This election season is already unbearable

Commentary on those two on the Sunday news shows: "Two Inveterate Liars Lying."

Trump lies because he's an egomaniac who can't take a bit of criticism without throwing haymaker counterpunches.  Hillary's a lies because she's simply delusional: Chris Wallace showed her videos of FBI director James Comey saying that Hillary lied and she claims he said she was truthful.

Extra - This Reddit comment.

Update - The WashPost Fact Checker gives Hillary "four Pinocchios."

Rain spoils the Scottish play

Living in the Pioneer Valley in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, a conservative like me can feel like soldier behind enemy lines.  But although I often bristle at the flower-power wannabe hippies in the Valley, I will admit that there's a lot of great culture in the area.

Every summer, we try to catch one or two performances of the Hampshire Shakespeare Company.  Last night, we tried to convince ourselves that the advancing rain would stay south of Amherst but - alas! - we had to leave after half of Macbeth.  That was a shame since the actors were putting on a great performance despite the inclement weather.

The Company puts on four weekend performances during the summer and I always feel bad when it rains for them on a Saturday night, which must be their most popular night.  (When it rains, they move the performance into a two-car garage and that's not quite so much fun.)  I always liken it to a NASCAR track which typically hosts two Sprint Cup races a year: you invest so much time into a single event and it's ruined by Mother Nature.

Speaking of which: today's NASCAR race at Pocono is currently delayed due to - you guessed it - rain.

Sic semper tyrannis

CNBC: "Venezuela calls for mandatory labor in farm sector."  It's the Great Leap Forward + 56 years.

You're not going to believe this: more problems with emails

Fox News: "FBI investigating apparent cyberattack on Clinton campaign."

The FBI is investigating an apparent cyberattack on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Fox News confirmed Friday.

The breach appears to be part of a series of cyberattacks targeting Democratic organizations, including the the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).

But remember: this does not mean that Hillary's bathroom server was hacked, even though it had less security than a Gmail account.  /sarc

Let's double it again

Hit and Run: "Neither Clinton Nor Trump Would Reduce the National Debt."

Does anybody care about the national debt?  Obama doubled the burden on future generations and virtually nobody outside of the Peterson Foundation voices a complaint.  I guess it's easier to rob from babies than to balance the budget.

Related - The CBO says we're going broke.  But those guys are nerds.  "If current laws remained generally unchanged, the United States would face steadily increasing federal budget deficits and debt over the next 30 years—reaching the highest level of debt relative to GDP ever experienced in this country."

Tweet of the day

Romney: Russia is a threat.
DNC: lol ur stupid
IT experts: Russia will hack you.
DNC: rofl
Russia: I just hacked you.
DNC: Trump did this.

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) July 27, 2016

Who can we blame today? Oh, the Russians

Hit and Run: "Is the DNC Hack "Worse Than Watergate"? Only if You're a Democrat or a Gatekeeper Journalist - Russia is the most likely culprit. But does that mean we should elect Hillary Clinton?"  Nope.

Pay up, suckers

Power Line: "Fuse lit on the pension time bomb, and the next tax revolt?"

Not with a bang but a whimper

The Corner: "Bernie Sanders' 2016 story comes to an end"

Bernie Sanders fans have every reason to be disappointed and angry. We now know, thanks to WikiLeaks, that not only did the Democratic National Committee staff strongly prefer Hillary Clinton, but they sat around thinking up new ways to hit Sanders, including contemplating making him elaborate on his religious beliefs. They scheduled the minimal number of early debates and put them in the most inconvenient timeslots. In a party without super delegates, the entire narrative throughout the primary would be different.

Not only did Sanders suffer from DNC shenanigans, it turns out the Clinton campaign was siphoning campaign money that was supposed to be split with state campaigns.  Bernie and his followers have every right to rage against a system rigged against him, but he folded like a card table.

Let's get this party started!

Gallup: "Clinton's Image at Lowest Point in Two Decades."  "As the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Philadelphia, Hillary Clinton's image is at its lowest point in the 24 years of her national career, with 38% of Americans viewing her favorably and 57% unfavorably."  Great start!

Hillary is a congenital liar

Politico: "Why Can’t Hillary Stop Fudging the Truth? - Email-gate is only the latest instance in a 25-year habit of dissembling."

Consider just one brief, recent revelatory exchange with Charlie Rose, in which Rose noted (correctly) that FBI Director James Comey had called her “careless,” and Clinton replied with a flurry of non-responsive words: “Well, I would hope that you like many others would also look at what he said when he testified before Congress, because when he did, he clarified much of what he had said in his press conference.”

“But he said it was sloppy,” Rose persisted.

“No,” Clinton insisted, “he did not.”

Yes, he did, too. Asked to explain what he had intended by the world careless, Comey explained that it was a commonsense term, meant to convey “real sloppiness.”

In Hillary's mind, I'm sure, because he didn't use the actual word "sloppy" he didn't say "sloppy."

Destroy Bernie

Red State: "Busted: 19,252 Emails From DNC Leaked By Wikileaks, And Oh MAN Are They Great!"

The big reveal is that the DNC did all they could to kneecap Bernie Sanders, that atheist.

Extra - So you won't be coming to Knoxville?

Another true believer

"The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready he is to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause." - Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

Daily Mail: "Munich maniac was mentally ill loner obsessed with shooting sprees".  He called himself "German" but then there's this detail:

But just a week after another teenager attacker launched an ISIS-inspired axe attack on a German train, witnesses in McDonald's described hearing the attacker shouting 'Allahu Akbar' - or 'God is Great' - a cry used by Islamist terrorists during previous attacks. And ISIS supporters took to social media in the hours after yesterday's atrocity to celebrate the killings.

And just like that, you're famous.

This speech is not bad

I wasn't going to watch Donald Trump tonight but this advance copy (leaked?) of his acceptance speech is pretty good.  Obama seems to be a target just as much as Hillary.  It's a law and order speech that's going to resonate with a lot of Americans.

Update - Not so great on delivery, though.  Shouting.

The Left hates free speech, a continuing series

Breitbart: "Breitbart confronts 'The Daily Show' at Milo's 'Gays for Trump' party."

The episode is merely the latest example of the American Left’s newest fetish for destroying free speech.

The video is pretty remarkable: a bunch of "Daily Show" shavers tried to convince a Breitbart editor that he could not film them on a public street.  They got millennium-pissy, then lied, then packed up their equipment and fled the scene, all because they didn't want somebody fact-checking their slice-and-dice editing.

Hillary is sorry...for you

Last month, I noted that when Hillary says that her private email server was a "mistake" she actually accepts no blame whatsoever.  And now - finally - somebody in the media has cornered Hillary on this matter.  Via Power Line, here's "Hillary Clinton Has No Answers To Charlie Rose’s Many Tough Questions."

In one of the more revealing moments, Clinton even admits that she only regrets using a private email server because she was caught, saying “it was wrong because, look at what it has generated”.

And there it is.  The "mistake" is that it caused a controversy due to your misunderstanding, America, and that has hurt Hillary.

Sham Iranian nuclear deal gets shammier

Hot Air: "AP: Secret side agreement will allow Iran to accelerate nuke production in 11 years."

Remember when we compared the Barack Obama/John Kerry nuclear deal with Iran to Neville Chamberlain and Munich? That turned out to be far too harsh … to Neville Chamberlain.

Also, ICYMI: "Iran makes fourth attempt to launch new ballistic missile' since signing historic nuclear accord last year."  They're not barred from missile test by the toothless, unenforceable nuclear deal but by U.N. resolutions, for what that's worth.

Our Bill of Rights is inviolate

Fox News: "Erdogan calls on US to extradite Pennsylvania-based cleric after failed Turkey coup."

Yeah, right.  We don't punish people in this country for exercising freedom of speech.....

Never mind.

Bring back the town criers!

American Thinker: "Liberal Logic: Free press applies only to quill pens and hand presses!"  Hat tip: Maggie's Farm.

Historical perspective

Explain Like I'm Five: "Is terrorism really on the rise, or does the increasing accessibility of news just make us more aware of it?"

Chaos in Turkey

Everything is spinning out of control.  Fox News: "Military coup underway in Turkey."

IIRC, the Turkey military is charged with keeping the government secular and, in the past, they have stepped in when they believe the government is turning too religious.  This might be one of those times.

Terrorism in France, again

Live news feed at Reddit.  76 dead at this writing, 15 more in critical condition.

Flashback - Gateway Pundit: "ISIS Announces It Has Covert Units in France and Turkey."

I can't believe this happened again, especially after John Kerry brought James Taylor to sing "You've got a friend."

Not a smidgen of a chance of this happening

Hot Air: "Hillary: Can you imagine electing a vindictive man who might … send the IRS after his critics?"

No, I couldn't imagine such a thing occurring.  It would be a scandal.

The Left hates free speech, a continuing series

Hit and Run: "Barbara Boxer and the Democratic Party Hold Two-Day Festival Against Free Speech - Reason Foundation among the many groups targeted outrageously—and falsely—for global-warming thoughtcrime."

It's doubleplusungood!

USA Today on Social Security: stop pandering

This is a good article to understand the long-term challenges to Social Security: "Don't hike Social Security benefits - There is little that can be called progressive about hiking Social Security benefits."

If progressives were true to their principles, they would be looking to restrain spending on benefits, not increase it. They would then redirect the money into roads and mass transit systems, anti-poverty programs, aid to public schools, a program to combat climate change and other worthy investments in the future. They would not try to expand a Social Security system already under severe strain.

Exactly what I've been arguing forever.  Stop taxing future generations.

Fool me once, Jonathan Gruber

So it's official: Obamacare was always a stalking horse for the socialist dream of single payer.  Hot Air: "The public option is back and as dishonest as ever."

President Obama is apparently not done lying about his health plan. Having pushed Obamacare with false claims such as the infamous lie “if you like your plan, you can keep it” the President is now calling for the return of the public option without admitting the real goal of the program from the start was to crowd out private insurance and usher in single-payer.

The cynic in me tells me that the Democrats don't even really want single-payer: they just want an issue to get them through the election cycle.  Just like the initial Obamacare debate, the media will be a dependable ally.

Logical

Hot Air: "Blame the shooter for Dallas, not #BlackLivesMatter or the gun."

Click here: Lindholm Consulting Services

End of watch

Dallas Morning News: "Profiles in Courage - A look at the lives of the Dallas ambush victims."

I don't have anything to say about this except that my uncle was a cop, so I have certain opinions, but I'm not joining the "Civil War" crowd.

This dumpster fire election

it's gotten to the point where I'm numb to the whole thing and change the channel whenever I hear "Trump" or "Clinton."  Hit and Run makes the depressing conclusion that we ain't seen the bottom yet: "After the Election, Things Will Get Worse - Clinton vs. Trump the ultimate political race to the bottom."

Free stuff!

Taking a page from the Bernie Sanders handbook.  Hit and Run: "Hillary Clinton Proposes Free College Tuition, Won't Explain How to Pay for It."

I think we all know who's going to pay for it: "somebody else."

Another one bites the dust

Hot Air: "Connecticut Obamacare co-op placed under state supervision, will shut down next year."

FBI: YOLO JK LOL

I'm late to the show but here's Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton’s email problems might be even worse than we thought."

In short, everything that Clinton was accused of was completely accurate.  Powerline had it right: "Alternative headline: "FBI declares Hillary Clinton to be complete liar."

I think this guy on Reddit, who describes himself as a lawyer, makes a good point:

If I were to play mind reader here, I would guess that the FBI's thinking is that if you're going to recommend charges against a major party candidate for president, you'd better be damned sure the grand jury will vote to indict, and that a petit jury will vote to convict. Otherwise it's a massive black eye for the FBI - perhaps the biggest in the history of the agency: they've changed the course of the presidential election only to fail to get a conviction. Comey was focused on the intent requirement during his press conference, so it appears they just didn't think intent would be a slam dunk before the grand jury and, if they vote to indict, the petit jury.

So Comey didn't want to inject the FBI into the presidential race so he did the next best thing by saying that Hillary was "extremely careless" which - somehow - is not the same as "gross negligence."  You have to be "super-duper careless" to rise to that level.

Happy Fourth of July!

Tell it, Creed.

Ramadan in Iraq

Fox News: "At least 83 killed, 176 wounded in separate bombings across Baghdad."  JV Team Islamic State takes credit.

Related - Zero Hedge: "NYPD Is Prepared For War With ISIS."

Thought about this during 7th-inning stretch of Red Sox-Angels game tonight

John Farrell better update his resume.

Update - Final score: 21-2.

Use your noodle

NY Observer: "Awkward Encounters: Clinton and Lynch Weren’t Talking Grandkids and Golf"

Occam’s Razor suggests the Lynch-Clinton conference was a complete, unapologetic abuse of government power where party and personal interest trampled the rule of law. Remember that next time you hear the Democrats call an opponent a fascist, which, these days, roughly translates as an imperious abuser of power the Left doesn’t like.

Like Lois Lerner?  Not a smidgen.

Hypothetical question for today's meeting with the FBI: what if Hillary is asked "Did you have prior knowledge that your husband was going to meet with the Attorney General?"  Can she really "not recall" something that happened a couple days ago?  An answer other than "no" would be deathly.

Or not!

Daily Caller: "Hillary Clinton Scheduled To Meet With FBI On Saturday."

Well, I'm on the record for saying that Hillary will not give an interview to the FBI and fall into a perjury trap.  Stay tuned for a mysterious illness that will require a postponement.  Either that or it will be the "I don't recall" session to end all obfuscation sessions.

Loretta Lynch recuses

NY Times: "Lynch to Accept F.B.I. Recommendations in Clinton Email Inquiry, Official Says"

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch plans to announce on Friday that she will accept whatever recommendation career prosecutors and the F.B.I. director make about whether to bring charges related to Hillary Clinton’s personal email server, a Justice Department official said. Her decision removes the possibility that a political appointee will overrule investigators in the case.

The Justice Department had been moving toward such an arrangement for months — officials said in April that it was being considered — but a private meeting between Ms. Lynch and former President Bill Clinton this week set off a political furor and made the decision all but inevitable.

As someone who has been following this case closely (BAE Systems, anyone?), I believe that Hillary will be indicted not only for mishandling of classified information but for influence peddling.  The highly-politicized DOJ was the only stonewall between the FBI and the courts, and now that's gone.

Why did Bill do it?  There's a conspiracy theory that he does not want to be "First Husband" and this would seem to bolster that argument.