monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

After the speech, I was speaking to a small group of younger Christians when an older man walked up, glared at me, and said, “You just wanted Hillary.” (I did not.) Conversations like this have happened time and again. It’s the answer to all critiques. Worried that Trump’s team has lied about the extent of their contacts with Russia? “Hillary.” Concerned about chaos in the West Wing? “Hillary.” Alarmed at the failure of Obamacare repeal and the obvious lack of presidential leadership? “Hillary.”

Oddly enough, this ongoing older-generation Hillary obsession makes me less pessimistic about the long-term future of Evangelical political engagement. When committed support for Trump is both generational and situational, there’s less chance that we’re looking at a permanent Evangelical shift towards “by any means necessary” political combat. There’s a better chance that we’re looking at the sad by-product of the worst presidential choice in living American memory.

And here I thought Trump didn't like fake news.

Trump is a dead ringer for Mom, right down to the bouffant white hair styled in defiance of natural rules of gravity and taste.

Former pharmaceutical chief executive Martin Shkreli has been found guilty of three counts of securities fraud.
A New York City jury cleared him on five other counts after five days of deliberations.
He was on trial in relation to a drug company he previously headed, Retrophin, and a hedge fund he managed.
Shkreli, 34, was branded "the most hated man in America" in 2015 when his firm hiked the price of a medication used by Aids patients.
Despite facing prison after being convicted of two counts of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, Shkreli professed himself pleased with the outcome.
Standing outside the court in Brooklyn, he said: "This was a witch hunt of epic proportions.
"And maybe they found one or two broomsticks but at the end of the day we've been acquitted of the most important charges in this case and I'm delighted to report that."

China's foreign minister has told his North Korean counterpart that Pyongyang should stop carrying out nuclear and missile tests, hours after fresh sanctions were agreed by the United Nations Security Council.
Wang Yi said he urged Ri Yong-ho to abide by UN resolutions in a meeting on Sunday in the Philippines.
He did not say how Mr Ri replied.
Saturday's resolution banning North Korean exports and limiting investments in the country was passed unanimously.
Mr Wang said sanctions were needed, but "are not the final goal", and he urged dialogue. He said he told North Korea to remain calm, and not provoke the international community with more tests.
The Chinese envoy also urged the US and South Korea not to increase tensions, saying that the situation was at a "critical point", but also a juncture at which talks could be resumed.

The president’s preferred image of himself as a shrewd, hard-nosed negotiator took a hit last week when The Washington Post published transcripts of his phone conversations in Januarsy with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia. Mr. Trump admitted to Mr. Peña Nieto that he couldn’t make Mexico pay for a border wall, as he had promised many times to roaring crowds at his rallies, but he implored Mr. Peña Nieto to maintain the fiction in public, seemingly oblivious that the Mexican president had every reason not to do so. His bullying tone with Mr. Turnbull could not hide his lack of understanding of the refugee pact with which Mr. Turnbull wanted him to comply.

A week before his inauguration, Mr. Trump said he had a plan “very much formulated down to the final strokes” to provide “insurance for everybody.” In the same interview, he promised to negotiate lower drug prices, “just like” he’d forced Lockheed Martin to produce cheaper F-35 fighter jets.

In fact, Lockheed let Mr. Trump take credit for negotiating F-35 cost savings that were already in the pipeline. He caved on his promise to empower the government to negotiate lower drug prices — an effort Democrats support — after a single meeting with big pharmaceutical makers.

No, but I'm sure he has (or had) one. What are you suggesting?

Sinclair Broadcast Group is expanding its conservative-leaning television empire into nearly three-quarters of American households — but its aggressive takeover of the airwaves wouldn’t have been possible without help from President Donald Trump's chief at the Federal Communications Commission.

Sinclair, already the nation’s largest TV broadcaster, plans to buy 42 stations from Tribune Media in cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, on top of the more than 170 stations it already owns. It got a critical assist this spring from Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who revived a decades-old regulatory loophole that will keep Sinclair from vastly exceeding federal limits on media ownership.

John Harwood‏Verified account @JohnJHarwood Aug 5
John Harwood Retweeted Ivanka Trump
average monthly job growth in 9 months since Trump's election: 179K

average monthly job growth in 9 months before Trump's election: 199K

THE GEORGE W. BUSH WHITE HOUSE ‘LOST’ 22 MILLION EMAILS

As more and more Republican office holders and their hapless defenders wise up to the incompetence of this con man I for one will miss the elaborate footwork, lame excuses, red herrings, and comic backpedaling as they desperately try to rationalize the craziness on exhibit for all to see.

White House to become less ‘dump’-like in Trump’s absence