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.