trump assures us he'll do for the United States what he's done for his businesses, that's not a promise -- it's a threat.... [blah, blah] ... reforming entitlements... [blah, blah]. I'll be voting for Hillary Clinton, with the hope that she can bring Americans together to do the things necessary to strengthen our economy, our environment and our place in the world." -- CW

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "A delegate to the Republican national convention from Virginia filed a federal lawsuit Friday to avoid being bound to vote for Donald Trump on the first ballot in Cleveland. The delegate, Carroll Boston Correll, is a longtime local GOP official who claims Trump is 'unfit to serve' as President. Correll alleges in the lawsuit that state law which binds him to vote for Trump on the first ballot at the convention violates his constitutional right to free speech. Correll is seeking class action status for the suit on behalf of other bound delegates in Virginia, where Trump won 17 delegates in March." -- CW ...

... BUT Kevin Drum outlines how Trump could win the election. CW: Then again, I think Steve Benen is on to something when he suggests Trump is trying to lose. Even if his campaign evolves into a professional organization, he gets an infusion of money from the party & he betters learns how to use a teleprompter, the Real Donald Trump seems either incapable of or unwilling to STFU.

Beyond the Beltway

Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Bill Rankin of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "With a murder defendant shouting obscenities at him and threatening to kill his family, a Superior Court judge in Rome[, Georgia,] last week became so enraged that he threatened to lock the man up for years and said, 'You know, you look like a queer.' A transcript of the hearing shows how an attempt by defendant Denver Fenton Allen to get a different public defender devolved into heated and nasty exchanges with Judge Bryant Durham Jr. At one point..., [the judge] even challenged the defendant to masturbate in front of him in the courtroom.... He also said it was his 'guess' that he'd find Allen guilty and that Allen would find out 'how nasty I really am.'" -- CW

Let's Get Stupid! Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: "Five people were taken to the hospital and about 30 to 40 were evaluated after sustaining 'burn injuries to their feet and lower extremities' after attempting to walk across hot coals" during a "motivational seminar" in Dallas, Texas, led by goofball Tony Robbins. "A total of 7,000 people participated in the fire walk.... This isn't the first time a Robbins coal walk has resulted in injuries. In 2012, nearly two dozen people were injured during a 'Unleash the Power Within' seminar in San Jose, Calif." -- CW

News Lede

Washington Post: "As storms have swept West Virginia, roads have turned into rivers, cars have been swallowed whole and at least 23 people have been killed -- including a preschooler who fell into floodwaters that carried him away.'" -- CW

Trumpathetic

By Akhilleus

How tone deaf is Donald Trump? Pools of blood were still coagulating on the Pulse nightclub dance floor and all Trump could do was congratulate himself for being right about Muslims. Not a word of kindness or concern for the dead; it's all about Trump.

Then yesterday, as Britain voted for the modern nation-state version of suicide and markets across Europe collapsed, all he could do, while halting his presidential campaign to fly off to Scotland to oversee the pitiful grand opening (a tiny crowd of paid staff and hundreds of protesters screaming at him from afar) of his latest ego project, was to rub his hands in glee about all the money he'll make now that the pound had fallen off a cliff.

He did take a moment to congratulate himself again on being right about Brexit, a term he didn't even recognize a couple of weeks ago (news that doesn't have the word TRUMP attached to it, doesn't make his morning "briefing", prepared by his cute 27 year old press secretary), tweeting that people were going crazy in Scotland to be free of the EU so they could "take back their country!". Well, er....no. They weren't. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU. Wrong again, Donald, but no matter, in TrumpWorld, it's all good.

Like Dick Cheney's ludicrous prediction that the Iraqis would welcome an invading force with flowers and open arms (still waiting for those flowers 13 years later, Dick...), Trump still maintains that the Scots love him! They can't get enough of Trump. But, er...no. That's wrong too. The Scotsman, "Scotland's National Newspaper" declared that "It’s hard to think of a less sympathetic character in the eyes of most Scots. Despite all his tartanry and trumpeting of heritage, The Donald is almost the anti-Scot personified. Left and right, unionist and nationalist, man and woman, young and old – it takes quite a lot to unite the people of this notoriously fractious little country in a collective shudder. But Donald Trump effortlessly manages to strike the wrong note in just about everything he does."

But in Donald's eyes, as always, he's a hero.

And so far, we've seen what to expect should he win in November, a president whose only concern during a time of crisis is "How can I benefit from this? How much money can I make during this terrible time?"

Very presidential.

The Commentariat -- June 24, 2016

Afternoon Update:

An Idiot Abroad. Jenna Johnson & Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump celebrated Britain's stunning vote to leave the European Union on Friday during a visit to Scotland, saying that the people of the United Kingdom have 'taken their country back,' musing that it could benefit his Turnberry resort and arguing that running a nation is a lot like running a golf course.... For a candidate who has struggled to prove that his grasp of foreign policy matches that of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton..., Trump could have used the moment to substantively address a momentous global event. Instead, he provided a widely broadcast infomercial for his newest luxury golf club.... As reporters pressed Trump on the referendum, it was not clear if Trump fully understood what had just happened." -- CW

Paul Krugman: "Well, that was pretty awesome -- and I mean that in the worst way. A number of people deserve vast condemnation here, from David Cameron, who may go down in history as the man who risked wrecking Europe and his own nation for the sake of a momentary political advantage, to the seriously evil editors of Britain's tabloids, who fed the public a steady diet of lies. That said, I'm finding myself less horrified by Brexit than one might have expected -- in fact, less than I myself expected." -- CW

*****

See also yesterday's Afternoon Update for significant news developments. (You could probably skip the one about the New York Times' acknowledgment that there are no Trump Steaks.)

James McAuley of the Washington Post: "Scottish leaders who overwhelmingly supported Britain's membership in the European Union warned Friday of possible renewed bids for independence after British voters turned their backs on the 28-nation bloc. Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, said a second referendum on Scotland's membership in the United Kingdom was a possibility in the immediate future." See also "Ignoramus-in-Chief, Ctd.," below. -- CW ...

... ** Heather Stewart & Jessica Elgot of the Guardian: "David Cameron has resigned as prime minister after the British public rejected his personal entreaties and voted to leave the European Union.... Cameron promised to remain in post until the autumn, to 'steady the ship', but said: 'I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain who steers the country to its next destination.'" -- CW ...

... Youkyng Lee of the AP: "European and Asian stock markets crashed Friday as Britain's unprecedented vote to leave the European Union rocked world financial markets and also sent oil prices crashing and the pound to its lowest level in three decades. Investors dumped European shares as soon as the markets opened, following earlier drops in Asia. Britain's FTSE 100 plunged about 8 percent while German index tanked 10 percent. France's index tumbled about 7 percent." -- CW

** ... Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "Britain has voted to leave the European Union, a historic decision sure to reshape the nation's place in the world, rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West. With all but a handful of the country's cities and towns reporting Friday morning, the 'Leave' campaign held a 52 percent to 48 percent lead. More than 17 million people voted in the referendum on Thursday to sever ties with the European Union, and about 15.9 million to remain within the bloc. The value of the British pound and stock prices in Asia plummeted as financial markets absorbed the news." -- CW ...

... Here's the Guardian's liveblog of developments. -- CW ...

** New York Times Editors: "The impasse that made Mr. Obama's program [to give temporary protection to some undocumented immigrants] necessary -- the absolute refusal by congressional Republicans to reform an unjust system -- persists. The case, United States v. Texas, should never have made it to the Supreme Court. But such is the power of the Republicans' spite." -- CW ...

... CW: There is a direct philosophical connection between the Brits' isolationism & our own. Our only hope for a decent future is that the British outcome is reversed here in November: that at least 52 percent of Americans will vote to "keep America great" & 48 percent or fewer will hew to "Republican spite."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "The bitter fight over President Obama's immigration policies moved quickly from the courtroom to the campaign trail on Thursday, as the White House and its allies sought to turn a legal setback at the Supreme Court to their political advantage ahead of the November elections.... Even as Obama acknowledged that he had reached the end of his efforts to overhaul border control laws, he and other Democrats, including ... Hillary Clinton, saw an opportunity to gain some advantage in the political fight over immigration reform that has roiled the 2016 campaign.... Clinton, who has said she would seek to expand Obama's executive actions on immigration, called the Supreme Court's outcome 'a stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families, our communities and our country.'... In a statement, issued in both English and Spanish, Clinton referred to Trump's characterization last year of Mexican immigrants as 'rapists' and 'murderers,' and she pledged to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill within her first 100 days in office.... The politics will be far trickier for GOP candidates, including Trump, in the general election." -- CW ...

... Soumya Karlamangla of the Los Angeles Times: "The Supreme Court decision Thursday effectively blocking President Obama's immigration programs also comes as a blow to California legislators who have been fighting to offer health insurance to people living in the country illegally. Immigrants living in the U.S. without authorization can't enroll in Obamacare and make up a large portion of those who remain uninsured in California. But an unusual state policy allows those granted temporary relief from deportation to sign up for Medi-Cal, the state's low-income health program. If the court had upheld the deferred action programs, more than half a million unauthorized immigrants in California could have become eligible for state-funded health insurance...." -- CW

Rachel Bade of Politico: "House Democrats' 24-hour gun-control protest marks a turning point in Congress as a major escalation in minority battle tactics, lawmakers in both parties said Thursday -- and a move that brings fundamental risks for the institution. Already rank-and-file Democrats, energized by nationwide publicity and praise they received for occupying the House floor over demands for a gun vote, are saying they'll likely use the same strategy again." -- CW

Reuters: "Volkswagen AG will pay more than $10 billion to settle claims by nearly 500,000 owners stemming from its U.S. diesel emissions cheating scandal and fund efforts to offset pollution.... A source said that owners will receive an average of $5,000 in compensation along with the estimated value of the vehicles as of September 2015, before the scandal erupted." -- CW ...

... Jamelle Bouie of Slate: "That Democrats are willing to gum up the House in an effort to pass new gun control legislation is indicative of the change in the congressional Democratic Party over the past seven years. It's a geographically smaller party, with many more liberals and a proportionately greater number of representatives from dense urban areas. Where once it counted NRA backers like Michigan's John Dingell among its longest-serving members, now it's dominated by liberals like [John] Lewis, with few if any ties to pro-gun activists." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

Neal Gabler, on Bill Moyers' blog: "... the Republican Party, with its history of dog-whistle racism, sexism, homophobia, nativism, and gun addiction, salted now by incipient fascism, has been legitimized by the mainstream media for years.... Now the MSM routinely rebuke [Donald] Trump, but that easy critique allows them not to have to rebuke the Republican Party itself, whose values, if not his often-changing policy pronouncements, are virtually identical with Trump's, minus his oft-changing policy pronouncements. It is the politesse of a Paul Ryan that Trump lacks in expressing his hostility, and it is that politesse that has conned a gullible, frightened media.... Television news still has the longest national reach, and it will never call out the Republican Party no matter what it does, much less examine its values." Thanks to Joel M. for the link. -- CW ...

... CW: Gee, Neal. I don't know how you can say that. ...

... David Bauder of the AP: "CNN snapped up former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski three days after he was fired, and he began his new career as a political commentator Thursday by not answering a direct question about whether he'd agreed not to disparage his former boss.... The Associated Press has reported that Trump requires nearly everyone working in his businesses and presidential campaign to sign nondisclosure agreements preventing them from releasing confidential or disparaging information about him.... Before signing with CNN, Lewandowski met with executives at MSNBC about a possible job there but the network decided not to hire him...." -- CW ...

... OR, as Rebecca Leber of Grist tweeted, "You can read Lewandowski getting fired as a means to shift his salary from Trump campaign to CNN." -- CW ...

... ** Erik Wemple of the Washington Post has four questions for CNN about the Lewandowski hire. CW: ... all of which make it pretty funny that Trump calls CNN the Clinton News Network. ...

... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed provided a helpful Midtown Manhattan map, noting that the Trump offices from which Lewandowski was forcefully escorted, are only 13 min. on foot from CNN's studio. -- CW ...

... CW: No one should be surprised. This is the same network that also thought it would be a good idea to hire a commentator who called a guy (who just now jogged past my front window) a "goat-fucking child molester." Luckily, I no longer keep goats or have kids of any species (tho I once did, on both counts).

Presidential Race

Carrie Dann & Danny Freeman of NBC News: "Asked on MSNBC's Morning Joe whether he will vote for [Hillary] Clinton in November, [Bernie] Sanders responded 'Yes.' The Vermont senator, who has not yet formally ended his 2016 campaign, said that stopping Donald Trump from becoming president must be an overarching goal." With video. -- CW

Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times: "... it's really past time for [Bernie] Sanders to put an end to his candidacy.... While the Sanders crowd continued to talk about revolution, Representative John Lewis led a sit-in of his fellow Democrats on, literally, the floor of the House to express outrage at the Republicans' continued blocking of even the most obvious forms of gun regulation.... The chilling scene in the House was just a taste of what Sanders followers will risk if they do not throw their undeniable enthusiasm behind [Hillary] Clinton and other Democratic candidates, and the G.O.P. holds Congress and wins the White House in November.... [Sanders should] put his abundant skills as a candidate behind a presumptive Democratic nominee who is less adept at campaigning." -- CW

John Hudson of Foreign Policy: Robert Kagan, "a prominent neoconservative intellectual and early promoter of the Iraq War is headlining an official campaign fundraiser for Hillary Clinton next month.... The move signals a shift in the Clinton campaign's willingness to associate with prominent Republicans and is the latest sign of how far some GOP defectors are willing to go to block a Donald Trump presidency.... According to an invite obtained by FP, the 'event will include an off-the-record conversation on America's continued investment in NATO, key European allies and partners, and the EU.'" CW: Good work, Hillary. Let's talk about your Iraq War vote again. ...

... The Week: "Stalwarts of the Republican foreign policy establishment have started endorsing Democrat Hillary Clinton over GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump, and on Thursday, the Clinton camp is announcing the endorsement of several Republican business leaders. There are some frequent Democratic supporters among the more than 50 business executives whose backing the Clinton campaign is highlighting -- Google's Eric Schmidt, Warren Buffet, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg, and Barry Diller, for example -- but also longtime Republicans like AT&T Service's Jim Cicconi and Dan Akerson, a former top executive at GM and Nextel." CW: Good word, Hillary. Let's talk more about your billionaire friends.

Michael Biesecker of the AP: "Former Secretary Hillary Clinton failed to turn over a copy of a key message involving problems caused by her use of a private homebrew email server, the State Department confirmed Thursday. The disclosure makes it unclear what other work-related emails may have been deleted by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.... Clinton has never outlined in detail what criteria she and her lawyers used to determine which emails to release and which to delete, but her 2010 email with [top aide Huma] Abedin appears clearly work-related under the State Department's own criteria for agency records under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act." -- CW ...

... Scrub-a-Dub. Stephen Braun of the AP: "The AP review of [Hillary] Clinton's [State Department] calendar -- her after-the-fact, official chronology of the events of her four-year term -- identified at least 75 meetings with longtime political donors and loyalists, Clinton Foundation contributors and corporate and other outside interests that were either not recorded or listed with identifying details scrubbed." -- CW ...

... Lester Holt backs Donald Trump into a Jackie Gleason homina-homina moment:

     ... CW: He knows it must be true because he read it in the Right Wing News.

Ewan MacAskill of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has expressed full-throated support for the Brexit referendum victory during a visit to Ayrshire in Scotland.... [He] said there were parallels with the US and elsewhere. 'People do not necessarily want people pouring over their borders,' he said. 'The UK will be stronger for it. They have taken their independence back. They can block anyone coming in they do not think is appropriate.'... The Brexit result has justified his visit, with Trump able to claim he backed the winning side. A small group of protesters was restricted to a car park, well away from the press conference. No senior British or Scottish politicians were present, regarding him as too toxic. Initial plans to include a visit to a golf resort in Ireland were shelved when neither the president or any other senior politician would meet him." -- CW ...

... Ignoramus-in-Chief, Ctd. James Vincent of the Verge: "Donald Trump praised the Scottish this morning for '[taking] their country back' in the UK's vote to leave the European Union. This is despite the fact that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU, with 62 percent of the population backing the Remain campaign. However, this wasn't enough to change the total outcome of the UK vote, which backed the decision to leave 52 percent to 48 percent." -- CW

Trump's Bad Day. Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump's campaign announced Thursday that he has forgiven more than $50 million in loans he made to finance his presidential bid, converting them into contributions in an effort to reassure GOP donors that he is personally invested in the effort.... By turning the loans into donations, Trump's campaign cannot repay the candidate, even if a surplus arises. The campaign, however, can continue to reimburse Trump's companies, and those of his children, for campaign-related expenses, including travel." CW: We'll have to wait for the next round of financial disclosures to find out if the Trump campaign announcement is true.

Kurtis Lee of the Los Angeles Times: "Donald Trump is working from a short list of possible running mates, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Thursday. 'The list when I left was very, very short,' said Lewandowski, who appeared on CNN in his new role as a contributor for the network after being fired Monday from the campaign. 'It's no more than four individuals. ... They're household names." CW: If you recall, Gabriel Sherman reported that Trump fired Lewandowski because his only "plan" to bolster the campaign was to leak the name of Trump's running mate. Apparently, that's still his only plan.

News Lede

New York Times: "Ralph Stanley, the singer, banjo player and guardian of unvarnished mountain music who was also a pivotal figure in the recent revival of interest in bluegrass, died on Thursday. He was 89."