Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Thursday August 8, 2019.

WASHINGTON FREE BEACON

Two of Castro’s Own Donors Included in His Published List of Trump Supporters By Brent Scher Senators Ask Google for Answers About Huawei Relationship By Charles Fain Lehman After Taking Anti-Nuke Stance, Warren Goes Silent on Hiroshima Day By Brent Scher Pete Buttigieg Plays the Didgeridoo, Because of Course He Does By Andrew Stiles Is America Surrendering to the Taliban in Afghanistan? By Aaron Kliegman Liberals to Boycott Godfather of Soul(Cycle) By Andrew Stiles MSNBC Analyst: Trump Flying Flags at Half-Mast Until 8/8 Is Nod to Neo-Nazis By David Rutz Joaquin Castro Wants People To ‘Think Twice’ About Supporting Trump By Graham Piro You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website. Copyright © 2019 Free Beacon, LLC, All rights reserved.  To reject freedom, click here. Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

THE DAILY SIGNAL

Aug 08, 2019

Good morning from Washington, which President Trump and first lady Melania Trump left behind to visit survivors of the horrific weekend shootings and to thank first responders and hospital teams. Fred Lucas reports. Here’s how guns in the hands of the right people fended off bad guys last month, Amy Swearer writes. She also joins “Problematic Women” to discuss the massacres in El Paso and Dayton. On the podcast, our foreign correspondent Nolan Peterson talks about traveling with the secretary of state. Plus: Tom Jipping on Trump’s progress in naming judges, and Michelle Malkin on a government agency’s grab for veterans’ guns.

	Commentary Guns Saved These Americans From Assault and Robbery in July We cannot allow our grief over the weekend shootings to blind us to the important role firearms play in defending the rights and liberties of law-abiding Americans. More News ‘You Had God Watching’: Trump Seeks to Console Shooting Survivors The president and first lady meet with some of the dozens wounded or injured in the weekend mass shootings in Ohio and Texas that left 31 dead. More Commentary Senate Ups Judicial Confirmations Despite Democrats’ Obstruction From May through July, the Senate confirmed judges in the double digits for three consecutive months—only the second time the Senate has achieved that in U.S. history. More News House Democrats Seek Kavanaugh Documents From Bush Years The request reflects House Democrats’ promises to scrutinize Brett Kavanaugh nearly a year after his confirmation to the Supreme Court. More Analysis What It’s Like to Travel the World With the Secretary of State “We do carry a lot of sway around the world, and I would definitely argue against the notion that our power is somehow on the decline based on what I saw this week,” Nolan Peterson,The Daily Signal’s foreign correspondent, says of the United States. More News Disgraced Agent Sues DOJ, FBI Over Firing Based on Anti-Trump Texts Peter Strzok, fired over anti-Trump text messages, sues the Justice Department and the FBI with the claim that he was terminated because of political pressure from the president. More Commentary Problematic Women: Breaking Through the Noise After the Massacres We begin by discussing the eagerness of politicians and the media to blame everything from the president to video games to Fox News for the latest shootings. More Commentary Warning: How This Veterans Affairs Policy ‘Red Flags’ Patriots “Red flag” laws are all the rage inside the Beltway as the magic pill to prevent homicidal maniacs from wreaking havoc on the nation. Let me remind you of how the VA recklessly red-flags “disruptive” citizens without due process, transparency, or accountability—in the name of “safety.” More

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LARRY J. SABATO’S CRYSTAL BALL

IN THIS ISSUE: – Did Russian Interference Affect the 2016 Election Results? DID RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE AFFECT THE 2016 ELECTION RESULTS? By Alan I. Abramowitz Senior Columnist, Sabato’s Crystal Ball

KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s recent testimony was a reminder that Russia attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 election and very well may try to do so again in 2020. — This begs the question: Is there any evidence that Russian interference may have impacted the results, particularly in key states? — The following analysis suggests that the 2016 results can be explained almost entirely based on the political and demographic characteristics of those states. So from that standpoint, the answer seems to be no. What explains the 2016 results? Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s recent testimony before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, and the Mueller Report itself, make it very clear that the Russian government made a major effort to help Donald Trump win the 2016 U.S. presidential election. What the Mueller Report did not determine, however, was whether that effort was successful. In this article, I try to answer that question by examining whether there are any indications from the 2016 results that Russian interference efforts may have played a clear role in the outcome. One such indication would be if Trump did better in key swing states than a range of demographic, partisan, and historical factors would have predicted. We know from the Mueller Report that Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort briefed a longtime associate who the FBI believes had ties with Russian intelligence about campaign strategy and, according to Manafort deputy Rick Gates, discussed decisive battleground states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Manafort also directed Gates to share internal polling data, which may have influenced Russian operations. In order to address the question of whether the Russian interference effort worked, I conducted a multiple regression analysis of the election results at the state level. The dependent variable in this analysis was the Trump margin. My independent variables were the 2012 Mitt Romney margin, to control for traditional state partisanship, state ideology measured by the Gallup Poll (the percentage of conservatives minus the percentage of liberals), the percentage of a state’s population made up of whites without college degrees, the estimated turnout of eligible voters in the state, the state unemployment rate in November 2016 (to measure economic conditions), the number of Trump campaign rallies in the state, the number of Clinton campaign rallies in the state, a dummy variable for the state of Utah to control for the large vote share won by an independent conservative Mormon candidate from that state, Evan McMullin, and, finally, a dummy variable for swing states. The swing states included Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Virginia, in addition to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The results of the regression analysis are displayed in Table 1 along with a scatterplot of the actual and predicted results in Figure 1. Table 1: Results of regression analysis of Trump margin in the states

Source: Data compiled by author.

Figure 1: Scatterplot of actual Trump margin by predicted Trump margin in the states

Note: Alaska and District of Columbia omitted due to lack of state ideology data. Source: Data compiled by author. The regression equation proved to be extremely successful in predicting the election results, explaining a remarkable 98% of the variance in Trump vote margin in the states. Several of the independent variables had very powerful effects including the 2012 Romney margin, state ideology, and the percentage of non-college whites in the state. Even after controlling for traditional state partisanship and ideology, the size of the non-college white population in a state was a strong predictor of support for Donald Trump. The data in Table 1 also show that Evan McMullin’s candidacy dramatically reduced Trump’s vote share in Utah — although Trump still carried the state easily. In addition, the results show that voter turnout had a modest but highly significant effect on the results — the higher the turnout in a state, the lower the vote share for Trump. These results seem to confirm the conventional wisdom that higher voter turnout generally helps Democrats. In addition to showing what mattered in explaining the results of the 2016 presidential election in the states, the data in Table 1 also show what did not matter. Economic conditions at the state level, at least as measured by state unemployment, did not matter. The number of campaign rallies held by the candidates in a state did not matter. Finally, and perhaps most importantly from the standpoint of estimating the impact of Russian interference, Donald Trump did no better than expected in the swing states. The coefficient for the swing state dummy variable is extremely small and in the wrong direction: Trump actually did slightly worse than expected in the swing states based on their other characteristics. Table 2: Predicted and actual Trump margin in key swing states Source: Data compiled by author. This can also be seen in Table 2, which compares the actual and predicted results in the three swing states that ultimately decided the outcome of the election: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. What is most striking about the data in this table is that Donald Trump actually slightly under-performed the model’s predictions in all three states. He did about one point worse than predicted in Michigan, about two points worse than predicted in Pennsylvania, and between two and three points worse than predicted in Wisconsin. There is no evidence here that Russian interference, to the extent that it occurred, did anything to help Trump in these three states. Conclusions I find no evidence that Russian attempts to target voters in key swing states had any effect on the election results in those states. Instead, the results were almost totally predictable based on the political and demographic characteristics of those states, especially their past voting tendencies, ideological leanings, and demographics. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Russians weren’t trying to influence the results or that they might not succeed in the future. Nor does it speak to Russian efforts to hack into U.S. voting systems and potentially alter voter registration data or even election results themselves. There are plenty of grounds for real concern here. Indeed, the Electoral College system used to choose the president almost invites efforts to interfere in the election. Whereas trying to affect the national popular vote results would probably be prohibitively expensive, efforts to target a few key swing states could be much more cost-effective and harder to detect. As a result, there is little doubt that these efforts will continue in 2020 and beyond, especially if we have a president who seems to be inviting them. Alan I. Abramowitz is the Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory University and a senior columnist with Sabato’s Crystal Ball. His latest book, The Great Alignment: Race, Party Transformation, and the Rise of Donald Trump, was released last year by Yale University Press. Out Now: The Blue Wave, the UVA Center for Politics’ book on the 2018 election Our new book on the 2018 midterm elections, The Blue Wave: The 2018 Midterms and What They Mean for the 2020 Elections, is now available from Rowman and Littlefield. Edited by University of Virginia Center for Politics Director Larry J. Sabato and Crystal Ball managing editor Kyle Kondik, The Blue Wave features top journalists, academics, and analysts who explore the 2018 midterm from all angles and look ahead to the monumental presidential election coming in 2020. Use code RLFANDF30 for 30% off at Rowman and Littlefield’s website. The Blue Wave features the following contributors and chapters: — Larry J. Sabato: The Blue Wave: Trump at Midterm — Alan I. Abramowitz: The Trump Effect: The 2018 Midterm Election as a Referendum on a Polarizing President — Rhodes Cook: The Primaries: Democrats Shine in the Shadow of Trump — David Byler: Humpty Dumpty’s Fall: How Trump’s Winning Presidential Coalition Broke Down in 2018 — Kyle Kondik: The House: Where the Blue Wave Hit the Hardest — James Hohmann: The Senate: The Republicans’ Bright Spot — Madelaine Pisani: The Governors: Democratic Wave Falls Short of a Wipeout — Michael Toner and Karen Trainer: The Money Wars: Emerging Campaign Finance Trends and Their Impact on 2018 and Beyond — Emily C. Singer: Women Rule: The Surge of Women in Congress — Theodore R. Johnson: Hindsight in 2020: Black Voting Behavior and the Next Presidential Election — Matt Barreto, Gary Segura, and Albert Morales: The Brown Tide and the Blue Wave in 2018 — Diana Owen: Presidential Media and the Midterm Elections — Joshua T. Putnam: Foresight is 2020: New Features of the Democratic Delegate Selection Rules — Sean Trende: Was 2018 a Wave Election? Read the fine print Learn more about the Crystal Ball and find out how to contact us here. Sign up to receive Crystal Ball e-mails like this one delivered straight to your inbox. Use caution with Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and remember: “He who lives by the Crystal Ball ends up eating ground glass!”

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THE FLIP SIDE

View this email in your browser Thursday, August 8, 2019 Joaquin Castro’s List of Trump Donors On Monday, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) tweeted a list of individuals from San Antonio who have donated the maximum amount ($2700) to President Donald Trump’s Campaign. Twitter From the Left The left is divided about Castro’s tweet, with some worrying that it may be used to weaken campaign finance laws. “Thanks to how campaign contribution laws work under the Federal Election Commission, it’s data anyone could look up. This is, in part, a discussion about privacy and what level of publicity donors to political campaigns do and do not deserve. But it’s also a conversation about how much the president’s supporters should be held accountable for his rhetoric and its implications…    “Trump’s reelection campaign has posted over 2,000 ads on Facebook using the word ‘invasion,’ and generally, they’ve been about immigration. While the El Paso shooter has said his anti-immigrant beliefs predate Trump, it’s impossible not to notice the parallels: His reported manifesto says that his attack ‘is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.’ Donors to Trump’s campaign are directly fueling his advertising — they give to his campaign and then his campaign pays Facebook to run the ads. Whether they should be publicly shamed for it might be debatable, but that this is where their money is going is undeniable.”  Emily Stewart, Vox   “One reason for the reaction against Castro’s action was that the point of campaign finance disclosure is as a check against politicians, not donors… Castro didn’t publish personal addresses or phone numbers. He’s hardly the first person to publicly discuss campaign supporters, including donors, by name. He stuck to those in his own community. They were also people who had donated the maximum amount allowed by law. These are not folks without resources. But if we want to encourage participation in politics, we want to discourage politicians from shaming ordinary citizens for participating. That’s where Castro really straddled the line…    “I’d put it this way: If the San Antonio Express-News were to do a story on prominent local Trump supporters, would the journalists have included the names on Castro’s list? If so, he did nothing wrong. If not, he probably erred to some extent.” Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg   “While I might agree with the assertion that anyone who [donates to Trump] should be ashamed of themselves, to have a public official use his Twitter feed to call them out could make them potential targets for harassment… On the other hand, as Lindsay Beyerstein points out, the argument conservatives use for allowing contributions by corporations and others is that ‘money equals speech.’ If that’s the case, she says, ‘the person who gives the maximum allowable campaign contribution is standing in the public square, screaming their head off. There’s no reason not to name them’…    “[Meanwhile] Republicans, never missing an opportunity for feigned outrage, are pounding the table in indignation; Donald Trump Jr. even said on ‘Fox & Friends’: ‘That list sort of screams like the Dayton, Ohio, shooter’s list, right?’ Of course it doesn’t. But it is problematic, not least because I can promise you that before long, McConnell will be using this mini-controversy as justification to craft a political system with unlimited, anonymous contributions, where politicians can be bought and sold and the public has no idea about any of it.” Paul Waldman, Washington Post   “A lot of the people who say that [Joaquin] Castro’s tweet is inherently threatening are the same people who say that President Trump’s tweets are just tweets, not threats, lighten up.” Julia Ioffe, Twitter From the Right The right argues that Castro’s tweet was irresponsible and will likely lead to harassment of the individuals mentioned. “Whether information is already public or not, curating and amplifying that information is dangerous in a political climate like the one we’re in. That’s why you almost never see anyone except mega-donors targeted by opposing parties. People like the Koch brothers and Tom Steyer can afford personal security, and the amount of money they’re contributing each cycle really can influence elections and policy in major ways. John Doe, retiree from San Antonio, can’t even if he’s maxing out with $2,700 to Trump’s campaign… “A million-dollar donor is fair game since he’s potentially moving the needle on how government functions and has the means to protect himself. Grandpa Billy, who kicked in a few thou to the president? Nope.” Allahpundit, Hot Air “The purpose of donor disclosure is to keep politicians honest and to guard against public corruption. These rules are not intended to be weaponized by politicians against average citizens, furnishing their own tribal mobs with targeted harassment ‘hit lists,’ in order to discourage future manifestations of Bad Thoughts via contributions to the opposite party.” Guy Benson, Townhall “The congressman claims he is targeting voters who ‘are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as ‘invaders.’’ First of all, if Castro disagrees with his fellow Texans on whether illegal immigrants are ‘invaders,’ he is free to try to change their minds…  “Then again, Castro has no clue if those he singled out support Trump’s rhetoric on immigration or even if they support his position on the borders. Maybe some of his victims maxed out because they’re happy with the unemployment rate or like GOP’s tax policy. Or maybe they see the election as a binary choice and prefer a demagogic president to a leftist congressman who feels comfortable doxing his own constituents?…  “Castro, who has a far bigger megaphone than most, makes a strong case for expanding anonymity in political speech…  The idea that citizens should be expected to report to the state before expressing their political opinions is un-American and undermines free expression.” David Harsanyi, The Federalist “[Joe] Scarborough’s point [that Castro retweeted] is pretty clear: Supporting Trump makes you complicit in white supremacy. Does Castro think there should be no penalty for supporting white supremacy? I sort of doubt that… Castro didn’t literally suggest harassing local businesses, but you’d have to be an idiot not to know what happens to people singled out as the enemy on social media these days… At the very least, Castro should have known what might happen when he gave his followers the Twitter handles of some of the businesses in question.” John Sexton, Hot Air “One does not push out the names and employer information of people randomly. It is done with an intent. That intent may be to shame them, cost them business, or get them hurt, but in some way it is to cause something negative to happen. On top of that, Democrats are convinced there are more nuts on the Republican side who will commit violence. Believing that, do they really want Democrat donors exposed? And would they be okay with white nationalists sending out lists of Jewish donors and their information? This ends nowhere good.” Erick Erickson, The Resurgent On the bright side… Tardigrades: ‘Water bears’ stuck on the moon after crash. BBC Our volunteer team spends hours each night scanning the news, fact-checking, and debating one another, so your 5 minutes each morning can be well spent. If you’ve found value in our work, we welcome you to help sustain our efforts and expand our reach. Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated! Share Tweet Forward Sign Up Here Copyright © 2019 The Flip Side, All rights reserved. You can unsubscribe from this list here.

THE EPOCH TIMES

View this email in your browser “In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.” ALBERT EINSTEIN Trump: South Korea Will Pay US More Money to Defend Itself From North Korea Appeals Court Frees Deportees Over Racial-Profiling Claims US Moves Ahead to Ban Agencies From Buying Huawei, ZTE Technology   President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, to meet with the victims of the two mass shootings that days earlier had claimed the lives of 32 people and thank first responders for their efforts. Read more As Beijing escalates its tough rhetoric in condemning Hong Kong protesters, some U.S. lawmakers are raising the possibility of sanctions on China. Read more A researcher who has spent more than half a decade monitoring Google’s influence said he believes the tech giant will “actively interfere” in the 2020 elections. President Donald Trump said his administration is watching Google “very closely.” Read more A Roman Catholic charity and two foster parents are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up their case after a federal appeals court ruled that Philadelphia could refuse to work with the charity because it has a religious-based objection to same-sex marriage. Read more Fourteen FBI agents and executives have been referred since Jan. 18 to the bureau’s Office of Professional Responsibility for mishandling classified information, but only four of them have been fired, according to documents made public by Judicial Watch. Read more It has been 1,000 days since President Trump’s election, and during this period, the stock market has rejoiced in his pro-business agenda, setting record after record. Read more When the final report of then-special counsel Robert Mueller stated that it couldn’t establish that anyone from the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia, many Americans may have failed to realize how revealing a statement that was. Read more   See More Top Stories Conservatives Mobilize Against Republicans Supporting ‘Red Flag’ Gun Confiscation Law By Patrick Howley Pro-gun activists are launching a nationwide pressure campaign to stop a proposed “red flag” bill announced in the U.S. Congress by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal. In the wake of the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, President Donald Trump has called for a condemnation of white supremacism… Read more It’s Long Past Time for National Discussion About Mental Illness By Brian Cates After two horrific mass shooting incidents last weekend, the United States is once again locked into the same frustrating routine that follows such tragedies. In El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, deeply disturbed individuals shot and killed more than 30 people in two separate events. Many Democratic politicians running for president immediately began using the incidents in their fundraising… Read more Are Rate Cuts The Answer? By James Gorrie The Federal Reserve has cut interest rates for the first time since the depths of the Great Recession 2008, leaving many to wonder just what the Fed knows that it’s not disclosing. The short-term interest rate was cut by only .25 percent, half of what the Trump administration wanted and says that the economy needs. At least one other quarter-point cut is now expected before the… Read more   See More Opinions Why Banks Love War By Joshua Philipp & Valentin Schmid (January 5, 2018) “War benefits nobody, not even the victor,” goes the saying, and everybody agrees. So why is it that humanity has fought so many bloody wars, especially in the last century? The chief commander of the air force in national socialist Germany, Hermann Göring, had a compelling answer. “The people don’t want war. … Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece… Read more China already knows who it wants in the Oval Office after the 2020 presidential election—his name is Joe Biden. Well, anyone with a “D” after their name would do, but “Beijing Joe Biden” is the preferred candidate. Why Trumps Strategy on China is Working Copyright © 2019 The Epoch Times, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list or remove my account.

POLITICO PLAYBOOK

POLITICO Playbook: Trump’s his own worst political enemy after tragedy

By ANNA PALMER and JAKE SHERMAN 

08/08/2019 06:06 AM EDT

Presented by

DRIVING THE DAY

WEDNESDAY, IN REVIEW …

— THE WHITE HOUSE said Wednesday’s trip to El Paso and Dayton was not a photo op, and they completely shut out media. They said the media blackout was for good reason — it would’ve disrupted people in the hospital who were trying to work, and heal. But they then claimed that people were going gaga for the president in the hospital, which would’ve been a great image for a leader who is often criticized for not being able to handle one of his most important roles: that of consoler in chief. The White House did release its own photos of the visit.

WAPO: “None of the eight patients still being treated at University Medical Center in El Paso agreed to meet with Trump when he visited the hospital, UMC spokesman Ryan Mielke said. Two victims who already had been discharged returned to the hospital with family members to meet with the president.” WaPo

— THE PRESIDENT said those who were criticizing him were “political people.” “[T]hese are people that are looking for political gain. I don’t think they’re getting it. And, as much as possible, I’ve tried to stay out of that.” Between El Paso and Dayton, he criticized JOE BIDEN on Twitter, saying his speech was “soo boring.” (Biden was asked about this by NBC’s resident Biden expert, MIKE MEMOLI, and Biden said Trump should get a life.)

SHORTLY AFTER, TRUMP criticized Dayton Mayor NAN WHALEY and Sen. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio), who were with the president for part of Wednesday, and had generally praised his visit. He then went on to criticize CNN and Fox News’ SHEP SMITH. He later turned to JOAQUIN CASTRO and his brother JULIÁN. And he ended his day with “fake news,” Democrats using “racism” as a tool against him and a final blast at Bloomberg Opinion executive editor — and Trump biographer — TIM O’BRIEN.

ALL OF THESE MISSIVES came in the midst of a trip where he was visiting two communities that were deeply affected by a series of mass shootings.

THE WHITE HOUSE and the president’s allies will invariably complain about the coverage of this trip. But no one asked the president to focus on his political foes. He did it himself. Gabby Orr on how Trump couldn’t stay out of the political fray

— WE ASKED THE WHITE HOUSE why the president was upset with Brown and Whaley, and they had no answer.

DAYTON DAILY NEWS HEADLINE: “Mayor Whaley ‘confused’ by Trump’s tweet of how she described his visit to Dayton”

FRONT PAGES … NYT A1: “PRESIDENT USES A DAY OF HEALING TO STOKE DISCORD” … WAPO: “On arrival, Trump stokes divisions”

SPARING THE ROD: TRUMP told reporters on Air Force One that he’s considering commuting former Illinois Gov. ROD BLAGOJEVICH’S sentence. “His wife I think is fantastic and I’m thinking about commuting his sentence very strongly. I think it’s enough, seven years,” Trump said, according to pooler Eli Stokols of the L.A. Times.

Side note: Trump also noted that Blago had been on “Celebrity Apprentice,” per Bloomberg’s Jen Jacobs, but didn’t mention that he fired him over Harry Potter. “I just want to ask this one question,” Trump said on the show. “Your Harry Potter facts were not accurate. Who did the research?” To which Blago responded at the time: “But it’s Slithering and it’s Hufflepuff and it’s Ravencloth …” The episode… The firing

— USEFUL REMINDER … WHY BLAGO WAS ACCUSED AND CONVICTED … CHICAGO TRIBUNE: “Blagojevich was convicted of attempting to use his office to personally benefit, offering the former U.S. Senate seat of then-President-elect Barack Obama for barter, but also for trying to use his official office to gain a prosperous job or gain campaign funds in exchange for his actions.

“Some counts involving the alleged sale of the Senate seat were subsequently removed but his sentence and corruption conviction stood. He also was convicted of attempting to shake down a children’s hospital and the horse racetrack industry for official actions in exchange for campaign donations.

“Government agents secretly recorded Blagojevich discussing the Senate seat appointment with his onetime deputy governor, Doug Scofield. ‘I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden,’ Blagojevich said in the secretly recorded conversation. ‘I’m not just giving it up for (expletive) nothing.’” Chicago Tribune

Good Thursday morning. THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS beat the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep. They have the red-hot New York Mets this weekend in Queens.

CHILMARK READING — “Barack Obama hits the links on the Vineyard”: “Barack Obama, the former president, and Michelle arrived on the island Sunday. The former president promptly hit the links, playing at Farm Neck Golf Club in a foursome that included Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry and former Celtic Ray Allen.” Boston Globe

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THE LATEST ON GUN CONTROL …

— THE NRA HAS TRUMP’S EAR: WAPO’S JOSH DAWSEY and SEUNG MING KIM: “NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre spoke with Trump on Tuesday after the president expressed support for a background check bill and told him it would not be popular among Trump’s supporters, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss internal talks.

“LaPierre also argued against the bill’s merits, the officials said. The NRA, which opposes the legislation sponsored by Sens. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), declined to comment.” WaPo

— BTW, WE ALSO ASKED THE WHITE HOUSE what meetings the president had scheduled on gun control, because he said he had one scheduled, yet we could not find anyone on Capitol Hill who was aware of it. The White House has not gotten back to us with an answer — still.

— AP: “Mayors push Senate to return to Washington for gun bill vote,” by Matthew Daly and Lisa Mascaro

NO SENATE FOR HIM? … BETO O’ROURKE told NBC’S RACHEL MADDOW that he will return to the 2020 campaign trail. “I will pursue the nomination of our party to serve our country as president of the United States.” He added: “But right now I’m going to focus on my community, on our family, on those families who are grieving right now and on those families who have somebody who’s not yet out of the woods.”

THE RAIDS … AP/MORTON, MISS.: “‘Let them go!’: Tears, shock over ICE raids at Mississippi food processing plants”: “U.S. immigration officials raided numerous Mississippi food processing plants Wednesday, arresting 680 mostly Latino workers in what marked the largest workplace sting in at least a decade.

“The raids, planned months ago, happened just hours before President Donald Trump was scheduled to visit El Paso, Texas, the majority-Latino city where a man linked to an online screed about a ‘Hispanic invasion’ was charged in a shooting that left 22 people dead in the border city.

“Workers filled three buses — two for men and one for women — at a Koch Foods Inc. plant in tiny Morton, 40 miles east of Jackson. They were taken to a military hangar to be processed for immigration violations. About 70 family, friends and residents waved goodbye and shouted, ‘Let them go! Let them go!’ Later, two more buses arrived.” AP

MARKETWATCH — “Global Stocks Rally After Wild Swings on Wall Street,” by WSJ’s Laura Almeida

Playbook PM

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TAPPING IT BACK — “Billionaire Stephen Ross gets backlash for Trump fundraiser,” by Maggie Severns: “News that the billionaire and Republican donor Stephen Ross would hold a Hamptons fundraiser for President Donald Trump sparked anger online at some of Ross’ most prominent businesses on Wednesday: luxury spinning studio SoulCycle and Equinox gym.

“Ross, who is worth an estimated $7.7 billion, founded the Related Companies, a real estate firm that invests in popular fitness and restaurant brands and owns the Miami Dolphins football team. Ross is a longtime GOP donor. But he has not been a major public supporter of Trump’s in the past, and his move to host the lunchtime fundraiser on Long Island for the president elicited backlash from people who pay for his high-end fitness memberships, as well as from one player for the Miami Dolphins.”

— ROSS’ RESPONSE: “In a statement provided to POLITICO, Ross said that he had ‘always been an active participant in the democratic process’ and that he preferred ‘to engage directly and support the things I deeply care about.’

“‘I have known Donald Trump for 40 years, and while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others and I have never been bashful about expressing my opinions,’ Ross said. ‘I have been, and will continue to be, an outspoken champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education and environmental sustainability, and I have and will continue to support leaders on both sides of the aisle to address these challenges.’”

FLASHBACK … ROSS to N.Y. MAGAZINE in February: “I don’t like Donald, OK, we can stop there. We’d be here all day.” N.Y. Mag (hat tip: Annie Karni)

QUITE CLEARLY, Ross didn’t think this fundraiser would get much attention. … FWIW: Kara Ross, Stephen’s wife, gained fame as a jeweler creating pieces for MICHELLE OBAMA. A 2011 story about Ross

CNN’S JAKE TAPPER: “White House rebuffed attempts by DHS to make combating domestic terrorism a higher priority”: “White House officials rebuffed efforts by their colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security for more than a year to make combating domestic terror threats, such as those from white supremacists, a greater priority as specifically spelled out in the National Counterterrorism Strategy, current and former senior administration officials as well as other sources close to the Trump administration tell CNN.” CNN

THE INVESTIGATIONS — “Pondering Impeachment, House Sues Don McGahn, Ex-White House Counsel, for Testimony,” by NYT’s Nicholas Fandos and Charlie Savage: “The House Judiciary Committee sued on Wednesday to force the former White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II to testify before Congress, asking a federal judge to strike down the Trump administration’s claim that top presidential aides are ‘absolutely immune’ from its subpoenas.

“In a filing in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Judiciary Committee identified Mr. McGahn as ‘the most important witness, other than the president, to the key events’ at the center of its investigation into possible obstruction of justice by President Trump — behavior detailed by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, that the committee said could warrant impeachment.

“‘The Judiciary Committee is now determining whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the president based on the obstructive conduct described by the special counsel,’ the filing said. ‘But it cannot fulfill this most solemn constitutional responsibility without hearing testimony from a crucial witness to these events: former White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II.’” NYT

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COMMITTEE NEWS …

— DCCC CHAIRWOMAN CHERI BUSTOS pointed out on Twitter the other day that their online fundraising has already beat what they raised online in 2015. WHAT SHE DIDN’T SAY: Their unitemized fundraising is down 25% compared to this point in 2017. That’s a big deal. (With the caveat that all cycles are different, and in the beginning of 2017, they were starting to try to take the House back.)

— THE DCCC posted an online job description for the open executive director slot. The posting

TRUMP’S THURSDAY — The president will have lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 12:45 p.m. in the private dining room.

PLAYBOOK READS

HMMM — “Billionaire Wexner Says Epstein Swindled Him Out of ‘Vast Sums,’” by Bloomberg’s Anders Melin, Katherine Burton and Sophie Alexander: “Jeffrey Epstein’s entry into the life of Leslie Wexner spurred a myriad of questions among some of the fashion titan’s closest confidantes and associates.

“What did Wexner, a billionaire who built a fashion empire from scratch, see in Epstein, a college dropout with no obvious background as a money manager or tax expert?

“In recent weeks, revelations about the wealth Epstein amassed during his decades-long relationship with Wexner and his repeated alleged abuse of underage girls during that period have complicated that picture. On Wednesday, the saga took another twist as Wexner wrote to members of the Wexner Foundation that his former money manager had ‘misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family.’” Bloomberg … The full letter

FOGGY BOTTOM DEPARTURE LOUNGE … AP’S MATT LEE: “U.S. officials say top U.S. diplomat for Latin America resigns”: “The Trump administration’s top diplomat for Latin America has resigned amid internal disputes over immigration policy for the region, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

“Two officials and a congressional aide said Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Kimberly Breier stepped down earlier this week, although they offered differing reasons for her departure. They say Breier cited personal reasons for her decision, but the two officials suggested it was prompted by differences over a recent migration accord with Guatemala. The congressional aide said Breier’s departure was mainly driven by family responsibilities.” AP

FIRST WAYNE ROONEY, NOW THIS — “U.S. Soccer hires lobbyists to argue women’s national team isn’t underpaid,” by Theo Meyer: “U.S. Soccer, which has disputed there’s a pay gap, responded by bringing on two lobbying firms, FBB Federal Relations and Van Ness Feldman, to help convince lawmakers the women’s claims are inaccurate. …

“Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the players, said in a statement they were ‘stunned and disappointed’ U.S. Soccer ‘would spend sponsor dollars and revenue to advocate against laws that ensure that women are paid equally to men.’” POLITICO

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VALLEY TALK — “White House drafting executive order to tackle Silicon Valley’s alleged anti-conservative bias,” by Margaret Harding McGill and Daniel Lippman: “The White House is circulating drafts of a proposed executive order that would address allegations of anti-conservative bias by social media companies, according to a White House official and two other people familiar with the matter — a month after President Donald Trump pledged to explore ‘all regulatory and legislative solutions’ on the issue.

“None of the three would describe the contents of the order, which one person cautioned has already taken many different forms and remains in flux. But its existence, and the deliberations surrounding it, are evidence that the administration is taking a serious look at wielding the federal government’s power against Silicon Valley.

“‘If the internet is going to be presented as this egalitarian platform and most of Twitter is liberal cesspools of venom, then at least the president wants some fairness in the system,’ the White House official said.” POLITICO

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MEDIAWATCH — A DARK DAY FOR MAGAZINES … “Governing to Close”: “After 32 years, the magazine of record for state and local government will discontinue operations. …

“For the past several years, Governing and our parent company, e.Republic, have made continued investments in the magazine, in governing.com and in the numerous events we host throughout the country. Ultimately, however, Governing has proven to be unsustainable as a business in today’s media environment. We will cease publication of the monthly print magazine after September, and we will be ramping down our web presence and the rest of our operations over the next few months.” Governing

— “Pacific Standard magazine is shutting down after losing main financial backer,” by L.A. Times’ James F. Peltz and Sam Dean: “Pacific Standard, an online magazine that aimed to be a Western U.S.-based chronicler of global social and environmental justice and public policy, plans to shut down after a decade of publication … The publication’s last day will be Aug. 16 and the decision by the board of Pacific Standard’s backer, the nonprofit Social Justice Foundation, came without warning.” LAT

— “Judge green-lights libel suit against NPR over Seth Rich reports,” by Josh Gerstein

— BOOK NEWS: “Workman to Publish AOC Bio”: “The book, a representative of [publisher] Workman said, will ‘look and feel like an of-the-moment gift book with a bold cover, easy-to-read text, and tons of vibrant photos in a small package.’ The representative noted that the book, Workman’s first political biography, will bear more resemblance to such Workman titles as Boss Babes and Strong Is the New Pretty than a traditional political biography. The book, the publisher said, will ‘include photos, quotes, and illuminating text,’ serving as a ‘celebration of the youngest congresswoman in United States history, detailing not only her life but the movement she has energized.’” Publishers Weekly

— PAGE SIX NUGGET: “Coming in September, a gritty not pretty documentary on Roy Cohn.” N.Y. Post

PLAYBOOKERS

Send tips to Eli Okun and Garrett Ross at politicoplaybook@politico.com.

FOR THOSE KEEPING TRACK — “Jim Mattis rejoining General Dynamics board of directors,” by Jacqueline Feldscher

TRANSITIONS — Mick Baccio is now chief information security officer for the Pete Buttigieg campaign. He was the branch chief of White House threat intelligence in the Obama administration. More via Tim Starks… Sara Broadwater will be communications director for Indiana Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch. She previously was communications director for Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas).

ENGAGED — Joshua Hone, a Quorum and Advoc8 alum who is now COO of enotice, an early-stage startup focused on the future of local news, proposed to Rachel King, an incoming foreign service officer who did a Fulbright program in Malaysia and has also served as a Pickering fellow. He proposed on the ferry in Istanbul. Pic… Another pic

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Mike Biundo, co-founder and partner of Right On Strategies and a Trump campaign alum in New Hampshire. A fun fact people in Washington might not know about him: “I am a big professional wrestling fan. Which frankly made it extra hard to turn down the senior adviser to the White House at the SBA under Linda McMahon.” Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is 61 … Vinay Mehra, president and CFO of The Boston Globe … Catharine Cypher … POLITICO Europe’s Charlie Cooper … WaPo’s Jackson Diehl … Kylie Atwood, national security reporter for CNN, is 3-0 (h/t Ali Spiesman) … Virginia Heffernan … Claire Brinberg, senior producer and political editor at “ABC World News Tonight” … Sam Wilson … Tyler Bowders … Kate Damon … Emily Rogers … Kelly Jemison Needham is 31 … Michael Levin … Jonah Seiger … Italian PM Giuseppe Conte is 55 … Sara Maldonado … Ron Klain, EVP and general counsel at Revolution, is 58 (h/t wife Monica) … Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group … Will Caggiano (h/ts Jon Haber) … Marc Ambinder … Elizabeth Brakebill McAdam … John Lambert of Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-Wis.) office … James Feinstein … POLITICO’s Daniela Falvo … Karen Jezierny, director of public affairs at Princeton (h/t Ben Chang) …

… Hayley Matz Meadvin, a director at Precision Strategies … former FEC Chairman Michael Toner, partner at Wiley Rein … Jo Duchesne of the Bipartisan Policy Center (h/t dad Steve) … Mike Dankler … Saint Vincent and the Grenadines PM Ralph Gonsalves … Solomon Islands PM Rick Houenipwela … Meg Cahill … William Cronin … Jonah Seiger … Jeff Chu … George Paul Tzamaras of the American Immigration Lawyers Association is 59 … Lance Frank, VP of comms at CBS News … former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard, now at DLA Piper, is 77 … Nuriya Janss … Luke Londo … Eric Brakey … Habib Durrani … Dan Betts … Sunny Feldman … Kristina Dei … Samantha Brady … Michael Burwick … Cameron Terry … David Bass, president and CEO of Raptor Strategies … Josh Sternberg … Mike Schwartz … Teach for America’s Joe Walsh … Karen Hancox … Dee Ertukel … Alison Diminuco … Jay Gertsema … Xerxes Bhappu (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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THE RESURGENT

The Resurgent’s Morning Briefing for August 8,2019 View this email in your browser Share Tweet Forward Good morning, Here is all the news conservatives need to know to start their day.  At 4pm ET, you can catch me on radio to bring you up to speed on developments throughout the day.  You can listen live here.   Nikki Haley Was Right, Trump Was Wrong – Why Is This So Hard? I know it’s old news now, but I can’t help but go back to it. This is what I can’t stand. This is what I think is so unhelpful. This is why I have come to loathe political tribalism. President Trump, as he is accustomed to doing regularly, couldn’t resist his alarming natural tendency to […] The post Nikki Haley Was Right, Trump Was Wrong – Why Is This So Hard? appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » Disney to Offer Streaming Bundle So, what’s better than a streaming service that offers every Disney movie ever made? A streaming service with all the Disney/Pixar/Marvel movies AND Hulu AND ESPN. In it’s quest to completely destroy Netflix, Disney announced that it would offer a bundled service with its new Disney + streaming service. Viewers can choose between the Disney […] The post Disney to Offer Streaming Bundle appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » If Trump is Responsible for El Paso, Ocasio-Cortez is Responsible for Tacoma This is the dangerous game we’re playing now. The post If Trump is Responsible for El Paso, Ocasio-Cortez is Responsible for Tacoma appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » Sen. Tom Cotton Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 The post Sen. Tom Cotton Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » Rep. Doug Collins Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 The post Rep. Doug Collins Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » David Drucker of the Washington Examiner Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 The post David Drucker of the Washington Examiner Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » Grover Norquist Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 The post Grover Norquist Joined Erick Erickson at #RG2019 appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser » Trump’s China Trade War Brings Terrible News for Farmers China’s move creates a hidden tariff on U.S. agriculture that they aren’t paying. Does Trump think China will starve without American agriculture? The rest of the world will adjust, even if it means higher prices for China. I sure hope he wins soon, don’t you? The post Trump’s China Trade War Brings Terrible News for Farmers appeared first on The Resurgent.  Read in browser »   Recent Items: This Is Highly Irresponsible. Why Are Some in the Media Defending It? Hey Joaquin Castro, You Inspired Me to Donate More to Donald Trump Remember, you can listen to the Erick Erickson Show anytime and anywhere via WSB Radio, iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud. As always, you can find pretty much anything and everything I’m writing about throughout the day via The Resurgent. Thanks for reading and tuning in. Erick Erickson THE RESURGENT Facebook Twitter Instagram Copyright © 2019 The Resurgent Media Group, LLC, All rights reserved. unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences

THE WASHINGTON TIMES MORNING HEADLINES

Democracy Dies in Darkness

The morning’s most important stories, selected by Post editors

Trump attacks local leaders as he visits two grieving cities President Trump vowed to tone down his rhetoric and help the country heal — but then laced his visits to El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, with a flurry of vitriol against local leaders and memorialized his trips with grinning thumbs-up photos. By Ashley Parker, Philip Rucker, Jenna Johnson and Felicia Sonmez · Read more Some El Paso victims declined to meet Trump, medical center spokesman says The hospitalized patients also declined to meet with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), but they had met with a number of elected officials in recent days. By Robert Moore · Read more   Trump’s openness to extensive background checks for gun buys draws warning from NRA NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre told President Trump on Tuesday that such a move would not be popular among the president’s supporters. By Josh Dawsey and Seung Min Kim · Read more   Denied asylum, migrants in Europe live in limbo For logistical and geopolitical reasons, migrants handed orders to leave are overwhelmingly not being deported. By Chico Harlan · Read more   ICE agents arrest 680 people across Mississippi in massive raid The wave of arrests in six cities was the result of year-long criminal investigations. Officials said it is the largest single-state immigration enforcement action in U.S. history. By Abigail Hauslohner · Read more       Opinions No, Mr. President. Hate is not a mental illness. By Pete Earley · Read more If Trump is to blame for El Paso, Democrats are to blame for Dayton By Marc Thiessen · Read more I understand the temptation to dismiss QAnon. Here’s why we can’t. By Alyssa Rosenberg · Read more Guide dogs don’t lead blind people. We wander as one. By Haben Girma · Read more More than 600 days of silence since U.S. Park Police killed an unarmed man By Editorial Board · Read more Trump boasted about making Air Force One cheaper. He didn’t. By Dana Milbank · Read more     More News Agriculture, land misuse also driving climate change, U.N. report warns The report says the world cannot avoid the worst effects of climate change without making serious changes to the ways humans grow food, raise livestock and manage forests. By Brady Dennis · Read more   ‘Robbery, hate, homicide’: Man fatally stabs four people, wounds two in Orange County Investigators in Garden Grove, Calif., are piecing together the deadly outburst, which left slashed and stabbed victims at an apartment complex, a gas station, an insurance business, a 7-Eleven store and a Subway restaurant. By Tim Elfrink · Read more   NRA chief sought purchase of mansion in wake of Parkland shooting Wayne LaPierre told associates he was worried about being targeted, but he and his wife, Susan, rejected an upscale high rise with numerous security features in favor of an estate with lakefront and golf course views, according to emails and text messages described to The Post. By Carol Leonnig and Beth Reinhard · Read more   Today’s WorldView | Analysis Modi’s Kashmir move proves his fiercest critics right When he first came to power in 2014, Narendra Modi cloaked his Hindu nationalist views with ideas of economic reform. But as the latter has stalled, he’s fallen back on the easier option. By Adam Taylor · Read more   Simone Biles blasts USA Gymnastics: ‘You had one job … and you couldn’t protect us!’ The Olympic gold medalist was in tears ahead of the U.S. gymnastics championships as she talked about the organization’s failure in the Larry Nassar scandal. By Liz Clarke · Read more   Billionaire owner of SoulCycle, Miami Dolphins faces backlash over Trump fundraiser Gay celebrities called for boycott of the luxury fitness brands while National Football League player Kenny Stills criticized the event on Twitter. By Michelle Lee · Read more

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THE HILL

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© Getty Images  Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. Happy Thursday! Our newsletter gets you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Co-creators are Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver (CLICK HERE to subscribe!). On Twitter, find us at @asimendinger and @alweaver22.

About the best anyone can say about Wednesday’s events in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, following a pair of mass shootings over the weekend was that “do something” became, at least for the moment, America’s prevailing instruction. President Trump flew to both cities to console victims and mourners. But he did so in a publicly combative style that drew protests from those who believe he brews racism and grievance, and attracted passionate rebuttals from his supporters, who argue that no president shapes the minds of armed murderers. In the “do something” camp are the governors of Ohio and Texas, Mike DeWine and Greg Abbott, both Republicans. DeWine, under pressure from Ohioans to take action,  said on Tuesday that he’ll push for tough background checks and “red flag” laws, among other responses, while Abbott held a meeting with Texas officials on Wednesday and emerged with a plan for more discussions, possibly this month (The Texas Tribune). “We need new and different strategies that go above and beyond what we did in the aftermath of dealing with shootings that took place at the school in Santa Fe,” Abbott said, referencing the 2018 shooting at a high school that killed eight students and two teachers. After that 2018 shooting, Abbott similarly called for roundtable meetings. Trump, who has developed a pattern of endorsing and then abandoning proposed federal responses in the wake of mass shootings, knows the realities of the public debate: Congress has not passed major gun control legislation in two decades. He said he’s generally in favor of tighter gun background checks, if the GOP-controlled Senate could muster enough votes. He knows the Senate will not. Trump told reporters that Congress lacks the “political appetite” to reinstate a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons, which expired in 2004. He is correct, but he has never put his presidential weight behind the idea that tough gun restrictions should be part of any national response to mass shootings. “These are sick people,” Trump said. “It’s a mental problem.” The Hill: President visits Dayton, El Paso amid protests calling for gun control. “I’m looking to do background checks,” the president added, noting that he is consulting with House and Senate leaders about potential legislation. “I think background checks are important. I don’t want to put guns into the hands of mentally unstable people or people with rage or hate, sick people.” Democrats in Congress and those running for president argue that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has a stranglehold on Republicans in Congress, and on Trump as he seeks reelection. The Washington Post: Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) attacked Trump on Wednesday during separate speeches using scathing words and different messages. The president’s response on Wednesday was that Democrats who fault his rhetoric, his policies, his motivations or his impact just want to score “political points” and are politicians who “aren’t doing very well.” “I think my rhetoric is a very — it brings people together,” Trump said. “Our country is doing incredibly well.” Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), who briefly flirted this year with a bid for the White House, greeted Trump on the tarmac when he arrived in Dayton, along with Democratic Mayor Nan Whaley. Brown, who said the president “was comforting” and “did the right things” while visiting Dayton, later complained that Congress cannot combat mass shootings because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and the president are “in bed with the gun lobby” (The Hill). McConnell built an extensive record as an opponent of gun restrictions during 35 years in the Senate and has reaped the benefits of a close relationship with the NRA (NBC News). Nonetheless, the majority leader has turned to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and two other GOP leaders to seek a bipartisan compromise on federal “red flag” legislation, which would allow authorities to obtain a type of protective order — known as an extreme risk protection order, or E.R.P.O. — to remove guns from people deemed to be dangerous. The Associated Press: Bipartisan Senate momentum may be growing toward a vote on a “red flag” proposal. Some Senate Democrats have co-sponsored “red flag” measures, which remained in limbo since last year, and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued on Wednesday that Republicans’ sudden enthusiasm for such legislation is a red herring. He said Senate Democrats want a floor vote on House-passed measures tightening background checks. The Hill: Democrats argue a federal “red flag” law would not be enough. Partisan divides in America over guns run deep. But large majorities of both gun owners and non owners have favored limiting access to guns for people with mental illnesses and individuals who are on federal no-fly or watch lists. They have also embraced background checks for private sales and for sales at gun shows, according to an in-depth Pew Research Center study conducted in 2017. FiveThirtyEight explained on Wednesday how views about gun control have changed in the last 30 years: “The big-picture trend appears to be that, after bottoming out in the polls almost a decade ago, gun control has gotten more popular recently.” The Hill: Trump “all in favor” of background checks but doubts will of Congress.  The Hill: Trump slams Ohio Democrats after his visit to a Dayton hospital. The New York Times: What could a domestic terrorism law do? Not all murderous rampages involve guns. A 31-year-old man wielding a knife stabbed and killed four people and wounded two, apparently at random, during a bloody two-hour drama across two Southern California cities on Wednesday. The suspect, whose motivation was described as “rage,” was arrested (The Associated Press).

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LEADING THE DAY

POLITICS & CAMPAIGNS: With the recent tragedy in El Paso dominating news coverage and the public conversation, the spotlight is back on former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who has canceled his scheduled campaign events in recent days and has focused on the community he once represented in Congress. He is also focused on Trump, calling the president “a white supremacist.” As Amie Parnes writes, O’Rourke’s distress and anger along with his prominence in the aftermath of the tragedy — giving interviews, visiting the wounded, attending memorials and representing his community — has reminded some Democratic voters of why they rallied to him in the first place. It also has reopened a question: whether a genuine, authentic response to a horrific tragedy could have a political impact, giving new momentum to his fledgling campaign.   Democratic strategists say they feel for a candidate seeking to speak out for his community at its most vulnerable moment.   “Being from El Paso, he can speak of this tragedy from an incredibly personal standpoint and it makes his remarks very poignant and relevant,” said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. “He comes off very authentic and he is speaking from his heart and soul on this tragic issue.” > Sanctuary Cities: With Obama administration’s policies becoming a bigger issue in the Democratic primary, one question that has cropped up is whether Biden supports sanctuary cities. Immigration was one of the foremost issues that came up during the second Democratic debate, including questions directed at Biden over the administration’s record on deportations. While he defended the record on immigration and deportations, the question remains unanswered on sanctuary cities. As Jonathan Easley reports, At a 2007 Democratic presidential primary debate, Biden was asked directly if he would allow the cities to ignore federal law. “No,” he responded. When asked earlier this year about the topic, Biden’s camp responded by saying that he does not support Trump’s “crackdown” on sanctuary cities or the efforts to deprive them of federal money.  Beyond that, it’s unclear whether Biden supports any enforcement efforts whatsoever. As recently as 2016, the Obama administration angered liberals by changing federal policy by encouraging sanctuary cities to abandon their stance of refusing to work with federal officials on deportation requests.

© Getty Images  > Health care: While “Medicare for All” has become a major debate point in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, it soon may become one in Senate races as Democratic candidates run on protecting the Affordable Care Act and coverage for those with preexisting conditions.  The ObamaCare and preexisting conditions strategy worked wonders in 2018 as Democrats helped flip the House on that message, but the ongoing debate on legislation championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others is distracting from that message, potentially impacting Senate races in states where the proposal is unpopular.  In Arizona and Colorado, where Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) are set to face tough races next year, their campaigns and allies have turned the attention to their potential Democratic opponents and are trying to tether them to the ongoing debate atop the Democratic primary (The Hill).  The Hill: Montana Gov. Steve Bullock says Democrats “are well on our way to losing this election.” The Hill: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) rolls out plan to invest in rural economy. Politico: How Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) would handle farm, rural policy.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

CONGRESS & INVESTIGATIONS: House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) let loose a vigorous defense of Baltimore and a biting critique of the president during a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, saying that  “the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior.” Cummings, who delivered the long-scheduled speech in Washington, did not mention Trump by name, but it was evident who he was referring to as he discussed the rise of white nationalism and the recent mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.  “As a country, we finally must say that enough is enough — that we are done with the hateful rhetoric, that we are done with the mass shootings, that we are done with the white supremacist domestic terrorists who are terrorizing our country and fighting against everything America stands for,” he said. “We are all sick of this.” The comments came after a lengthy, public back-and-forth with the president, who repeatedly denigrated the area Cummings represents as “disgusting” and “filthy.” “No human being would want to live there,” Trump tweeted at one point.

© Getty Images  > McGahn subpoena: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is moving forward with plans to enforce a subpoena against Don McGahn, the former White House counsel, as Democrats increase pressure on the former top White House aide to testify before the panel.  Pelosi announced Nadler’s move in a “Dear Colleague” letter Wednesday afternoon to lawmakers. “On the litigation front, Chairman Nadler will file a complaint in court today to enforce a subpoena to compel former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify before the Committee as part of its investigation into obstruction, corruption and abuse of power by President Trump and his associates,” Pelosi wrote. Nadler subpoenaed McGahn to testify on April 22, only days after former special counsel Robert Mueller’s report was released. McGahn defied the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena at the behest of the White House.  In particular, Democrats on the panel want to ask McGahn about the president’s orders for McGahn to remove the special counsel amid his ongoing probe. McGahn did not follow the orders, and prepared to resign at the time of the requests (The Hill).

OPINION

Why gun control is so hard to enact, by Jonathan Turley, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/31lkGXa  Donald Trump’s redeeming moment, by Steve Israel, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/33fIzBj

WHERE AND WHEN

Hill.TV’s “Rising” at 9 a.m. ET features Lindsay Singleton, an expert on Latin America, to react to the new Venezuela embargo; Ryan Grim, Washington bureau chief for The Intercept, to talk about progressive primary challengers; and Rafael Bernal, staff writer for The Hill, to discuss the Hispanic vote in 2020. Find Hill.TV programming at http://thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10 a.m. The House and Senate continue to meet in pro forma sessions but are not scheduled to return for votes until Sept. 9. The president will have lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at 12:45 p.m. Vice President Pence travels to London, Ky., to speak at Operation Coal Country Innovative Readiness Training, a Defense Department program that provides medical care in the field, at 1 p.m. at Eastern Kentucky University. He will return to Washington this afternoon. The Iowa State Fair in Des Moines begins today through Aug. 18. 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Biden and Bullock are expected to stop by today.

ELSEWHERE

➔ Tariff tit-for-tat effects: In Germany, “the continued plunge in production is scary,” Bankhaus Lampe economist Alexander Krueger said, adding that a recession in the manufacturing sector was likely to continue due to the escalating trade dispute between China and the United States (Reuters). … Trump on Wednesday again argued the Federal Reserve should cut interest rates “bigger and faster.” Trump’s decision last week to impose new tariffs on Chinese imports threw the Fed another curveball that may force it to cut rates more than the central bank had hoped was necessary to protect the economy from trade-policy risks (Reuters). … U.S. businesses and farmers are begging Trump for relief from his escalating trade war with China (The Hill). …For every dollar collected by the U.S. Treasury from new tariffs on Chinese goods, a dollar is authorized to fund rescue programs for farmers who have been harmed by retaliation from China and other countries (The Wall Street Journal). ➔ Immigration: At least 600 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents fanned out across Mississippi on Wednesday to round up undocumented workers laboring in chicken processing and other plants operated by five companies. The workers were processed for deportation, some taken away in plastic wrist cuffs in front of their children. It was the largest such government raid in a decade, and the companies involved may be charged with knowingly hiring workers who are in the country illegally. The companies will be investigated for tax, document and wage fraud (The Associated Press).    ➔ Puerto Rico: The top court in Puerto Rico invalidated Gov. Pedro Pierluisi‘s appointment on Wednesday, removing the former resident commissioner from the office he had held for just five days. The tribunal’s nine justices said the territory’s constitution was not followed, opening the door to another successor. Next in line to become governor is Secretary of Justice Wanda Vázquez Garced (The Hill). ➔ Silicon Valley: The White House is drafting an executive order that would wield the power of the federal government against what Trump views as conservative bias or censorship of conservative viewpoints inside big tech companies based in California (Politico). … Twitter suspended a McConnell campaign account for posting a video of protesters cursing outside the senator’s home — specific content the company said violated its policy barring violent threats (The Hill). ➔ Clemency: Trump said on Wednesday night that he is “thinking very seriously” about commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), who is serving a 14-year prison sentence for wire fraud, extortion and soliciting bribes and was impeached and removed from office. The president, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, described his sympathy for Blagojevich after viewing the former governor’s wife on television making an appeal for clemency (Reuters). ➔ Manifestos & mass shooters: From Pittsburgh to Christchurch, and now El Paso, white men accused of carrying out deadly mass shootings have cited the same fear: the extinction of the white race. The threat of the “great replacement,” or the idea that white people will be replaced by people of color, was cited directly in the four-page document written by the man arrested in the killing of 22 people in El Paso. Some experts who study the trend are concerned the concept of “replacement” is being embraced more readily by lone-wolf white terrorists and even some politicians, producing a particularly dangerous climate. Nearly 75 percent of extremist murders committed in the United States over the past decade were carried out by people espousing white supremacist ideology, according to research by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism (The New York Times). ➔ In the Know: The Emmys have decided to follow the lead of the Oscars and are going hostless when they celebrate the year in television next month. Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier said the decision was made to spotlight all of the star-studded shows that ended in 2019 rather than have a host who could steal the show. “It’s our job to assess how to elevate the program … and what’s interesting about this year is how many amazing shows we’re saying goodbye to: Game of Thrones, Empire, Veep, Big Bang Theory,” Collier said (The Hill).

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Thursday, August 8, 2019

A Nation Divided After Tragedy We should be able to come together after the heinous shootings in El Paso and Dayton. Thirty-one people are dead, and dozens more are wounded. The President, and virtually every prominent conservative voice, have condemned the hateful ideology of the El Paso gunman in the clearest of terms.    Instead, we’re at each other’s throats and if the rhetoric before the shootings had anything to do with the atmosphere that sparked them, it’s nothing in comparison to what media figures and prominent Democrats have been saying since.   Representative Joaquin Castro doxxed 44 citizens of his own district who had donated to the Trump campaign, all but directly blaming them for the murders in El Paso.    In the closest we’ve come to actual incitement, Nicolle Wallace said on MSNBC that Trump wants to “eradicate” Latinos in this country. She later walked back the comment as a “mistake,” a privilege granted only to those the media favor.   And Joe Biden, frontrunner for the nomination and alleged “moderate,” heaped additional fuel on the fire. Just hours before the President’s plane touched down in El Paso to meet with victims, Biden made a speech claiming that Trump has “fanned the flames of white supremacy” and that he “encourages and emboldens” it. Most ludicrously, he claimed that Trump has more in common with George Wallace, the segregationist Democrat who made a third-party run for president on the issue, than with George Washington. Biden should check in with his own party, which now viciously attacks the founder of the country and demands that murals depicting him be covered over.   The idea that you’re facing eradication and Hitlerian ambitions makes it easy to justify violent tactics. But the left seems determined to make the term “white nationalist” as partisan and useless as the more-generic “racist.”    From John Daniel Davidson’s must-read piece in The Federalist:   “As for Trump’s rhetoric, let’s grant that his words and political posture are sometimes divisive. Indeed, let’s grant that it’s part and parcel of his entire approach to American politics. But are we not to breathe a word about the divisive rhetoric coming from the other side?   Is it not divisive and inflammatory for Democrats to refuse to enforce our borders while promising to give taxpayer-paid health care to illegal immigrants? Is it not divisive and inflammatory for sports stars and corporations to denounce the Betsy Ross flag and the national anthem as racist? Doesn’t that exacerbate a feeling of helplessness and dispossession, and fuel a whole spectrum of responses—from ordinary patriotism to outright xenophobia and racism?   Indeed, the left now treats even mild patriotism as racist, in effect saying to the ordinary patriot: ‘Either surrender to a left-wing ideology that neither respects nor loves your country, or embrace white nationalism.’ Is it any wonder that a few isolated and angry young men will react to these pressures in the worst possible way?   … The point here is that if you talk in terms of a race war, if you cast American politics as a zero-sum contest between racial groups, if you vilify half the country because they disagree with your radical views on immigration and welfare, then what you end up with isn’t just identity politics for minorities, you get identity politics for white people, too.”   All of which to say, this is why the smearing of, for example, Ben Shapiro as a white supremacist matters. Leave aside for a moment the disgusting insult to someone who was the #1 target of white supremacists online in 2016, and whose family was just recently threatened with violence by a white nationalist fortunately apprehended by police.    Shapiro’s “ideological project,” which New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie tweeted had ties to white nationalism, is one that explicitly rejects the idea that the defense of the United States, or Western Civilization as a whole, need be limited to white people. Shapiro’s conception of the West is one in which people of all ethnicities and religious commitments can participate. Make the defense of who we are as a nation inextricably tied to white supremacy, and you’re going to see a lot more white supremacists.    A discourse that labels the 63 million people who voted for Donald Trump white supremacists may be good for riling up the “Squad’s” base. But it’s terrible for the fight against actual white supremacy, and even worse for the nation.   Fashion Moment of the Week I have no love for Victoria’s Secret. Their bras are just the worst, as I’ve ranted about in the past. But it was only a matter of time before woke culture came for the brand, given that their main claim to fame is showcasing the most stunningly beautiful women in the world on their catwalks and in their advertising.    The CEO had previously bucked joining the woke hordes by deciding against casting transgender or plus-size models in the VS show, but it appears that the new board is changing that image and reversing those decisions. Now, all they’ll have going for them is their crummy bras. Best of luck to you, Victoria.    In other fashion news I dislike, bubble skirts, the scourge of the 2000s, are making a comeback. (In Style)   Thursday Links We’re a nation on edge. Panic in Times Square injures nine people after a motorcycle backfires. (New York Post) House Judiciary Committee tries suing to enforce their subpoena of former White House counsel Don McGahn. (Politico)   White House allegedly working on executive order about big tech censorship. (Politico)   Oh gee, what a surprise. Trust in media, especially among independents, is in the toilet. (Knight Foundation and Gallup)   It would be better to STOP SENDING MONEY TO UNIVERSITIES, but replacing the student loan programs with a better idea is still a good start. (City Journal)   Speaking of City Journal, a must-listen podcast for urban conservatives with its editor. (The Federalist Radio Hour)    In a relevant victory in our own moment of insanity, Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against The New York Times for accusing her of responsibility for the Gabby Giffords shooting cleared a key legal hurdle. (The Federalist)   ICYMI: Dana Loesch explains why red flag laws aren’t the solution we’re looking for. (The Federalist)   The chairman of the parent company of popular workout brands Soulcycle and Equinox is raising money for Trump, prompting celebrity calls for boycotts. I’m just excited to see leftists boycott companies they actually patronize for once. (Fox Business)   The end of an era: Pizza Hut is closing hundreds of its dine-in locations across the country. (Today)   This newly-discovered prehistoric parrot the size of a small child would definitely eat you. (Washington Post)   And in case you missed it in Kelsey’s edition yesterday, popular OANN host Liz Wheeler’s book is out! You can get Tipping Points: How to Topple the Left’s House of Cardshere. (Amazon)   BRIGHT is brought to you by The Federalist.

Today’s BRIGHT Editor Inez Feltscher Stepman is a senior policy analyst at the Independent Women’s Forum and a senior contributor to The Federalist. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native with a BA in Philosophy from UCSD and a JD from the University of Virginia. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, Jarrett Stepman, her puggle Thor, and her cat Thaddeus Kosciuszko. You can follow her on Twitter at @inezfeltscher and on Instagram (for #ootd, obvi) under the same handle. Opinions expressed on this website are her own and not those of her employers. Or her husband.

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LIBERTY NATION

Daily Briefing Conservative News | Libertarian News | Commentary VISIT LibertyNation.com     FROM OUR NEWSROOM One Million Moms: Time to Dethrone the Drag Queens By Sarah Cowgill The drag queen reading hour may soon be no more. Click Here   What America’s Thinking Quinnipiac poll: Biden still leads, but Harris craters after the second debate. Voters expect worse care and higher costs under single-payer health system. The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 47% of likely U.S. voters approve of President Trump’s job performance. A DMN/Emerson poll indicates Biden and Sanders both would narrowly beat Trump in 2020.   Corey Lewandowski: Trump Soldier Ready to Stump for Senate? By Joe Schaeffer To secure his legacy, the president needs MAGA legislators in office. Click Here   Washington Whispers Coming down the pipeline: Has Joaquin Castro shot himself in the foot by doxxing Trump donors? After the shootings in El Paso and Dayton, even some Republicans are talking about “assault weapons” bans. Are some politicians exploiting the recent mass shootings for ratings in the polls? Is Victoria’s Secret’s pandering to the social justice left too little too late to save the brand?   China the Currency Manipulator? What About the Fed! By Andrew Moran The Federal Reserve is as much as a currency manipulator as China. Click Here   News Roundup We’ve Surfed The Web for You Poll: Majority of Blacks, Hispanics Support Anti-Illegal Immigration 2020 Candidates Twitter Forces McConnell Campaign To Pull Video Showing Violent Threats Against Him Miami Dolphins owner fires back after anti-Trump activists plan Equinox, SoulCycle boycotts ‘A sacred choice’: Bill de Blasio dodges specifics on late-term abortion CNN: El Paso Shooting Suspect’s Mom Called Police Weeks Before Attack   Liberty Nation On The Go: Listen to Today’s Top News 8.08.19 By Liberty Nation Staff Conservative News – Hot Off The Press – Audio Playlist Click Here     WATCH NOW FEATURED LNTV

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WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Washington Examiner’s Examiner Today Newsletter View this as website   ADVERTISEMENT HIGHLIGHTS Democrats sue former White House counsel to force testimony Twitter locks Mitch McConnell campaign account for posting video of protesters at his home US brings ISIS fighters home for trial, but extremists could benefit from other nations’ inaction   ‘Accurate and straightforward’: Biden dismisses notion that his denunciation of Trump adds to divisions   IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday refused to say his own remarks about President Trump were divisive or added to the already heated rhetoric following the deadly mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, last Saturday.     Trump supporters confront protesters at El Paso memorial   A handful of Trump supporters chanting slogans for the president confronted mourners at a memorial to the 22 people killed in El Paso, Texas Wednesday evening before being ushered away by police officers.     ‘I’m confused’: Dayton mayor puzzled over Trump reaction to her   Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley said she was confused by a tweet by President Trump attacking her over a news conference she held with Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown following his visit to the city.     Drug mules, nipples, and NAFTA: Beto O’Rourke’s alt-weekly attempt to overhaul El Paso’s image   Beto O’Rourke’s first foray into politics was publishing a quirky alt-weekly newspaper in his home town of El Paso in 2002. It was a short-lived tabloid that published dispatches from a teenage drug mule, featured copious coverage of the local hipster music scene, and even included a couple of erotic-themed stories in the Valentine’s Day issue.   ADVERTISEMENT   Trio of lagging Democratic White House hopefuls might make better Senate candidates   Beto O’Rourke has been struggling in the polls.     Trump China currency manipulator designation met with congressional silence, including from Democrats who’d long sought it   President Trump’s designation of China as a currency manipulator has drawn virtually no reaction from members of Congress, even though a number of lawmakers have pressed for years such a move.     ‘A sacred choice’: Bill de Blasio dodges specifics on late-term abortion   New York City mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Bill de Blasio repeatedly avoided offering specifics on his views about late-term abortion during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” program.     Ads pulled for violent film The Hunt after recent shootings   Universal Pictures reportedly pulled ads for a new horror flick about liberal elites hunting “deplorables” for sport.     Sex-trafficking victim walks free after 15 years in prison   A woman who killed a man who had paid to have sex with her has been set free after 15 years in prison.     Veteran US diplomat who played key role after 9/11 killed by hit-and-run driver   State Department employees are mourning the loss of Betty Bernstein-Zabza after she was killed in a hit-and-run while on a walk with her 12-year-old son.     Shock at zoo after lioness gobbles her own cubs   Keepers at a German zoo are struggling to figure out why a lioness suddenly ate her two cubs just days after giving birth to them.   THE ROUNDUP Billionaire accuses Epstein of misappropriating ‘vast sums of money’ Trump attacks local leaders as he visits two grieving cities White House looks to tackle tech’s alleged anti-conservative bias ADVERTISEMENT

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CAFFEINATED THOUGHTS

Connect: Facebook Twitter YouTube View this email in your browser “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:44, ESV). New Study Reveals Harm From Abortion Pills By Shane Vander Hart on Aug 07, 2019 09:07 am A Franciscan University study provides additional evidence of the harmful biological and behavioral effects of drug-induced abortion. Read in browser » Recent Articles: State Judicial Nomination Commission Selects Three Candidates for Iowa Court of Appeals Libertarian Party of Iowa, Jake Porter File Ballot Access Lawsuit National Pro-Life Group Endorses Hinson in Iowa 1st Congressional District Race Scholten Announces Second Run in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District Schilling Urges Trump to Declare War on Domestic Terrorism Launched in 2006,  Caffeinated Thoughts reports news and shares commentary about culture, current events, faith and state and national politics from a Christian and conservative point of view.  Caffeinated Thoughts P.O. Box 57184 Des Moines, IA 50317 (515) 321-5077 Editor, Shane Vander Hart Connect: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Share Tweet Share Forward Copyright © 2019 Caffeinated Thoughts, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

CONSERVATIVE DAILY NEWS

CDN’s Daily News Blast delivers the day’s news first! View this email in your browser CDN Daily News Blast 08/08/2019 Excerpts: President Donald Trump’s Schedule for Thursday, August 8, 2019 By R. Mitchell – President Donald Trump will receive his daily briefing and have lunch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Keep up with Trump on CDN’s President’s Schedule Page. President Trump’s schedule for 8/8/19 All Times EDT 12:00 PM Receive intelligence briefing – Oval Office 12:45 PM Lunch with the Secretary of State – Private … President Donald Trump’s Schedule for Thursday, August 8, 2019 is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » GOP Lawmakers Ask For Docs Alleging Misuse Of Taxpayer Money To Fund Abortion Services, Referrals By Audrey Conklin and Mary Margaret Olohan – Lawmakers say they want reports on the potential misuse of taxpayer money to fund abortions, abortion referrals and building renovations. A letter from Republican Reps. Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows asks the federal agency that oversees AmeriCorps to hand over documents concerning two investigations into the volunteer organization that were … GOP Lawmakers Ask For Docs Alleging Misuse Of Taxpayer Money To Fund Abortion Services, Referrals is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Walmart’s Corporate Employees Are Set To Walk Out Over Firearm Sales By Jake Dima – Walmart employees are planning to walk out of corporate offices Wednesday, demanding the retailer stop selling firearms of all kinds. Offices in California and Oregon will be partaking in the protest, following the El Paso Walmart shooting that left 22 people dead over the weekend. The white-collar workers demand that … Walmart’s Corporate Employees Are Set To Walk Out Over Firearm Sales is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Retirees Targeted By Joaquin Castro Speak Out: ‘It’s Disgusting’ By Peter Hasson – “Sickening.” “Dangerous.”  “Pitiful.” That’s how two retirees targeted by Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro described the congressman’s decision to publish the names of 44 Trump donors in the San Antonio area. Both women spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fears of political violence and harassment. In addition to posting the … Retirees Targeted By Joaquin Castro Speak Out: ‘It’s Disgusting’ is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Next-Generation Air Dominance Doesn’t Mean New Aircraft, Air Force Official Says By C. Todd Lopez – For about two decades, the Air Force has fielded both the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II — both billed as technical marvels. But what’s next for the Air Force? Developing what officials call next-generation air dominance likely won’t require a new aircraft at all, Air Force leaders have … Next-Generation Air Dominance Doesn’t Mean New Aircraft, Air Force Official Says is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » ICE Captures 680 Illegal Aliens Raiding Multiple Mississippi Businesses By R. Mitchell – JACKSON, Miss. – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed multiple federal criminal search warrants, and arrested hundreds of illegal aliens at seven agricultural processing plants in Mississippi Wednesday as part of an ongoing HSI worksite enforcement criminal investigation. In addition to executing federal search warrants … ICE Captures 680 Illegal Aliens Raiding Multiple Mississippi Businesses is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Trump Tweets About Dayton Visit, Says News Conference Afterward By Ohio Lawmakers Was ‘A Fraud’ By Shelby Talcott – President Donald Trump tweeted he had “a warm & wonderful visit” in Dayton, Ohio, Wednesday and also hit back at the allegedly “fraud” news conference held by Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Mayor Nan Whaley. Trump visited Dayton following a shooting Sunday morning that killed nine people and injured 27 … Trump Tweets About Dayton Visit, Says News Conference Afterward By Ohio Lawmakers Was ‘A Fraud’ is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Democrats + Media = One Big Lie By Amanda Alverez –   How many times have you heard the comment, “US Media is dead and/or irrelevant?” Well, after the Ohio and Texas mass shootings, no sane person will ever have to wonder about Democrat + Media insanity. It is now disgustingly on display for the world to see. What remains shocking … Democrats + Media = One Big Lie is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Beto Says Attacks Like El Paso Will Happen Again As Long As Trump Is In Office By Shelby Talcott – 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said that as long as President Donald Trump is in office, mass shootings like the one Saturday in El Paso, Texas, will happen again. Two mass shootings killed a total of 31 people Saturday and Sunday in Texas and Ohio. Trump visited Dayton, Ohio, where … Beto Says Attacks Like El Paso Will Happen Again As Long As Trump Is In Office is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Twitter Locked McConnell Campaign’s Account For Posting Video Of Protesters Outside Senator’s Home By Chuck Ross – Twitter forced at least three accounts, including that of Mitch McConnell’s campaign, to remove video of protesters calling for violence outside the senator’s home The social media site confirmed to The Daily Caller News Foundation that it locked the three accounts, claiming that the video violated the company’s “violent threats … Twitter Locked McConnell Campaign’s Account For Posting Video Of Protesters Outside Senator’s Home is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Doorbell Cam Shows Shirtless Man With Gun Trying To Break Into Front Door By Matt M. Miller – Two doorbell cameras in DeKalb County, Georgia, show a shirtless suspect attempting to break into both houses while carrying a gun Monday. Neighbors say the man has also tried to break into other local homes and that they now feel scared in their homes, WSB-TV 2 reported. Police are searching … Doorbell Cam Shows Shirtless Man With Gun Trying To Break Into Front Door is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » With Impeachment In Sight, House Democrats File Lawsuit Against McGahn By Kevin Daley – The House Judiciary Committee took a decisive step toward impeachment proceedings Wednesday, filing a lawsuit in federal court to force former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify before the panel. McGahn’s testimony is essential to an ongoing impeachment inquiry, congressional lawyers wrote in court filings, since he is the … With Impeachment In Sight, House Democrats File Lawsuit Against McGahn is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Watch: President Trump Delivers a Statement Upon Departure – 8/7/19 By R. Mitchell – President Trump spoke to reporters Wednesday as he departed the White House en route to Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas. Watch: Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative Commons license. Visit our syndication page for details and … Watch: President Trump Delivers a Statement Upon Departure – 8/7/19 is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Dramatically Higher Number Of Poor Mexicans Get Visas Denied Under Trump By Jason Hopkins – The number of Mexican nationals refused an immigrant visa to the U.S. has skyrocketed under President Donald Trump, and his administration is preparing to make standards even tougher. The State Department denied a total of seven immigrant visa applications from Mexican nationals on the grounds that they were at high … Dramatically Higher Number Of Poor Mexicans Get Visas Denied Under Trump is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Kim Jong Un Calls Recent Missile Tests A ‘Warning’ For The US, South Korea By Audrey Conklin – North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday that the country’s ballistic missile test Tuesday was a “warning” to both South Korea and the United States. Kim said the test was “an occasion to send an adequate warning to the joint military drill now underway by the U.S. and … Kim Jong Un Calls Recent Missile Tests A ‘Warning’ For The US, South Korea is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Trump Invites Big Tech Representatives To White House To Discuss Online Extremism By Chris White – The Trump administration will host a summit Friday with a slew of tech companies to discuss the rise of extremism on their platforms. The gathering will include “senior administration officials along with representatives of a range of companies,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a press statement. He did … Trump Invites Big Tech Representatives To White House To Discuss Online Extremism is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » Biden Remains Front Runner By Large Margin, Despite Debate Pummeling By Mary Margaret Olohan – Former Vice President Joe Biden remains a Democratic front runner in the 2020 presidential elections, a Quinnipiac poll reveals. An August Quinnipiac University poll reveals that 49 percent of voters believe that the former vice president has the best chances of beating President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election … Biden Remains Front Runner By Large Margin, Despite Debate Pummeling is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on » MSNBC Analyst Uses Numerology To Link Trump’s Decision To Fly Flags At Half-Mast To Neo-Nazism By Chuck Ross – A former FBI assistant director used numerology on MSNBC Monday to link neo-Nazism to President Donald Trump’s decision to fly flags at half-mast to honor the victims of shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. Frank Figluizzi floated the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory during an interview with Brian Williams. Figluizzi, … MSNBC Analyst Uses Numerology To Link Trump’s Decision To Fly Flags At Half-Mast To Neo-Nazism is original content from Conservative Daily News – Where Americans go for news, current events and commentary they can trust – Conservative News Website for U.S. News, Political Cartoons and more. Read on »       See all breaking news, conservative commentary, political cartoons and more posted to CDN at our Home Page.       Follow on Twitter Friend on Facebook Add on Google Plus Copyright © 2019 Conservative Daily News, All rights reserved. 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THE BLAZE

Having trouble viewing this email? Click here   Trending now Relative of couple murdered in El Paso massacre calls Dems ‘pure evil’ for not welcoming President Trump   Hollywood actress declares her ‘disgust’ and ‘shame’ over being born ‘white and privileged’       More from TheBlaze Republican Rep. Massie dismantles the ‘who needs 100 rounds?’ argument in one tweet   ICE arrests 680 ‘removable aliens’ in raids on Mississippi processing plants     Twitter suspends account of top GOP Senator over video of liberals shouting obscenities at his home   Joaquin Castro doubles down on doxxing of Trump donors: They should ‘think twice’ about supporting a ‘campaign of hate’   more stories One last thing… MSNBC reporter stunned by Latino response to Trump visit to El Paso An MSNBC correspondent expressed his bewilderment at the response from El Paso, Texas, resident to a visit from President Donald Trump in the wake of a horrible racially motivated attack. Jacob Soboroff said that many residents were “surprisingly positive” during the visit from the president on Wednesday. “Jacob, you’ve been in El Paso, talki Read more Share Tweet Email

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Columnists They Will Still Hate You Even If You Disarm Kurt Schlichter Joaquin Castro Hit List Is a Dirty Trick for the Ages Mark Davis A War Of Words Derek Hunter In Venezuela, President Trump Is Reminding Us that America First Doesn’t Mean America Alone John Pence Will 2020 be a Repeat of 2004 for Democrats? Victor Davis Hanson After Mass Shootings, Trump Blamed for ‘Increasing Racism’ — But Is White Racism Really Increasing? Larry Elder Scott Presler’s #BaltimoreCleanup Is Further Proof of ‘Can-Do’ Attitude Laura Hollis China’s Great Oppressor Reality Subverts Its Great Power Aspirations Austin Bay Passing Laws, Passing Taxes and Passing the Buck Veronique de Rugy ADVERTISEMENT The Problem With Narrative Jackie Gingrich Cushman A Solution to Mass Shootings? D.W. Wilber Is China Using Electric Buses to Spy on American Cities? Kira Davis Between White Supremacy and Leftist Extremism – Understanding the New Cycle of American Violence Oz Sultan How a Chance Meeting in Washington Provided a Spark of Hope in Flint Armstrong Williams Weaponizing the Dead of El Paso And Dayton John Kass Mass Murders Are a Symptom Cal Thomas It’s an Invasion!…of Moronic Arguments Ann Coulter It’s the Morality, Stupid Jerry Newcombe The GOP Is On The Cusp of a Health Care Win – They Better Get It Right Jesse Grady ‘Soulless’ Gamer Shot Up El Paso John and Andy Schlafly Let’s Use the President’s Words As a Starting Point Michael Brown Democratic Dystopia: End Anglo-America, Welcome the World, Evict the Unborn Ilana Mercer Video Gov. Evers: Saying Abortionists ‘Execute Babies’ Is ‘Blasphemy’ Trump blasts Schiff as ‘political hack’ Pelosi’s condescension offers some laughs Pelosi open to border infrastructure INVESTING Trump Ignores Aides, Goes It Alone Big Companies Cutting Earnings Forecasts Because Of The Democrats Democrats to Seniors: Drop Dead HEALTH Establish Body Balance. Minimize Toxins. Body pH: The Secrets to Balancing Your Body’s pH Level Answer the Glucose Wakeup Call

Tipsheet President Trump Torches Castro Brother After He Posted Apparent Target List Of Donors Matt Vespa 2020 Democrat: The Party Is Well On Our Way To Blowing This Election Matt Vespa Trump Sounds Off on Sen. Brown, Dayton Mayor for ‘Misrepresenting’ Their Meeting Cortney O’Brien Left-Wing Gasbag Michael Moore Claims He Cancelled SoulCycle Membership, But The Exercise Company Doesn’t Offer Them. Timothy Meads What A Hack: De Blasio Used His Taxpayer Funded Security Team To Move His Daughter’s Futon Timothy Meads Progressives Target GOP Candidate for Her Looks, and Now for Her Work With Those With Down Syndrome Cortney O’Brien Christopher Grant, El Paso Shooting Survivor, Shows America What A True Man Looks Like Timothy Meads Former FBI Top-Brass: Trump’s Half-Staff Order Is Dog-Whistling White Supremacists Yuichiro Kakutani Cheering Intimidation: Scarborough, Castro Argue Publishing Lists of Trump Donors is Fair Game Guy Benson That’s Why Fox News’ Geraldo Knows Trump’s Anti-Semitic Jamestown Speech Protestor Matt Vespa ADVERTISEMENT Political Cartoons Bearing Arms AR Pistol Braces May Become Next ‘Bump Stock’ After Dayton | Tom Knighton It’s Personal: Two Arguments For Self-Defense And Not Gun Control | Cam Edwards The Anti-Gun Attack On ‘Defense Against Tyranny’ | Tom Knighton David Frum Unintentionally Makes A Case Against Red Flag Laws | Cam Edwards Two Countries Issue Travel Warnings About U.S. After Weekend’s Shootings | Tom Knighton Searching For Answers To Stop Killers Before They Start | Cam Edwards Op-Ed Asks If We Will Love Our Kids More Than Our Guns | Tom Knighton Gun Possession Charges Dropped Against NY Armed Citizen | Cam Edwards FBI Opens Domestic Terrorism Investigation Into Gilroy Shooting | Tom Knighton L.A. Lawless: ‘Smith & Wesson’ Misfire On Gun Ban | Cam Edwards

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THE WASHINGTON POST MORNING MIX

Stories from All Over

Danny Trejo, one of Hollywood’s best villains, used ‘superpowers’ to help save a child from a flipped car “Everything good that has happened to me has happened as a direct result of helping someone else,” Trejo said to The Post after an act of kindness went viral. By Timothy Bella · Read more Cancer patients contracted a rare blood infection. Officials say a nurse diluting opioids with tap water is to blame. Between June and July of last year, six people being treated at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo were sickened by a waterborne bacteria called Sphingomonas paucimobilis. By Allyson Chiu · Read more   A Detroit diabetic was deported to Iraq, where he’d never lived. He died from lack of insulin, family says. Jimmy Aldaoud, 41, had lived in Detroit since he was an infant, his family said, and suffered from diabetes and several mental illness. He died within three months of being sent to Iraq by ICE. By Tim Elfrink · Read more   He forgot his phone on the bus, and got busted for child porn. It may have thwarted a hate crime, officials say. Wesley David Gilreath, 29, had been questioned by the FBI after he allegedly posted “hunting guides” that targeted mosques, synagogues and refugee centers. But he wasn’t arrested until months later, when two transit workers found his cell phone. By Antonia Farzan · Read more   ‘Robbery, hate, homicide’: Man fatally stabs four ‘random’ victims, wounds two in Orange County A 33-year-old man fatally stabbed four and seriously wounded two in a “random” robbery spree in Southern California on Wednesday, police said. By Tim Elfrink · Read more   ‘Stop hate and racism, starting with yourself’: Catholic archbishop hits out at Trump Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, who deleted his tweets mentioning the president earlier in the day, apologized for singling out Trump but maintained that hateful rhetoric and the violence that comes from it must be extinguished from society. By Timothy Bella · Read more     Recommended for you Get the Must Reads newsletter Get a curated selection of our best journalism in your inbox every Saturday, plus a peek behind the scenes into how one story came together. Sign Up

Share Morning Mix:  Twitter     Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Mix or because it is included in your subscription. Manage my email newsletters and alerts Privacy Policy | Help ©2019 The Washington Post | 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071

SCOTT RASMUSSEN

ScottRasmussen.com Launch – Check Out My All New Website No Images? Click here   Good Morning,Eighty-eight percent (88%) of voters favor a legal process that protects individual rights but empowers police to take guns from people credibly reported to be public threats or mentally unstable.Public support for “Red Flag Laws” is little changed since last fall and is found among every major demographic group. Ninety-two percent (92%) of Democrats favor the idea along with 89% of Independents and 82% of Republicans.Other survey results show that 81% of voters believe it is currently too easy to buy a gun. Ninety-two percent (92%) support modest restrictions on buying guns such as background checks and waiting periods. However, just 39% think such modest restrictions would significantly reduce the number of gun-related deaths in America.Thirty-one percent (31%) believe the United States should ban private ownership of guns so that only the military, police, and other government officials are allowed to carry guns. That’s up from 23% a year ago.Still, most voters (56%) would feel safer living in a community where people are free to own guns rather than a community where guns are outlawed.Only 12% of voters recognize that most gun deaths are suicides.On other matters, 31% of American adults now believe the economy is getting better while 28% say it is getting worse. That’s a sharp decline from recent weeks, perhaps the result of an historic stock market sell-off. It will be interesting to see whether this indicates lasting concerns or is merely a temporary blip.Finally, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most popular Supreme Court Justice. She is viewed favorably by 43% and unfavorably by 22%. Another 35% have either never heard of her or don’t know enough to have an opinion.At the other extreme is Brett Kavanaugh, the newest member of the Court. He is viewed favorably by 30% and unfavorably by 35%.  That makes him the only Justice with net negative numbers.Clarence Thomas is the only other Justice recognized by more than 60% of voters.Thank you for your interest in our work,Scott     Stay Informed Up To The Minute and Share ContentDeeper CurrentsScott Rasmussen offers his personal insight, analysis, and opinion on current political races, issues, and controversy. Read more     Scott’s ColumnsPresident Trump has perfected the art of antagonizing his opponents with provocative tweets. He demonstrated this skill recently in declaring that the tax reform act,… Read more   SCOTT RASMUSSEN info@scottrasmussen.com https://www.scottrasmussen.com 142 W 57th Street, 11 Floor New York, NY 10023 ScottRasmussen.com Launch – Check Out My All New Website   Like    Tweet    Share    Forward  Preferences  |  Unsubscribe

LEGAL INSURRECTION

Share This           Psych Scholar at USC Claims Viewpoint Diversity is a ‘Dog Whistle’ Prof Calls for Abolition of Grades Because They’re ‘Capitalism in Action’ UVA Extending Financial Aid to Undocumented Students   William Jacobson: “NOW THEY ARE GOING AFTER HIGH SCHOOLS: Legal Insurrection Foundation opposes proposed anti-Israel public school curriculum in California” Kemberlee Kaye: “This backfired on Joaquin Castro. Gloriously.”  Mary Chastain: “You call a Democrat a clown you used the latest white supremacist slur!” Leslie Eastman: “Once again, a green justice rule to saver the planet has led to unintended consequences.  The plastic straw bans have resulted in weak, unusable straws or paper straws that cannot be recycled (unlike their “evil”, plastic counterparts).  There are also now shortages of good paper straws being reported.”  David Gerstman: “Prof Jacobson warns us to guard our rights against those claiming a crisis. This weekend’s mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton have provided the impetus for the latest crisis. But let’s go back a week to President Trump’s insult of Rep. Elijah Cummings which turned attention to the poor living conditions in sections of Baltimore. Baltimore also has one of the highest murder rates in the country –  we are now at 203 for the year. More than half of those victims are African American. (An additional 71 are reportedly of unknown race, so it’s possible that 80 – 90% of Baltimore’s murder victims are black.) And yet there were plenty of screams of racism because Trump used the accurate term “rat-infested” to describe sections of Baltimore. But where is the concern for the murder victims in Baltimore? Sure there is a call to limit “assault weapons,” but do these critics of Trump and the Republicans call for more vigorous law enforcement to bring down Baltimore’s outrageous murder rate?” Stacey Matthews: “It’s panic time for Democrats. Per the New York Times: ‘Millions of Americans who did not like the president in 2016 now say they do.’” Samantha Mandeles: “The Twitterverse is abuzz with reactions (both pleased and perplexed) to Joe Rogan’s Tuesday podcast with presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Whether you love him or hate him, listening to Sanders’ conversation with Rogan is an interesting way to spend an hour.”                 Legal Insurrection Foundation is a Rhode Island tax-exempt corporation established exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to educate and inform the public on legal, historical, economic, academic, and cultural issues related to the Constitution, liberty, and world events. For more information about the Foundation, CLICK HERE. Donate Here!   Legal Insurrection Foundation 18 Maple Avenue #280 ​ Barrington, Rhode Island 02806  info@legalinsurrection.com Follow Us Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser Unsubscribe

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

MORNING EDITION

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Trump ‘all in favor’ of expanded background checks after mass shootings President Trump traveled to hospitals in Texas and Ohio Wednesday to console victims recovering from mass shootings that left 31 … more

Top News  Read More >

Trump likely to commute Rod Blagojevich’s sentence: ‘He was treated unbelievably unfairly’         Iowa State Fair poses pork problem for vegan Cory Booker: ‘What is the poor guy to do?’         NRA donor files class-action suit; claims VP LaPierre blew $275K on suits, $243K on ‘luxury travel’         Trump administration seeks to juice dishwashers by scrubbing energy regulations         ‘Devastated’: Mix-ups at fertility center breed litigation for emotional distress         Mike Pompeo: U.S. eager for free-trade deal with post-Brexit Britain

Opinion  Read More >

How Democrats exploit a tragedy in their ghoulish play for power         Supreme Court: Right to bear arms protected by highest category of liberty recognized by law         Will 2020 be a repeat of 2004 for Democrats?

Politics  Read More >

Dems demand McGahn testimony, tell court they’re considering ‘impeachment proceedings’         Cummings begs Trump to visit Baltimore — and bring more money         Democrats accuse Trump of violating Constitution over foreign aid freeze

Special Reports for Times Readers   Special Report – Free Iran Rally 2019 Special Report – Qatar: What Makes America’s Great Ally Special Special Report – Rolling Thunder XXXII

Security  Read More >

Trump says South Korea to pay more for U.S. troops         Kim Jong-un says North Korean launches were warning to U.S., South         Navy drops detainee abuse charges against SEALs

Sports  Read More >

Dwayne Haskins excited for preseason debut with Redskins         SNYDER: NCAA’s new agent rules just another power play         Fans connect with Washington stars — and their video game avatars

© The Washington Times, 3600 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002

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IJR

Biden Says Trump Fans ‘Flames of White Supremacy’ as Democrats Attack Racism By Reuters, Thursday, August 8, 2019 7:30 AM “In both clear language and in code, this president has fanned the flames of white supremacy in this nation.” More  Comments »   U.S. Agency Says Trump, Bush Can Review Kavanaugh Records Request By Reuters, Thursday, August 8, 2019 7:27 AM President Donald Trump and former President George W. Bush can review a request by House Democrats for the records of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. More  Comments »   Texas Gov Throws Shade at Joaquin Castro by Eating at Restaurant He Targeted for Supporting Trump By Houston Keene, Wednesday, August 7, 2019 4:55 PM “Perfect night for [Bill Miller BarBQ].” More  Comments »   Lawmakers Hope to Empower Police to Take Guns Away From Unstable People: 5 Things to Know About Red Flag Laws By Madison Dibble, Wednesday, August 7, 2019 4:13 PM “We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety do not have access to firearms…” More  Comments »   Pelosi: Lawsuit Seeking Ex-White House Counsel McGahn’s Testimony Is Imminent By Reuters, Wednesday, August 7, 2019 3:42 PM “Chairman Nadler will file a complaint in court today…” More  Comments »   Trump Says US Federal Reserve ‘Too Proud to Admit Mistake’ By Reuters, Wednesday, August 7, 2019 3:39 PM “Our problem is a Federal Reserve that is too proud to admit their mistake…” More  Comments »

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REDSTATE

The Media Crossed a Line This Week and There’s No Going Back     READ STORY

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REALCLEARPOLITICS

08/08/2019 Share: Carl Cannon’s Morning Note Presented by Fisher Investments: Blue Texas? Health Care Costs; Overdose Aftermath By Carl M. Cannon on Aug 08, 2019 09:17 am Good morning, it’s Thursday, Aug. 8, 2019. Four years ago, as the 2016 campaign season was heating up, RealClearPolitics hosted a roundtable discussion in New Hampshire. As the panel moderator, I prepared for the event by calling well-connected Granite State political professionals in both parties. What, I asked them, is an issue not front-and-center in the national conversation but that might be on the minds of voters in the New Hampshire primary? The chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties gave me the same answer. The opioid crisis, they said. It’s devastating families and communities across our state. I didn’t expect that answer, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Four years earlier — eight years ago today, in fact — my 20-year-old nephew died in a Cambridge, Mass., hospital of a heroin overdose. His name was Nathan McMorris, but really, his name is legion. The opioid crisis you read about is real and is tearing families apart in every state, not just New Hampshire. And this has been true for more than a decade. It is a rolling and relentless national tragedy infinitely deadlier than mass shootings. Like gun violence, it defies easy answers. Unlike gun violence, it is not a partisan issue. But that doesn’t mean we are any closer to solving it. I’ll have more to say on this topic in a moment. First, I’d point you to RealClearPolitics’ front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion columns spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters and contributors, including the following: * * * The GOP Should Worry About Texas. Sean Trende has this analysis of trends that imperil the Republican Party’s long hold on the state’s 38 electoral votes. A Two-Step Program for Price Transparency in Health Care. In RealClearPolicy, James Capretta argues that the Trump administration’s proposed rule changes don’t go far enough. Disciples of Keynes Are Modern-Day Flat-Earthers. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny assails the pervasive assumption that government consumption powers growth. Yes, the Russians Are Testing Nuclear Weapons. In RealClearDefense, Mark B. Schneider writes that the Kremlin’s development of a new and improved arsenal is cause for concern. Could Giant Airships Replace Cargo Ships for Energy Transport? RealClearScience editor Ross Pomeroy explores an idea for shipping hydrogen long distances. The U.S. Doctor Shortage and the Medical School Bottleneck. In RealClearEducation, Richard Liebowitz cites international schools as key to solving the numbers problem. Sports Participation Is Down Among American Children. Evan Bleier investigates the reasons in RealClearSports. * * * In 2011, Nathan McMorris was one of 4,397 people, most of them young, who died in this country from heroin overdoses. Want to put that in some historical perspective? In yesterday’s newsletter I wrote about the U.S. Marines on Guadalcanal in World War II. The heroin figure is higher than the fatalities the United States suffered at Guadalcanal and Pearl Harbor combined. According to the data compiled by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, another 4,418 died from methadone overdoses that year, along with 2,666 from synthetic opioids (mostly fentanyl). The largest category was “natural and semi-synthetic opioids” such as oxycodone — they killed 11,698 Americans in 2011. Those numbers have spiraled out of control since then. By 2014, when we lost actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, heroin took 10,574 American lives, fentanyl another 5,554 and oxycodone 12,159. Every year, these deaths dwarf the toll of U.S. lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11. In 2017, the number of opioid deaths was 61,637. This surpasses our losses in the Vietnam War. I’ve used exact figures here because every one of those people, like Nathan, had family and friends who loved them and who miss them still. I’m thinking especially of my sister, Judy, and her husband, John — Nate’s parents. I was Nate’s godfather as well as his uncle, and still carry the guilt that I did not do more to help him. Today, however, I’m smiling through tears at his memory, recalling Nate as a musician and artist and as a youthful Little Leaguer whose enthusiasm for baseball surpassed his aptitude for the game. In “The Gulag Archipelago,” Alexander Solzhenitsyn writes about the cost to families when someone is taken from us before their time. In a haunting footnote about a little girl who dies of a broken heart when her father his killed, Solzhenitsyn wrote, “When we count up [those] who perished we forget to multiply them by two, by three.” I think the great Russian writer is using understatement here. There were a dozen people in a New England hospital room when Nathan’s spirit left his body. All of them still hurt from it. The same is true for tens of thousands of other American families, and it is time our political leaders united — if for no other reason than to try and stem this terrible carnage.  Carl M. Cannon   Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com Like a summer blockbuster sequel, debt ceiling chatter is back, thanks partly to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s recent Congressional testimony. But, the debt ceiling has always been mostly symbolic: Keep it or lose it, reach it or exceed it, it doesn’t change much for the US economy. Click here to read more of this message, brought to you by Fisher Investments.

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MEET THE PRESS

From NBC’s Chuck Todd and Carrie Dann

FIRST READ: The Dem civil war has faded from center stage— for now. How long will that last?  

A week ago today, the lead story for pretty much every political news outlet was how combative the Democratic presidential primary race had become after the second debate.

That’s what we wrote in this space last Thursday morning.  It led the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post.  And we planned for it to be the opening topic on Sunday’s Meet the Press.

And then, the El Paso and Dayton shootings happened. And the Democratic infighting in Detroit suddenly seemed very long ago.

Democrats are back to seeming united, all squarely positioned in opposition to President Trump on racial issues, guns and white nationalism.

Here’s how some of them described the president yesterday:

Joe Biden, in Iowa, said: “We have a president with a toxic tongue who has publicly and unapologetically embraced the political strategy of hate, racism and division.”
 

Cory Booker, in Charleston, spoke of “a president who spews hateful rhetoric and endangers the lives of people of color and immigrants in this country.” 
 

Steve Bullock, in D.C., said Trump’s “hateful rhetoric about immigrants, communities of color, Muslims and other minorities gives a permission structure for hate.”
 

Beto O’Rourke, in El Paso, slammed “a president who demonized communities like this one, who vilifies immigrants, who says that those from Mexico are rapists and criminals, and warns of invasions and infestations.”
 

And Elizabeth Warren, in Iowa, joined O’Rourke in calling Trump a white supremacist and said Trump “has done everything he can to stir up racial conflict and hatred in this country.”
 

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

For now, in the wake of those tragedies, it seems like the Democrats’ focus on each other has faded in favor of a united message vs. the Republican incumbent.

Which leaves us with two questions.

First: How long does this last?

Is this just a temporary break from the all-out brawling on policy AND character that we saw between Democrats last week?

Or were the weekend’s events a sobering moment for the 2020 contenders, making them more concerned about hurting the party and the eventual nominee with bare-knuckle infighting?

And second: How much does Trump being the focus of attention benefit Biden?

Say what you will about voters’ views of “electability,” but the data is clear that — right now — the Democratic electorate still picks him as the best bet to win in November.  The more news coverage focuses on Trump, the more it may boost the candidate who’s seen as the best chance to oust him.

On Trump’s El Paso and Dayton visits

Of course, that Democratic messaging all came against the backdrop of the president’s visits to El Paso and Dayton — which, as his critics predicted, was more about grievance than grieving.

He tweeted about his political opponents between hospital visits, he took umbrage about the media’s coverage of the day, and he emphasized the degree to which people he met in Dayton showed “respect for the office of the presidency.”

As we noted earlier this week, the president’s scripted remarks in the wake of national tragedies often have a short shelf life.

And yesterday, the narrative that overtook his earlier calls for healing and unity was mostly about himself.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Trump says he may commute Blagojevich sentence

Well, this isn’t the first time the president has tried to diminish political corruption as an everyday misdemeanor, but it may be one of the most obvious ones.  

NBCNews.com: “President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday night that he could soon commute the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich who is in federal prison for corruption that included trying to sell the Senate seat once held by former President Barack Obama.”

Here’s more on what Trump said, per the White House pool report:

“He’s been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens — over a phone call which he shouldn’t have said what he said, but it was braggadocio you would say. I would think that there have been many politicians — I’m not one of them by the way — that have said a lot worse over the telephone.”

(By the way, the president knows Blagojevich from his appearance on “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010. )

The idea that pay-for-play and cronyism is simply “how it works” in politics has been a longtime talking point for Trump.

But if he’s minimizing those kind of crimes, what does “drain the swamp” really mean? Eliminating corruption? Or redefining it and convincing the public that it’s really no big deal?

TWEET OF THE DAY: Slythering and Ravencloth?

2020 VISION: Dems celebrate registration victory in the O.C.

It’s official: Registered Democrats now outnumber Republicans in Orange County, California — the cradle of Reagan-era Republican politics and home to the Nixon presidential library.

From one of us: “As of Wednesday, data from the Orange County Registrar of Voters showed that registered Democrats now outnumber Republicans, 547,458 to 547,369. Another 440,711 voters in the county are registered as unaffiliated with any political party.”

More: “Once among the reddest counties in the state, the region more recently became the site of devastating GOP losses in the 2018 midterms, with Democrats gaining control of every House district in the county.

“Demographic experts largely attribute the shift to a growing Latino and Asian population that’s also becoming more Democratic-leaning. In Orange County, the population that identified as white alone as of 2017 was estimated to be around 41 percent, down 10 points since 2000.”

On the campaign trail today: Much of the 2020 field remains in Iowa: Both Joe Biden and Steve Bullock have speeches at the Iowa State Fair — and Warren, Klobuchar, Harris, Castro, Gillibrand, Hickenlooper and Delaney are also campaigning around the state… Four candidates — Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Republican Bill Weld — appear at an NABJ forum in Florida. … and Michael Bennet is in Cleveland.

Dispatches from NBC’s embeds: Former Vice President Joe Biden ended the first day of his Iowa trip by opening a new Biden Campaign office in Iowa City, where he told supporters that he hopes to be competitive in Iowa in the general election.

NBC’s Marianna Sotomayor reports Biden’s remarks: “We ought to be able to take it back. We ought to be able to talk. I was around long enough when we had two Democratic senators and a Democratic governor — I remember the good, old days.”

And NBC’s Amanda Golden reports that Pete Buttigieg’s New Hampshire campaign team has hired a data director and four regional organizing directors. That brings the staff total on the ground in the state to 40 people, with 33 of them focused on organizing on the ground. This comes after the campaign parted ways with New Hampshire State Director Michael Ceraso at the end of last week.

DATA DOWNLOAD: And the number of the day is… $192,180

$192,180.

That’s the price tag on the first TV buy in Iowa from Kamala Harris, according to ad-tracking group Advertising Analytics.

 It also makes Harris the first top-tier presidential candidate to go up on the airwaves in the state.

NBC’s Deepa Shivaram reports that the 60 second ad, titled “Me, Maya and Mom,” focuses on Harris’ “3 a.m. agenda” theme about kitchen-table issues, specifically mentioning her plans for health care, a middle class tax cut, and equal pay.

The ad starts today and runs through August 14.

 THE LID: M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I

Don’t miss the pod from yesterday, when we looked at why politics in ruby red Mississippi are getting very interesting lately.

SHAMELESS PLUG: New Chuck ToddCast!

And there’s a new episode of The Chuck ToddCast— featuring NBC’s Kasie Hunt and GOP strategist Matt Gorman on the Republican reaction to the weekend’s mass shootings… and NBC reporter Ben Collins, who walks us through how to understand 8chan and the dark corners of the internet.

ICYMI: News clips you shouldn’t miss 

 The House Judiciary Committee is filing a lawsuit to compel testimony from Don McGahn.

Wall Street banks have handed over thousands of documents to investigators that deal with Russians who may have had dealings with Trump and his family.  

Beto O’Rourke [v]will skip the Iowa State Fair to stay in El Paso in the wake of the weekend’s shooting.

More than 200 mayors are urging the Senate to come back into session to act on gun safety legislation.

About 680 people have been arrested in ICE raids in Mississippi, the largest single-state immigration enforcement action ever in the U.S.

Thanks for reading.

If you’re a fan, please forward this to a friend. They can sign up here.

We love hearing from our readers, so shoot us a line here with your comments and suggestions.

Thanks, 

Chuck and Carrie

CBS NEWS

Funerals for the El Paso victims begin Thursday Email Not Displaying? Click Here

Eye Opener President Trump is met by both protesters and supporters during his visits to El Paso and Dayton. Also, four people are stabbed to death in a two-hour rampage in California. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds. Watch Video +

Trump’s visits turn contentious Watch Video +

Dramatic video shows man shielding girlfriend from Dayton shooter Read Story + Tiger Woods on why his career is complicated for his kids: “They associated golf with pain” Watch Video +

Maria Elena Salinas on Hispanic Americans’ reaction to El Paso: “Fear has been there a long time” Watch Video + Meet Jaden Jefferson, Ohio’s 11-year-old political reporter Watch Video +

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SEAN HANNITY

– View in a Browser – Thu, August 08 CASTRO OUTS HIS OWN DONOR // TOTAL DENIAL REPORT: Castro Accidentally Outs His OWN DONOR in Attempt to ‘Shame Trump Supporters’ The backlash against Rep. Joaquin Castro continued to build Wednesday when his own donor complained after his identity appeared on a list of Trump supporters published by the Texas lawmaker.“Trump donors whose names and employers were posted in a highly controversial tweet by Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro blasted the Texas… CONTINUE READING HERE TOTAL DENIAL: Nadler Demands MORE DOCUMENTS Related to Brett Kavanaugh from 2001 Republican leaders slammed House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler Wednesday after the top Democrat demanded new documents regarding recently confirmed Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh.“Nadler’s request came days after a liberal lion of the high court, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, defended Kavanaugh as a ‘very decent, very smart individual,’ and long after progressive activists have… CONTINUE READING GAINING SUPPORT: Sen. Graham’s ‘Red Flag’ Gun Legislation Gaining Bipartisan Support in Congress Support for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s ‘Red Flag’ gun proposal gained momentum in both Houses of Congress this week; setting the stage for the first major firearm legislation since President Bill Clinton’s 1994 crime bill.“A bipartisan proposal by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is gaining momentum following weekend mass shootings in Texas… CONTINUE READING HERE   CRUZ RIPS CASTRO: Ted Cruz Says Publishing GOP Donors’ Identities ‘Wrong’ and ‘Hateful’ Texas Senator Ted Cruz slammed Rep. Joaquin Castro’s decision to publish the identities of San Antonio Trump donors this week; calling on all sides to “tone the hateful partisan rhetoric way down” in the aftermath of two mass shootings.“EVERYONE needs to tone the hateful partisan rhetoric way down. This is WRONG & Castro… CONTINUE READING Recommended Reading: Promoted Content   PO BOX 7298, Van Nuys, CA 91409-7298 US © 2019 The Sean Hannity Show Unsubscribe   |   Sign Up   |   Terms & Conditions   |   Privacy Policy

NATIONAL REVIEW

August 08 2019

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How America Stops Mass Shooters — Poorly Jim Geraghty Making the click-through worthwhile: The El Paso shooter’s mom called the police well before the shooting . . . but left out some important details; mass shooters may be terrorists, but that doesn’t mean the usual tools used against Islamist terror will necessarily work against them; and a thrilling author calls our attention to a serious health problem among U.S. war veterans. If You See Something, Say Something — Specific There are times when it feels like the slogan and instruction to the public, “if you see something, say something,” is a cynical joke. We heard about police and the FBI ignoring warnings about the Parkland shooter. Mass shooters at Virginia Tech, Aurora, Tucson, Isla Vista, and Sandy Hook all had one thing in common: Before the shootings, concerned and frightened people who had encountered the future shooter told various non-police authorities about what they had seen and heard — in some cases, campus police; in other cases, college and school … Read More ADVERTISEMENT Top Stories Why Are So Many House Republicans Retiring? John McCormack Any way you look at it, twelve retirements so far is bad news for the House GOP. Hold Colleges Accountable Kayla Bartsch Students should be able to make a well-informed decision about the financial benefits of where they study, as well as what they study. White House Circulates Executive Order to Combat Big Tech’s Alleged Anti-Conservative Bias Jack Crowe The White House is drafting an executive order intended to address allegations of anti-conservative bias at major social-media companies. ADVERTISEMENT Open Burn Pits Made Tens of Thousands of Vets Sick, and the VA Isn’t Working Matthew Betley The people at the VA want to help, but their hands are tied by bureaucratic red tape, and that tape has the very real effect of denying claims to service members who deserve coverage as well as better treatment. Will 2020 Be a Repeat of 2004 for Democrats? Victor Davis Hanson Fifteen years ago, the Democrats backed off from the hard left, taking the safe route in nominating a boring and sedate party man — and came close to winning against a controversial incumbent president. Trump Faces Down the China Threat Conrad Black What Trump is doing, adapted to different times, regimes, and circumstances, is what Mr. Churchill urged when he opposed the appeasers in the 1930s. Limit Some Guns for Cosmetic Reasons Mona Charen Some gun ads use language exquisitely attuned to men’s desire for respect and even dominance. Joaquin Castro Accidentally Outs One of His Own Donors While Shaming Trump Supporters Jack Crowe Representative Joaquin Castro (D., Texas) inadvertently exposed one of his own donors in an effort to publicly shame San Antonio-area Trump supporters. ADVERTISEMENT WHAT NR IS READING The Smallest Minority: Independent Thinking in the Age of Mob Politics Kevin D. Williamson A dizzying tour through a world you’ll be horrified to recognize as your own. With biting appraisals of social media, political hustlers, journalists and identity politics, The Smallest Minority is a defiant, funny, and terrifyingly insightful book about what we human beings have done to ourselves. LEARN MORE Photo Essays Top Shots Picturing Pitchers ADVERTISEMENT       Follow Us & Share 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.