On Trump as of Friday, Aug 12th

Political outsiders are overrated apparently.

Trump's 2nd Amendment Problem  "I don't much doubt that Donald Trump is pro­gun rights, at least far more so than Hillary Clinton. Supposedly he has a concealed carry permit, and his sons are firearms enthusiasts. But in the midst of a hotly contested election, against an opponent and a hostile national media who will afford no quarter, Trump has at least twice undermined his 2nd Amendment bona fides. This has provided Hillary room to attack, distracted national attention from yet more Clinton corruption, and once again damaged Trump's attempts to appear presidential, after barely surviving a disastrous couple of weeks where he hurt his own campaign with unforced errors."

If the man would just shut up so Hillary would be the only news the media has to report he'd be doing much better.

Learning from Trump  "Though his candidacy looks increasingly damaging for Republicans, conservatives can still find value in it.

"Even conservatives who oppose Donald Trump — perhaps especially those conservatives — could learn a few things from him. That’s true even if he ends up losing the election in November." . . .

Jonah Goldberg: Letting Trump Run Wild Exposes GOP’s Lack of Principles  "The first Catch-22 has been the subject of widespread conversation over the last few weeks. As GOP pollster Glen Bolger summed it up for the New York Times: “Do we run the risk of depressing our base by repudiating the guy? Or do we run the risk of being tarred and feathered by independents for not repudiating him?” 

“ 'We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t,” he added." . . .

PJ Media: Report: Trump, RNC Back for Couples Therapy   . . . "There has been some play-nice-together functionality between Team Trump and the RNC in the area of fundraising. They've got some money now and are preparing to spend it. None of that will matter if Trump keeps giving the MSM freebies to obsess over. This doesn't mean that the media should get a pass, but we all know that this part of the game is actually rigged, and it doesn't help to make it easier for them." . . .

All of this is predicated on RNC officials being able to expressly convey a strategy that will not only get through to Trump, but to make him embrace it.
So good luck with all of that...

John Cornyn asks Loretta Lynch about DOJ declining to investigate Clinton Foundation

Washington Times

"Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, on Friday sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking questions about a report saying the Justice Department turned down requests to investigate the Clinton Foundation for possible wrongdoing while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

“ 'As the press have reported widely and emails released over the past few days confirmed, representatives of the Foundation repeatedly sought special treatment for its donors and associates from senior officials at the State Department,” Mr. Cornyn, the U.S. Senate’s No.2-ranking Republican, wrote to Ms. Lynch.

. . . 

"CNN also reported this week that FBI officials wanted to investigate whether there was a criminal conflict of interest with the State Department and the Clinton Foundation when Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state, but that Justice Department officials pushed back against doing so." . . .

Exasperated Reporter to State Dept. Spox on Hillary Emails: 'Am I Not Speaking English?'

Debra Heine

"Frustrated reporters struggled in vain Wednesday to get a straight answer out of State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau about the latest batch of Hillary Clinton's emails."

. . . "Reporters who asked Trudeau about the possibility of an improper "pay to play" relationship between the Clinton Foundation and Clinton's State Department were quickly shut down with either vague answers or no answer at all. The hapless spokeswoman repeatedly asserted that the department "regularly talks to a wide range of people" to combat notions that improper cronyism may have taken place. When asked about a specific email chain, she answered repeatedly, "I can't speak to that.' " . . .

Four Ways the 'Prosperity Gospel' Twists Christianity

Jeff Sanders

"Over the past 40 years I have encountered and debated the merits or deficiencies of a theology that I did not know had a name. Its supporters call it the "Word of Faith" teaching; it's detractors call it the "Prosperity Gospel." Its most popular adherents are famous televangelists, authors, and public speakers such as Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, and T.D. Jakes.

"Much of its theology is traceable to the late Kenneth Hagin, and many of his ideas stem from E.W. Kenyon in the early 20th century.

"Although I have numerous issues with this popular version of Christianity, here are just four points of contention I have with the "Prosperity Gospel":" . . .

THE WORD on The Word of Faith

This is pretty much how the news looked this week

hopenchangecartoons

"This is pretty much how the news looked to us this week, although the reality is quite different for most television news viewers - mostly because Hillary's multiple, escalating scandals were almost completely ignored, while Trump's ill-considered but casual joke about the Second Amendment was broadly reported as a rabid call for his opponent's assassination and armed insurrection against the government. Sheesh." . . .

Krauthammer: To each his own Olympics

Charles Krauthammer

"You may be thrilled by the feats of Katie Ledecky, mesmerized by the grace of the women gymnasts, startled by Rio spectators mocking U.S. soccer star Hope Solo with chants of “Zika! Zika!” (the first recorded instance, noted one wit, of a stadium rocking to the invocation of a virus). Allow me, however, to interrupt the prepackaged, heart-tugging, tape-delayed Olympic coverage to bring you the real sporting news of the year.

"It has just been announced that on November 11 in New York City the World Chess Championship will begin.

"You scoff, of course. For years, I’ve had to put up with amused puzzlement at my taste in entertainment. (Old joke: How do you do the wave at a chess match? With your eyebrows.) But I remain undaunted." . . .

"True, chess is not an Olympic sport. But it should be. In 1984, when challenger Garry Kasparov forced that championship match into 17 draws in a row — each about five hours of unbearable, unrelenting concentration — world champion Anatoly Karpov was so physically and mentally drained (he lost 22 pounds) that the Kremlin pressured the World Chess Federation to stop the match, thereby saving Soviet-favorite Karpov from forfeiting the title to the brash, free-thinking, half-Jewish Kasparov." . . .

CNN Admits "We Couldn't Help [Hillary] Any More Than We Have"

Zero Hedge

. . . "But we are reminded of what Senator Rand Paul exclaimed after discovering Hillary's collusion with CNN...

“The liberal media has taken their Clinton sycophancy to a new low. CNN needs to address this bias and lack of journalistic integrity,” Paul’s chief campaign strategist Doug Stafford, said in a statement. 

“This email revelation should give Republicans pause as to their coverage and possibility of fair treatment towards Sen. Paul during the next debate. All eyes will be on CNN’s response to their employee colluding with Hillary Clinton in order to attack a prominent U.S. senator on their dime.”

"Of course, it's not just CNN... It's AP.. and everyone else at NBC, ABC, and CBS..."

The way to elect Hillary; the media

Woodward: Trump's Opponents Also Using 'Hyperbolic, Ungenerous Rhetoric'  . . . "Trump's comments, such as his referring to President Barack Obama as the "founder of ISIS" make headlines, said Woodward, but "a lot of the people who really are opposed to Trump, I think, are engaged in some excessive rhetoric also."

"For example, on Wednesday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that Trump's adult children "should be ashamed" of him for his comments about "Second Amendment people" stopping Hillary Clinton. Further, Friedman called Trump "a disgusting human being."

Watch: A Brief History Of The Liberal Media Cutting Off Guests When They Criticize Hillary Clinton

Liberal Media Puts Trump in ‘Crosshairs’ – Because Death Threats Against Republicans are Acceptable 

"In fact, the liberal media justifies its bias against Trump.

"New Gingrich calls it the most one-sided news coverage in American history..@NewtGingrich Calls Out Glaring Anti-Trump Media Bias: Most Decisively One-sided News Coverage in American History:" . . .

NBC BUSTED MAKING UP EMBARRASSING “GOTCHA” Trump Story In Attempt To Help Hillary

"NBC’s headline today read: Trump Hits Clinton on Mateen Father’s Seating — as Disgraced Congressman Foley Sits Behind Him"

"Do you really expect any reasonable voter to believe that former Congressman Mark Foley’s presence behind Trump at his Sunrise, FL rally was the equivalent of a Taliban supporting father of a radical Muslim mass murderer?" . . .

"Hey NBC…Bill was ON THE STAGE several times during the DNC coronation of Crooked Hillary. Why didn’t you call him out? How about the multiple allegations of rape and sexual assault by woman after woman at the hands of Bill Clinton? . . . "He’s the same guy who stood behind Hillary on the stage at the DNC, yet you never mentioned a word about him and his sordid history of alleged and proven sexual assault. He’s the same guy who you’re rooting for to move back into our White House." . . .

Where do you want your daughter to be a White House intern: in a Trump White House or in a Clinton White House?

Nets Drown Out Latest E-Mail Scandal with Almost 4 Times More Trump

Newsbusters  "The liberal “Big Three” networks seemed to try everything in their power to not mention Hillary Clinton’s latest e-mail controversy Wednesday. Throughout all of their news programs, both morning and evening, they gave the e-mails a total of 6 minutes 59 seconds. In stark contrast, they dragged out Trump’s “Second Amendment people” comment with a whopping 25 minutes 54 seconds of coverage. “One day after Donald Trump used the second amendment to shoot himself in the foot, Hillary Clinton used her first amendment right to speak out against him,” touted anchor Scott Pelley on CBS Evening News.

"ABC’s World News Tonight had the largest disparity in coverage of the two stories Wednesday evening. The network dedicated a mere 38 seconds to the e-mail controversy, as they mixed it in with other coverage of Clinton.  “Today, the Clinton campaign saying, "Hillary Clinton never took actions as Secretary of State because of donations to the Clinton Foundation,” reported Cecilia Vega, “But Trump says the e-mails exposed pay for play connections.” ABC gave Trump’s comment 3 minutes 24 seconds that evening." . . .

Blacks, whites give up on Obama mending race relations

Washington Examiner

President Barack Obama, right, and Vice President Joe Biden, left, reach for the snacks as they have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., second from left, and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington Thursday, July 30, 2009. The "Beer Summit" and other Obama efforts did not improve race relations. 

"President Obama's historic election, considered one of the biggest-ever advances for African Americans, has faded in importance for blacks due to his failure to fix race relations, according to a new Gallup report."

. . . "One reason may be because Americans of all colors believe race relations have gotten worse under Obama. When he was elected, 70 percent believed race relations would improve. Now more believe they have gotten worse because of Obama.

"Said Gallup: "Americans' optimism about the effects that Obama's election and presidency would have on race relations has also declined significantly since he was elected in November 2008. At that time, 70 percent of Americans expected race relations in the U.S. to get better, while only 10 percent believed relations would get worse. Now, more say that race relations have gotten worse as a result of his presidency (46 percent) than say they have gotten better (29 percent)."

House probe: Military put rosy spin on war against Islamic State

Politico  "A Republican House task force investigating allegations of intelligence manipulation concludes the U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, put a rosier spin on its progress in the war against the Islamic State than was warranted by the facts on the ground.

"The task force's initial report, however, stops short of alleging any kind of White House conspiracy to manipulate intelligence products.

Story Continued Below

"The task force, announced in December, is a joint effort of the House Intelligence, Armed Services and Appropriations Committees.

. . .  “found that intelligence products approved by senior CENTCOM leaders typically provided a more positive depiction of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts than was warranted by facts on the ground and were consistently more positive than analysis produced by other elements of the Intelligence Community,” says a summary of the report.

“ 'It further determined that numerous process changes implemented at CENCTOM as well as leadership deficiencies resulted in widespread dissatisfaction among CENTCOM analysts who felt their superiors were distorting their products.”

Liberal attacks on Trump are so unhinged, it might get him killed

Pro-Hillary union boss: ‘We’re only here to intimidate’ anti-Clinton protesters

"Classy people, these union thugs…"

NY Post  "What are liberals going to say for themselves if Donald Trump gets assassinated?

"That’s a question worth pondering as a new effort is under way to delegitimize The Donald in the wake of his remarks on the Second Amendment.

"Leftists are accusing Trump of trying to incite an attack on Hillary Clinton from “Second Amendment people.” They have been using such intemperate language that it wouldn’t be surprising if someone took a shot at The Donald. (Feds suspect a British national tried to do so at a rally in June after attempting to grab a police officer’s gun to carry out the assassination.)

"Scott Adams, famed cartoonist of Dilbert, had already been mocking Clinton for pairing “the idea of President Trump with nuclear disaster, racism, Hitler, the Holocaust and whatever else makes you tremble in fear.”

"The incitement got so bad that Adams, in a satire on blog.dilbert.com, “endorsed” Clinton. He did so, he explained, “for my personal safety.” Quoth he: “My safety is at risk if I am seen as supportive of Trump.' ” . . .

More on Scott Adams here.