Andy Borowitz: Americans Shocked by Audiotape Appearing to Prove Trump Capable of Reading

Americans are expressing astonishment and disbelief after the release of an audiotape that seems to prove that Donald J. Trump is capable of reading.

On the tape, in which Trump is showing associates a series of classified documents, the former President appears to demonstrate reading comprehension at a rudimentary level, decoding letters as they combine to form words and sentences.

This implausible performance dumbfounded many Americans, like Carol Foyler, who resides in Akron, Ohio. “This defies everything I thought I knew about Donald Trump,” she said. “If he can read, what else is he capable of?”

But Harland Dorrinson, who lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, had a more cautious reaction. “Let’s not rush to judgment,” he said. “Any tape of Trump being able to read could be a hoax.”  https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report 

As Trump faces criminal charges, here are 27 people he's previously said should be indicted or jailed

Not too long ago, Donald Trump said both Joe Biden and Barack Obama should be in jail for 50 years. He also wondered why Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio hadn't faced criminal charges yet.

They are among at least 27 of Trump's apparent political foes that, since launching his 2016 campaign for president, Trump has explicitly stated or otherwise suggested should be indicted or jailed.

Not one of them has been charged with any crimes. https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-faces-criminal-charges-27-people-previously-indicted/story

DeSantis’s stalling campaign: how to lose friends and alienate people

By almost every measure, the rightwinger has had another lackluster week on the campaign trail, with “clumsy” missteps in New Hampshire, Texas, California and New York. Now, barely one month after his glitch-ridden launch on Twitter, DeSantis finds himself sinking in the polls, closer to the large field of optimists below him than the twice-indicted, twice-impeached former president who retains a stranglehold over the Republican party. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/02/ron-desantis-campaign-2024-republicans

The Pentagon policy bill’s next big stumbling block for Kevin McCarthy

Speaker Kevin McCarthy could throw a major wrench into negotiations over the National Defense Authorization Act if he caves to conservatives by “letting them load up the bill with provisions that strip Biden-era personnel policies out of the military,” Politico reports.

The dilemma underscores the balance GOP leaders must strike between lawmakers on their right, many of whom rarely vote for the defense bill, and the Democrats they’ll ultimately need for any bill to become law. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/02/pentagon-policy-ndaa-kevin-mccarthy-00104466

The first GOP debate is at risk of losing its draw

The GOP primary debate seemed originally like it could result in political fireworks. But with less than two months to go, it is veering toward something far less crowded and consequential.

The party’s rigid donor criteria stands to limit the number of GOP candidates that debate in Milwaukee this August. Its polling requirements could trip up campaigns, too. Several candidates are openly mocking the Republican National Committee’s idea of a loyalty pledge requirement to participate. The leading candidate, Donald Trump, is downplaying the idea that he will show up at all. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/02/gop-debate-2024-00104501

Delaware House approves bill allowing business entities to vote in town’s municipal elections

Lawmakers in the Delaware House of Representatives have approved legislation authorizing a small town in the southern part of the state to allow business entities, including corporations and limited liability companies, to vote in municipal elections. https://apnews.com/article/local-elections-voting-corporate-entities-c9d0e49f5e475b45cb957fbec110d3e7

The man named in the Supreme Court’s gay rights ruling says he didn’t request a wedding website

A Colorado web designer who the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday could refuse to make wedding websites for gay couples cited a request from a man who says he never asked to work with her.

The request in dispute, from a person identified as “Stewart,” wasn’t the basis for the federal lawsuit filed preemptively seven years ago by web designer Lorie Smith, before she started making wedding websites. But as the case advanced, it was referenced by her attorneys when lawyers for the state of Colorado pressed Smith on whether she had sufficient grounds to sue.

Smith named Stewart — and included a website service request from him, listing his phone number and email address in 2017 court documents. But Stewart said he never submitted the request and didn’t know his name was invoked in the lawsuit until he was contacted this week by a reporter from The New Republic, which first reported his denial.

“I was incredibly surprised given the fact that I’ve been happily married to a woman for the last 15 years,” said Stewart, who declined to give his last name for fear of harassment and threats. He added that he was a designer and “could design my own website if I need to” — and was concerned no one had checked into the validity of the request cited by Smith until recently. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-gay-rights-lgbtq-website-385ec911ce0ca2f415966078eddb66da
 

Covid-19, ‘Woke’ Complaints Hold Up Biden’s Ambassador Picks

A pair of Republican senators have thrown up roadblocks to the confirmation of dozens of U.S. ambassadors, marking the latest effort by lawmakers to delay President Biden’s nominees until their demands are addressed.

Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Rand Paul (R-KY)—citing concerns about progressive political ideology and Covid-19 research records respectively—have put holds on State Department appointees, primarily career foreign-service officers.https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-woke-complaints-hold-up-bidens-ambassador-picks-b95e73e9

Russian Bank Executive Falls to Her Death

The glamorous vice-president of a Russian bank has reportedly plunged to her death after falling from the window of her Moscow apartment in latest mysterious fatality involving country’s top execs. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12247271/Vice-president-Russian-bank-falls-death-Moscow-apartment-latest-mysterious-fatality.html

The Wildcard for 2024

History and recent polling suggest a third-party candidate has little chance of winning and could tip the election to Trump, the Republican former president who No Labels itself says is too dangerous to return to the White House.

A No Labels candidate could swing the race in critical states or help ensure no candidate gets to 270 electoral votes, which would let state delegations in the House pick the winner, likely favoring the GOP.”  https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-mysteriously-financed-group-that-could-upend-a-biden-trump-rematch-d34ebaea

Trump once said a president under felony indictment would grind the government to a halt and create a constitutional crisis

Former President Donald Trump said in 2016 that a president under indictment would “cripple the operations of our government” and create an “unprecedented constitutional crisis” – years before he himself was indicted on federal charges while running for a second term as president.

Trump made the comments nearly seven years ago about Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

“We could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and ultimately a criminal trial,” Trump said during a November 5, 2016, campaign rally in Reno, Nevada. "It would grind government to a halt.”

Now, Trump finds himself under the exact situation he repeatedly described after he was charged in early June with 37 federal counts related to retention of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/03/politics/kfile-trump-president-indictment-halt-government/index.html

Judge rejects Trump’s ‘presidential immunity’ defense in second E. Jean Carroll case

A federal judge on Thursday sharply rejected Donald Trump’s claim of ‘presidential immunity’ to fend off a defamation lawsuit from the writer E. Jean Carroll, ruling that Trump’s disparaging comments about Carroll in 2019 had no legitimate connection to his duties as president. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/29/trump-carroll-defamation-immunity-ruling-00104306

Democrats Take Aim At Legacy Admissions After Court Rulings

Democrats are taking aim at the common practice of giving a leg up to the children of alumni and donors in the college admissions practice as a key plank of their response to the conservative Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate affirmative action in college admissions.

The party seems to be coalescing behind the elimination of legacy admissions as it looks for a way to respond to the ruling. Representatives of the influential Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus all endorsed the idea on a call with reporters on Thursday afternoon, and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) are set to introduce legislation eliminating the practice soon. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democrats-take-aim-at-legacy-admissions-after-court-rulings_n_649de5b2e4b028e6472fba0c

Koch Network Raises Over $70 Million for Push to Sink Trump

The political network established by the conservative industrialists Charles and David Koch has raised more than $70 million for political races as it looks to help Republicans move past Donald Trump, a Federal Election Commission filing will show, the New York Times reports.

With this large sum to start, the network plans to throw its weight into the G.O.P. presidential nominating contest for the first time in its history. The network spent nearly $500 million supporting Republican candidates and conservative policies in the 2020 election cycle alone. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/us/politics/koch-network-trump-2024.html

Supreme Court right to reject radical independent state legislature theory

With the 2024 election campaign already underway, the U.S. Supreme Court last week wisely rejected a pernicious legal theory that could have made it even easier for partisan majorities in state legislatures to achieve an unfair advantage in congressional elections.

The 6-3 decision in a case from North Carolina dealt a serious blow to the so-called independent state legislature doctrine, under which state supreme courts would be powerless to review gerrymandered congressional maps or other aspects of congressional elections. https://www.pressherald.com/2023/07/03/another-view-supreme-court-right-to-reject-radical-independent-state-legislature-theory/
 

DeSantis Agency Sent $92 Million to Donor-Backed Project

The administration of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) steered $92 million last year in leftover federal coronavirus stimulus money to a controversial highway interchange project that directly benefits a top political donor, according to state records.

The decision by the Florida Transportation Department to use money from the 2021 American Rescue Plan for the I-95 interchange at Pioneer Trail Road near Daytona Beach fulfilled a years-long effort by Mori Hosseini, a politically connected housing developer who owns two large tracts of largely forested land abutting the planned interchange. The funding through the DeSantis administration, approved shortly after the governor’s reelection, expedited the project by more than a decade, according to state documents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/28/desantis-hosseini-interstate-covid-money/

Prosecutors are prepared to hit Trump and his allies with new charges, sources say

The Department of Justice is prepared to seek indictments against multiple figures in former president Donald Trump’s orbit and may yet bring additional charges against the ex-president in the coming weeks, The Independent reports.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the department has made preparations to bring what is known as a ‘superseding indictment’ — a second set of charges against an already-indicted defendant that could include more serious crimes — against the ex-president, and could do so in a number of different venues, depending on how prosecutors feel the case they have brought against him in a Florida federal court is proceeding.

Prosecutors are now prepared to ‘stack’ an ‘additional 30 to 45 charges’ on top of the 37-count indictment brought against Mr Trump on June 8. They would do so using evidence against the ex-president that has not yet been publicly acknowledged by the department, including other recordings prosecutors have obtained which reveal Mr Trump making incriminating statements. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-giuliani-more-charges-b2366597.html

Nikki Haley says Republicans 'absolutely should' impeach President Biden

Nikki Haley said House Republicans absolutely should impeach President Biden over whistleblower allegations that there was improper meddling in the investigation of his son Hunter. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/nikki-haley-calls-biden-impeachment-hunter-biden-allegations-rcna91976

Sotomayor calls affirmative action decision 'devastating'

In her nearly 20-minute dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor railed against Justice Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts, mentioning both of them by name several times. She said it was profoundly wrong and devastating to see the court overrule 50 years of precedent.

"Today the court stands in the way and rolls back decades of precedent and progress," Sotomayor said.

Sotomayor said this decision boils down to the idea that a person’s skin color may play a role under U.S. law when they are under suspicion, but it cannot play a role in admission to a learning environment.

"Pursuit of diversity will go on, despite the court," Sotomayor said.

She ended by quoting Martin Luther King Jr: "We shall overcome." https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/live-blog/supreme-court-decisions-live-updates-rcna91671#rcrd15107
 

Ron DeSantis faces one setback after another in battle against LGBTQ rights

Multiple federal court decisions have frozen key portions of Ron DeSantis’ campaign against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in recent weeks, complicating the Florida governor’s efforts to present himself as a conservative champion with a track record of winning cultural battles over LGBTQ causes.

In the last week alone, the DeSantis administration faced setbacks in three legal battles over LGBTQ rights. Judges rejected state efforts to block transgender adults’ access to gender-affirming care under Medicaid, bar transgender children from accessing puberty blockers, and ban minors from certain types of live entertainment at restaurants — legislation widely interpreted as a proposal to target drag shows.

DeSantis’ agenda has hit other roadblocks, with judges blocking portions of his plans to control teaching and training on gender identity in schools and workplaces. The governor also faces ongoing litigation over his efforts to ban transgender athletes from competing on sports teams of their declared gender and to restrict access to school books, including those with LGBTQ themes. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article276865458.html

Conservatives go to red states and liberals go to blue as the country grows more polarized

Americans are segregating by their politics at a rapid clip, helping fuel the greatest divide between the states in modern history.

The split has sent states careening to the political left or right, adopting diametrically opposed laws on some of the hottest issues of the day. In Idaho, abortion is illegal once a heartbeat can be detected in a fetus — as early as five or six weeks — and a new law passed this year makes it a crime to help a minor travel out of state to obtain one. In Colorado, state law prevents any restrictions on abortion. In Idaho, a new law prevents minors from accessing gender-affirming care, while Colorado allows youths to come from other states to access the procedures. https://apnews.com/article/polarization-republicans-democrats-abortion-gender-colorado-idaho-406b5a841d4d47c8a08cf054c38bb2a0

Judge blocks U.S. officials from tech contacts in First Amendment case

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked key Biden administration agencies and officials from meeting and communicating with social media companies, in an extraordinary injunction in an ongoing case that could have profound effects on the First Amendment.

The injunction came in response to a lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, who allege that government officials went too far in their efforts to encourage social media companies to address posts that they worried could contribute to vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic or upend elections. The Trump-appointed judge’s move could upend years of efforts to enhance coordination between the government and social media companies.”

Judge Doughty’s order comes as social media companies recently have begun to unwind some of the programs created to address disinformation. Under Elon Musk’s ownership, Twitter has made steep cuts to its Trust and Safety division and has increased its reliance on Community Notes, its program of crowdsourced fact checks on tweets. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has laid off staff working on content moderation amid financial pressure. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/07/04/biden-social-lawsuit-missouri-louisiana/

Record for hottest day ever recorded on Earth broken twice in a row

We have just experienced the hottest day ever recorded on Earth – for the second day in a row. The average global air temperature recorded 2 metres above Earth’s surface hit 62.92°F on 4 July, according to data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and compiled by the University of Maine.

The two consecutive days of record-breaking global heat confirms scientists’ warnings that 2023 is likely to be one of the hottest years on record, as the twin effects of climate change and a warming El Nino climate pattern drive temperatures to new highs. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2381069-record-for-hottest-day-ever-recorded-on-earth-broken-twice-in-a-row/

Colin Allred Raises $6.2 Million in Two Months

Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX) raised nearly $6.2 million in roughly the first two months of his campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/05/texas-colin-allred-ted-cruz/

THE DAILY GRILL ...

“Patrick Henry: ‘It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.’” — Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) took to Twitter to celebrate that great American patriot Patrick Henry. https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article277023863.html

VERSUS

“The problem? Henry never said that. The quote is false. Made up.” https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article277023863.html