She's caught in a trap

About time for President Obama to speak.
Will he help Hillary or hurt her?
The last few years show hurt her in the lead.

Early in her campaign, Hillary seemed to want to break with Barack Obama’s presidency. She recognized that while Obama was personally popular, his tenure had largely been seen as a failure by a dissatisfied American republic. She therefore pursued twin goals: tying herself to Obama’s “first black president” legacy and big-government growth, and avoiding the consequences of his rotten decision-making.

By first delaying a decision from Vice President Joe Biden about whether Biden would run, the Obama White House forced Hillary into full-scale obeisance to the Obama era. That’s been disastrous for Hillary. Her convention week has completely ignored the serious problems that keep most Americans up at night. There have been five jihadist attacks in Europe in the last eleven months. On the first day of the convention, 61 speakers mentioned ISIS precisely zero times. That same day, ISIS beheaded an 86-year-old priest in Normandy, France. Over the past few weeks, Americans have mourned over a wave of anti-cop massacres. So Hillary is now trotting out the “Mothers of the Movement” — Black Lives Matter activists including the mother of attempted cop-killer Michael Brown — to promulgate myths about police racism.

Russian to judgement

Donald Trump's comments about Russia and Hillary's emails have driven many crazy.
Guess what we're talking about tonight.
Russia.
Reminds you of the reset button in 2009.
Obama's "more flexibility" comment in 2012.
That Russia is much more aggressive now than in 2008.
And it keeps Hillary's emails in the news.
With such threats out there, how could Hillary be so sloppy with her emails?
Good move by Trump.

You brought it up

When the DNC emails were leaked over the weekend, Democrats tried to say the Russians were helping Donald Trump.
Today, Trump said, if Russia has Hillary's emails, they ought to release them.
Not hack Hillary today.
Give up what you hacked over the past seven-plus years.
You tried to tie Trump to Russia, and you get smacked.

Empty suit

The legal cases against the Baltimore police officers ended Wednesday.
The Baltimore Sun remains hopeful, that police discipline could be involved.
But four trials came up empty.
As expected when the cases were filed last year.

Understanding Democrats

There was surprise that Bernie Sanders supporters booed the idea of voting for Hillary in November.
They forget why there were Bernie voters in the first place.
Many Democrats have no desire to vote for Hillary - primary or general election.
That was the reason they voted Bernie in the first place.

Scenes from Philly

Maybe I shouldn't compare Hillary Clinton to the Princess Bride, but the reaction was the same.

Dream shall never die

Bad news for Hillary Clinton if Bernie Sanders decides to look at Teddy Kennedy's speech from 1980.

Leaving problems to fester

Politico's story on the ouster of Debbie Wasserman-Schultz doesn't paint a good portrait of President Obama.
John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman – and a former top adviser to Barack Obama – broached the idea of replacing Wasserman Schultz as early as last fall, only to be rebuffed by the president’s team, according to two people with direct knowledge of the conversation.
“It came down to the fact that the president didn’t want the hassle of getting rid of Debbie,” said a former top Obama adviser. “It’s been a huge problem for the Clintons, but the president just didn’t want the headache of Debbie bad-mouthing him… It was a huge pain in the ass.”
Sounds like Obama.
Letting problems fester until someone else deals with it.

Foghorn Leghorn's wisdom

You can imagine this interaction between voters and Hillary Clinton.

Did Bernie lead, or ride, a movement

Bernie Sanders has endorsed Hillary Clinton.
He will speak Monday at the convention.
Does this matter to people who supported him in the primaries?
If he's the leader, his supporters should follow him.
If they don't follow, then perhaps he's not the leader. But the guy who rode a movement to prominence, but dropped back when the primaries ended.

Are you happy with the state of the nation?

Eliminate the shouting and angst, and the choice in November boils down to - are you happy with the last eight years?
If so, Hillary is the person to continue that.
If not, Donald Trump is the person to change things.
With huge numbers of people saying the country is on the wrong track, it will be interesting to see how the Democrats work with that at their convention.
Will Hillary do things differently than President Obama?
How?
Or will they blame all problems on Republicans and Donald Trump?
Somebody let me know.
I don't plan to watch.
There's better things to do in life.

She listens. Does she hear?

Vox tries to understand Hillary Clinton.
Her staff love how she listens to them.
But many dislike throughout America her.
Why?
Simple.
If you listen to people, they will like you.
If millions of Americans don't think Hillary is listening to them, how can they like her?
They love to blame years of Republican attacks.
But she's done stuff - like the email server - that enhance Republican concerns.
If she told staff her plans, would they want to turn her down and lose the access?
If she listened to the rules, she wouldn't have the current mess.

What's next

Bloomberg View gives Megan McArdle and Ranesh Ponnuru a chance to look ahead at Philadelphia next week.
Will it be worth watching?
Doubtful.

Saturday song

It didn't work on 10 Cloverfield Lane, but this guy thinks he's alone now.

Facebook quote of the week

I have absolutely no problem with American Exceptionalism.

Numbers to watch

Allahpundit looks at the ratings numbers for Donald Trump last night vs. past conventions - in a different media era.
Why is Trump’s Romney-esque rating performance not surprising? Because we’re in the mobile era now. The first iPhone came out in 2007, around the time that year’s primary campaign was starting to roll. The first Android phone came out shortly before the general election. Many news platforms weren’t offering online streaming yet. If you wanted to watch McCain and Obama, you had to turn on your TV; last night you could have watched Trump on YouTube, and many did. Competition for eyeballs from non-news outfits has also expanded remorselessly with platforms like Netflix and Hulu, both of which were in their infancy at the time of the 2008 election. How many people who would have otherwise watched the speech last night decided to watch something on Netflix instead? (Raises hand.)
But he still expects Trump's numbers to better Hillary's.
What sort of sick mind, given the cornucopia of media options now available to Americans, would choose to watch a speaker as dreary as her spoonfeed center-left oatmeal to viewers for 75 minutes? Good lord almighty. There’s not enough booze in the world.

Come to the dark side

What could Donald Trump have done to make the media happy?
Nothing.
His gives an in depth speech, with some plans for his administration.
They say it's too long.
It's too dark.
Every night, the Republicans did something to get on the wrong side of the media.
Best to ignore them.
Next week, it's the Democrats' turn.
Can Hillary speak for 75 minutes without a cough jag?
Or bathroom break?

Shield your eyes

Scott Adams details why Hillary will lose.
Would you prefer seeing Bill and Hillary Clinton decompose in front of your eyes for eight years, or watch the Trump family develop their dynasty?

Weekend watchdog

NASCAR visits Indy this weekend, with a big kiss planned by the winner at the end.
NBC Sports network has the Sprint Cup race Sunday at 3 p.m. Around 6 p.m., the winner, his crew and family will gather at the start/finish line to celebrate by kissing the bricks from the original track. And plenty of pictures to remember the occasion.
The Xfinity Series goes Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on NBC Sports network. There's qualifying for both races Saturday at 11:40 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., after practice Friday starting at noon.
Then you'll have to wait until next May for another visit to the famous oval.
NBC Sports network carries the Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday at 7:30 a.m.
The Tour de France closes its run on Sunday with the final race into Paris at 11 a.m. on NBC Sports network. Stage 19 starts Friday at 8 a.m., with another run Saturday at 7 a.m.
The Nationals host the Padres on MASN for the weekend, while the Orioles face the Indians on MASN2.
The Yankees host the Giants on FoxSports1 Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. on TBS. FoxSports1 features Rangers-Royals Saturday at 7 p.m. and the weekend closes with Dodgers facing the Cardinals on ESPN Sunday at 8 p.m.
CBS has the Canadian Open Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Leicester City faces Celtic in the International Champions Cup Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN, with Internazionale against Paris Saint Germain Sunday at 5 p.m.
Portland battles the Galaxy Saturday at 3:45 p.m. on ESPN and it's Sporting Kansas City facing Seattle Sunday at 3 p.m.
The United States women face Costa Rica in an international friendly Friday at 8:55 p.m. on ESPN.
The road to the Flushing Meadows begins with the Bank of the West Classic. The semifinals are Saturday at 5 and 10 p.m. on ESPN2, and championship Sunday at 5 p.m.
In Arena Football, Arizona hosts Cleveland Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

Agreeing with Michael Moore

It's a very rare thing for me to agree with Michael Moore.
But when he says Donald Trump is going to win, it's nice to see him talking sense.

Happy Trump night

A few hours until Donald Trump speaks.
A week until Hillary Clinton speaks.
Which speech will people enjoy more?

Don't go to the videotape

Remember your first VCR?
We know the last ones are being shipped soon.
What will we do with all of those old tapes?

Let's pillary Hillary

Are Republicans been too tough on Hillary Clinton?
Nah.
Did I dream it or did the head of the FBI not give a press conference two weeks ago explaining why Hillary Clinton did in fact violate 18 U.S.C. 793(f) by showing gross negligence in her handling of classified information? If I dreamed it, I must have also dreamed that her poll numbers went into the toilet directly afterward as it dawned on swing voters that, yes indeed, this unprosecuted criminal was likely given a pass because of her power and supreme political importance to the Democratic Party.
It's an incredibly important reminder - voting against Hillary is a great reason to vote for Trump.

Never gonna give you up

Chicago Boyz have a theory - someone sabotaged Melania Trump's speech.
There is also a passage in Melania Trump’s speech which is a direct quote from a Rick Astley song
In other words, Melania Trump’s speech was Rickrolled.
To those who do not recall the fad from 2008 or so, Rickrolling was providing a link which purported to be something else, but in fact linked to a Rick Astley video, in fact, the very video whose lyrics were included in Melania Trump’s speech.
The only plausible explanation for the presence of these lyrics is that someone who participated in the drafting of Melania Trump’s speech intentionally included the Rick Astley lyric, apparently as a signal the speech had been “hacked.”

Enough of your pain, let's talk about mine

People genuinely feel the hurt of seeing police officers shot and killed.
Many people are related to a police officer.
They've seen them for years.
Seeing them suffer makes us hurt.
But President Obama and Hillary Clinton are using the occasion to continue mentioning past problems by police.
They can't stop talking their talking points.

How Trump met Pence

The New York Times offers background on how the Trump/Pence ticket came together.
Pence said he disliked the Clintons and the scandals of the 90s.

With the vice presidency potentially hanging in the balance, Mr. Pence described his personal distaste for Hillary Clinton and her husband, the former president, and spoke of feeling disgusted at what he called the corruption of the 1990s.

The monologue appeared to be a success.

Even Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, a trusted adviser who had admired Newt Gingrich, came away swayed, believing that Mr. Pence could gel with the Trump team.

See, it's easy to find common ground.

TP to clean up the mess

The initial Trump/Pence logo didn't last long.
Too many TP jokes and other distractions.
So the Trump team now has the simple names and slogan look.
But there's good vibes for the TP symbol.
You use toilet paper to clean up messes.
Trump/Pence wants to clean up the current mess in Washington.
Laugh if you want, but they have a job to do.

Most extreme since the last guy

Democrats pulled out their favorite word to describe Mike Pence - extreme.
The most extreme pick in a generation, they say.
Except they said the same thing about Paul Ryan.
And Sarah Palin.
Democrats have probably hurt Palin's feelings.
She thought she was the most extreme, and now they say it's Pence.
Maybe Democrats need to add more words to their vocabulary.

Recycling update

Summer means more drinks and more trip to the recycling center.
Cans still 40 cents per pound.

Saturday song

Another shot of Juice for your morning.