ROLL CALL: Rand Paul Wants Obama to Seek Approval for Extended Iraq Effort.

BUT OF COURSE: Chicago Teachers Union Prez, Who Rails Against ‘The Rich,’ Owns Three Homes — Including One In Hawaii. “This race will pit two rich people who claim to be champions of the people, but who live off the people while subjecting the people to crushing yet incompetent big government, against each other. It’s going to be quite a show.”

ASHE SCHOW: Kelly Ayotte’s spokeswoman answers questions about campus sexual assault bill. “First, Johnson’s response doesn’t address my question about providing due process for men in campus hearings, since the outcome of those hearings have the potential to ruin lives. Second, Johnson uses the oft-repeated ‘one-in-five’ statistic, which has been debunked numerous times before (and by me on Wednesday). Johnson also completely ignores the fact that the accused aren’t getting the support they need and deserve.”

FREE SPEECH: ACLU, news organizations back National Review, think tank in climate libel case.

A who’s who of news organizations, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, have sided with the conservative National Review and the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute in a libel lawsuit brought against them by climate scientist Michael Mann.

Mann contends that the magazine and the think tank both libeled him by publishing articles alleging that he has intentionally manipulated climate data. Both defendants are seeking to have the case dismissed under a statute that prevents nuisance lawsuits intended to silence critics. The matter is currently before the D.C. Superior Court.

In an amicus brief filed Monday, the ACLU and news organizations urged the court to reverse a lower court ruling that the statute didn’t apply in this case. They argued that it would be a blow to freedom of the press should Mann prevail. . . .

The ACLU was joined in the brief by the Washington Post, Fox News, NBC Universal, USA Today publisher Gannett Co., Bloomberg, Time, the Tribune Publishing Co., the Seattle Times and various professional organizations including the American Society of News Editors, the National Press Club, and the Society of Professional Journalists, among others.

Mann certainly acts like a man with something to hide, in one forum after another.

MARY KATHARINE HAM: Free societies require more of police than turning tough situations into militarized zones.

UPDATE: A friend writes on Facebook: “This presents such a great opportunity for libertarians to flip a significant fraction of blacks from big government to limited government. If Rand Paul wants to do outreach to the black community, get there now. Preferably with some other libertarians. Talk about drug war, killing men for cigarette taxes, drones, NSA spying, out of control cops, and how the problem that the government is making up dumb reasons to abuse its authority, not that this abuse would be better if applied in a more evenhanded way. Then sponsor national reform and try to mobilize these non traditional allies. Big opportunity just sitting there.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Jay Nixon finally clears up his schedule to tend to the crisis in Ferguson, but only after getting a bunch of crap about it. Hey, fundraisers and vacations take priority in the new America.

WHEN THE FRENCH ARE TELLING YOU TO MAN UP: ‘When people are dying, you must come back from vacation’: French foreign minister seems to slam Obama for golfing while Iraq burns.

SO IS THIS MALE PRIVILEGE, OR WHITE PRIVILEGE? I CAN’T TELL. Robin Williams in a group facing higher risk of suicide: Older white men with depression.

INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY: Impeach Obama? He’s The Best Asset The GOP Has. “Obama is Republicans’ greatest political asset and Democrats’ greatest political liability. And for Republicans, he promises to be an asset that continues to pay dividends.”

Related: Hillary gauges how far is far enough from Obama’s mounting stigma.

THE GRID: Republican Mia Love Leading Dem Challenger in UT-4.

IRS SCANDAL UPDATE: Judicial Watch: The IRS Cover-Up Continues.

THE HILL: Obama prepares schools for enrollment of migrant children. “The Obama administration is preparing the nation’s schools to accept thousands of new students who illegally crossed the southwest border and are now awaiting trials on their possible deportations. A fact sheet from the Department of Education sent to states and schools on Monday highlights the children’s right to attend public school. . . . The prospect of tens of thousands of children mostly from Central American countries attending school as they wait for their immigration status to be decided has the potential to be explosive after this summer’s emotional public debate about the border.”

HUGH HEWITT TO SOLEDAD O’BRIEN: How Do You Justify Taking Money From Terrorist Funders?

OH, GOODY: Now You Can Bring The Stifling Joylessness Of Modern Political Life To The Grocery Store. This is what happens when you make the personal political, and the political personal.

EMP ATTACKS: When The Lights Go Out, Forever.

Try reading Bill Quick’s Lightning Fall.

OF COURSE THEY DID: Hamas Threatened Reporters in Gaza. This has been an open secret for years, but somehow the press never gets around to, you know, reporting it.

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THAT’S BECAUSE WESTERN CIVILIZATION HAS — QUITE DELIBERATELY — ASSUMED THE ROLE OF “WEAK HORSE.” It doesn’t matter if you call it ISIS, ISIL or Islamic State, the extremist brand is winning. Back when the motto was “we have the Maxim gun, and they have not,” non-Western societies tried hard to emulate us, which is why you see those photos of skirted women in record stores in Afghanistan from the 1960s. Now that it’s “cultural sensitivity” and “why do they hate us,” the extremist brand looks viable.

IT’S COME TO THIS: Vox: Obama can’t govern, so let’s repeal the 22nd Amendment. Jeff Bezos is a very smart man.

PROSTITUTION IS A SEXUAL PREFERENCE. IF YOU BAN IT, YOU’RE A BIGOT. Stop the H8!