ELIANA JOHNSON: Defending the IRS: A man who once worked for Lois Lerner is representing the agency in court.

AN AD from the NRA’s new Trigger The Vote Campaign. Chuck Norris wants you to vote.

PHIL HAMBURGER: Rule Of Law vs. Rule Through Law.

EQUALITY IS FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: Obama Donor Fights to Keep Riff-Raff Away From Private Beach.

A wealthy venture capitalist and major Obama donor is fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent others from accessing his private Northern California beach, according to Bloomberg News.

Vinod Khosla’s support for Obama has paid off in the form of millions in taxpayer subsidies for green energy companies in which he has invested.

A prominent environmentalist, Khosla nevertheless cherishes his control over a private beach alongside his 56-acre property near San Francisco—which he bought for $32.5 million—Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Hey, he’s not protecting the environment for you to enjoy.

SEE, THIS IS WHY WE NEED NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL CARRY: Ryan Shucard Case Highlights Gun Law Discrepancies.

Staff in Rep. Tom Marino’s office are convinced that Ryan Shucard, the press secretary that arrived at the Cannon House Office building toting a 9 mm handgun on Friday morning, was not planning to harm anyone with the gun.

“No, not at all,” said Bill Tighe, chief of staff for the two-term Pennsylvania Republican, said when asked if staff thought Shucard had ill intentions. Capitol Police also indicated it was an accident, according to Tighe.

Tighe said he was not formally aware that Shucard, a resident of Alexandria, Va., owned a gun. Shucard was hired by Marino’s office in late May. Tighe said he did not know whether Shucard, 26, was registered, trained or permitted to hold a gun in Virginia, where gun laws are less strict than in the District.

Similarly, Jason Kalafat, a partner at Price Benowitz LLP who has been hired to represent Shucard in D.C. court, had no comment on his client’s status as a gun owner in Virginia. He said there is no allegation that Shucard had the gun unlawfully, and pointed out that he is not being prosecuted for the federal offense of carrying on Capitol grounds, which carries up to five years in prison.

Kalafat said the difference between gun regulations in D.C. and Virginia creates a “big problem.”

Because the Capitol grounds are federal property, they are not subject to the District’s strict gun laws.

Also, we need a federal law providing that the maximum penalty for anyone legally entitled to possess firearms under federal law violating any state or local law on possession or carrying of weapons is a $500 fine. This would get rid of the sort of in terrorem regulation I describe in my Second Amendment Penumbras piece.

OOPS: Michael Barone: Hillary Clinton’s job approval rating as low as Obama’s.

ACTUALLY, I’D LIKE TO SEE ENOUGH TO GET HIM TO TELL THE TRUTH: Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings calls for end to ‘public harassment’ of IRS chief John Koskinen. Naming and shaming is all we’ve got, when the machinery of government has been totally politicized.

YEAH, BUT THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION IS SUCH A WELL-OILED MACHINE, WHAT’S THERE TO OVERSEE? Bruce Braley Missed More than 75% of Full Veterans’ Affairs committee Hearings.

SO I GUESS THEY’VE HAD TIME TO FABRICATE SOMETHING: IRS: Lerner emails may exist after all. I hate to be so cynical, but when you act like a criminal conspiracy, people tend to get cynical.

JIM TREACHER: A Brief Conversation With Stephen King.

ALL IN ALL, YOU’RE JUST ANOTHER STONE IN THE WALL: IRS lawyer: By the way, the hard drives of some other employees who dealt with Lois Lerner also crashed.

SELF-DEFENSE: Attempted pogrom thwarted by Jewish self-defense groups. “This sounds like a headline from Tzarist Russia in 1910, but in fact it was last week in Paris. A group of anti-Israel demonstrators tried to storm a synagogue, but Jews had their own undercover agents at the protests so they could raise the alarm if any of the protestors started to engage in violence. They did so, and the rioters were beaten back by a combination of ‘right-wing’ Jewish youth groups and communal security. Unlike is Tzarist Russia, the authorities aren’t on the side of the attackers, and they eventually arrived in sufficient numbers to disperse the attackers.”

If I had a synagogue in Europe, it would have flamethrowers.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: All The News Hamas Sees Fit to Print.

IT’S ACTUALLY BEEN AN INCOMPETENT PRESS OPERATION ALL ALONG. THE PRESS IS JUST NO LONGER COMPLETELY SWALLOWING EVERYTHING. Reporters bristle as WH derides, then offers, anonymous sources.

Complaints from White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Monday about anonymous news sources prompted a testy exchange with reporters who noted that administration officials regularly demand anonymity.

Earnest was asked about a Washington Post report charging that the administration ignored predictions last year from the Department of Homeland Security about the surge of unaccompanied minors who have flooded across the border in recent months.

But the spokesman looked to challenge the report by arguing it was “based entirely on anonymous sources.” Earnest also offered a broader critique on the use of anonymous sourcing in a bid to challenge the credibility of the story.

“In the course of reporting, I think it’s important, based on my own personal view, for those kinds of quotes and those kinds of stories to be given greater weight than just anonymous sources,” Earnest said. “So, what that means is, if you have anonymous sources at the White House who are telling you something, and you’re gonna say to them — that anonymous source — ‘Look, I’m willing to give your side of the story a little less weight right now, because you’re telling me this anonymously.’ ”

That prompted complaints from reporters who noted that the White House routinely insists on anonymity when unveiling new efforts.

“Would you guys commit then, when you have situations like today’s call, which is people specifically picked by the White House to roll out a policy of the White House, would you commit to have those people speak on the record?” asked Associated Press White House correspondent Julie Pace. “Because there doesn’t seem to be a reason to put them on background.”

Now it’s the press corps that’s becoming “ungovernable,” I guess.

ANOTHER COLUMN ABOUT HOW IT’S NOT OBAMA’S FAULT, AMERICA IS JUST TOO GOSH-DARNED HARD TO GOVERN.

I predicted this line of punditry years ago, based on early evidence of Obama’s incompetence.

ACTUALLY INVADED, OR IN SUCH IMMINENT DANGER AS WILL NOT ADMIT OF DELAY: Texas Governor to Deploy 1,000 National Guard Troops to Border.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE:

I think of student loans as the cockroaches of debt. The loans are hard to get rid of because for so long, people were told this was good and necessary debt and so it wasn’t a bad thing to have it hang around for decades.

When people ask me about what they should do about their student loans, I ask: What are you willing to do to get rid of them as fast as you can?

And here’s my suggestion: Live for as long as you can with your parents, relatives or anyone who will allow you to stay rent-free or charge you a super-low rent.

Related item here. And here.

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Obama’s Tranquility.

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Plus, up to 50% off select Outdoor & Athletic Clothing.

A LEFTY COMPLAINS ABOUT HOW progressivism has ruined sex. Well, it ruins everything, you know.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: On Photography, Cops Need To Get A Clue.

THE CASE FOR CONCIERGE MEDICINE: In the trade-off between more patients and more personalized care, growing numbers of physicians are choosing the latter. “The concierge model of practice is growing, and it is estimated that more than 4,000 U.S. physicians have adopted some variation of it. Most are general internists, with family practitioners second. It is attractive to physicians because they are relieved of much of the pressure to move patients through quickly, and they can devote more time to prevention and wellness. . . . Of course, there are drawbacks to concierge practice. For one thing, some patients cannot afford it, and others will choose not to pay the fee. Critics also see such models as promoting a two-tiered system of healthcare, in which those with more money get better care.” An ironic — but entirely predictable — result of ObamaCare.

NONSENSE. IT’S ALWAYS THE FEMINIST THING TO PUNISH MEN, ESPECIALLY OVER SEX: Elizabeth Nolan Brown: Punishing Prostitution Clients Is Not a Feminist Solution.

My question is why all these so-called feminists are pro-rape.

HOW TO NEGOTIATE A LOWER CABLE BILL.

You could just get a Roku or Amazon Fire and cut the cable, of course.

WOMEN’S MEDIA BECOMING LESS SUPPORTIVE OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: 5 Ways The NSA Is Like A Psycho Ex-Boyfriend.