TRIBUNE OF THE WORKING CLASS: Lobbyists, lawmakers rake in cash for Hillary.

More than 100 individuals each helped bundle together $100,000 or more for Hillary Clinton’s presidential run since April, according to an announcement from the campaign Wednesday evening.

Reps. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) made the list, in addition to lobbyists David Jones of Capitol Counsel and Steve Elmendorf of Elmendorf|Ryan.

The website does not include the exact amount that individuals raised.

Former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who now works as a partner at McGuireWoods, also appears. Bayh, his wife and the firm’s political action committee hosted a fundraiser for Clinton last month.

“We had a fantastic turnout and the event was a huge success raising more money than we had expected,” L.F. Payne, president of McGuireWoods Consulting, said in a statement.

The Clinton campaign says it raised about $47.5 million in the second quarter — which spans from April to June. It spent about $18.7 million and still has $28.9 million cash on hand.

Bundlers play a key role, especially in presidential races, proving to a candidate that they can bring in much-needed cash needed to keep the expensive operation running.

Those private jets don’t pay for themselves.

SLIP-SLIDING AWAY.

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JOHN HINDERAKER: Clueless Reporters Question President Pinocchio: A Pathetic Press Conference.

ASHE SCHOW: Iowa court upholds ruling clearing student of campus sexual assault.

In May 2012, Yempabou “Bubu” Palo, an ISU basketball player, was accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student. Palo and another man, Spencer Cruise, had been friends with the accuser — listed in court records as H.B. — since high school. Palo and H.B. had engaged in sexual activities years earlier.

H.B. accused both men of raping her, and Palo was criminally charged with second-degree sexual abuse. But after an investigation — which included the discovery of fabricated evidence — the charges were dropped. H.B. had claimed that the blouse she had worn the night of the alleged attack had been torn during the encounter but that she had lost it. About seven months after the alleged incident, she found the torn blouse, but said she had washed it a week after the event.

A forensic expert determined the blouse had been torn after it was washed. That, along with several inconsistencies in H.B.’s story, led to the charges being dropped against Palo and Cruise. Despite this, ISU conducted its own investigation using a lower standard of evidence. An administrative law judge led the hearing against Palo, but determined the charges to be unfounded.

But they tried to railroad him anyway.

AS MARK TWAIN SAID, to do good is noble, but to teach others to do good is nobler still, and less trouble. Why aren’t ethicists better people? Having spent my childhood among ethicist types, some quite eminent, I suspect that they’re actually worse people than average, but smugger about it. This is a close corollary to my theory that philosophy was originally invented to justify drinking too much and cheating on your spouse, and that it has never gotten far from its roots.

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THE BEAUTY OF BEING INVISIBLE.

BILL QUICK: I’m Not Worried About A Scott Walker Sellout. “The signs that justify hope are what Walker has actually done: He has taken on and defeated most of the major pillars of today’s Democrat party: Labor unions, teacher’s unions, bureaucrats, and he has done so with great bravery and effectiveness. No other GOP candidate can point to a similarly effective, hard-core, record.”

LIFE AMONG THE POLITICAL CLASS: Rising Maryland state rep charged with aggressively jostling her bare breasts at ex-husband in doorway confrontation.

Delegate Ariana Kelly (D-Montgomery) is a rising star in the Maryland Democratic party who is said to be considering running for the House seat being vacated by Rep Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), who is running for the senate seat being vacated by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). But the 39 year old state lawmaker was arrested last month and charged with trespassing and indecent exposure in a confrontation with her ex-husband which thankfully did not escalate to violence but did lead to Kelly aggressively jostling her bare breasts in his direction as she stood in his doorway and refused his demands to leave.

Kelly and ex-husband Barak Sanford were divorced in November. . . . When police arrived they advised Delegate Kelly that she could be arrested for trespassing and indecent exposure. Kelly said “Arrest me then”, and put her wrists together in a gesture asking to be arrested.

She was arrested.

I presume, though, that she won’t be placed on a sex offender registry.

MAJOR GARRETT RESPONDS TO ‘CONTROVERSY’ OVER HIS QUESTION FOR THE PRESIDENT: “Clearly it struck a nerve. That was my intention.” Garrett went on to add: “Was it provocative? Yes. Was it intended to be such? Absolutely.”

There’s a 50 percent chance other journalists might “unexpectedly” discover they no longer have to be presidential stenographers come January 2017.

RELATED:

same media that had vaginal-not-clitoral orgasms about Iraqi reporter throwing a shoe at Bush pretty sure now Major Garrett is racist

— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) July 15, 2015

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE (CONT’D): Mother charged in daughter’s alleged rape by stepdad.

The mother of a woman who says her stepfather and mother abused her for years was indicted for rape in Accomack County.

Ruth Ann Johnson, 58, of Sulpher, La., was arrested June 26 after an Accomack County grand jury indicted her June 1 on charges of rape, indecent liberties and child endangerment in connection with incidents dating to the summer of 1986.

The indictment names Johnson as an accessory before the fact in sexual crimes allegedly committed by her then-husband, Khalil Mohammed Muslimani, against her daughter, who was under age 13 at the time. . . . Spione, who said she was impregnated by Muslimani at age 11 and later gave birth to four children fathered by him, said she continues to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder as result of the alleged abuse, which started when she was 4.

Muslimani, 68, of Onancock, Va., also was indicted in June on a total of seven counts of rape, forcible sodomy, carnal knowledge and child endangerment in cases involving Spione and another underage victim. He was arrested June 30 and remains in jail without bond.

Hmm.

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ACTUALLY, SOME WOMEN DO REGRET THEIR ABORTIONS: “Real stories of real women debunk the sensationalized Time headline. So do several other studies.”

RELATED: “I think that Planned Parenthood knows that they are – what’s that phrase, again? Ah, yes: ‘on the wrong side of history’…. they’re radicalizing a bunch of people in the other direction.  I should know; I’m one of them.”

OBAMA ANGERED BY CBS QUESTION ABOUT AMERICANS HELD IN IRAN:

During a Wednesday press conference about the Iran nuclear deal, President Obama was angered by a question from CBS reporter Major Garrett about the American prisoners held in Iran.

“Thank you, Mr. President. as you well know, there are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped-up charges according to your administration and one whereabouts unknown. Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content with all the fanfare around this deal to leave the conscious of this nation, the strength of this nation unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans?” Garrett asked.

The Emperor was not pleased at the supplicant’s impudent query:

“I’ve gotta give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions,” Obama responded. “The notion that I am content as I celebrate, with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails…”

The president’s voice trailed off before he continued. “Major, that’s nonsense, and you should know better,” Obama said.

Or to put it another way:

Breaking: 54-year old man irritated by the first hard question he's ever heard in the first job he's ever had

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) July 15, 2015

And his Palace Guard swings into action to protect the Emperor! Multiple CNN “journalists” blast Garrett for daring to ask the president a tough question.

THE IRAN DEAL IN 26 SECONDS:

The Iran deal in 26 seconds pic.twitter.com/sZRRgrHKTa

— Elliott Schwartz (@elliosch) July 15, 2015

THE DEAL WASN’T ABOUT IRAN’S NUKES: “If you think the United States just struck a poor nuclear deal with Iran, you’re right; but if that’s your key takeaway, you’re missing the point,” Abe Greenwald writes at Commentary:

As far as legacy, what politician doesn’t want one? For Obama, a nominal nuclear deal may make him feel as if he’s earned the Nobel Prize once furnished him as election swag. John Kerry’s own efforts to earn a Nobel by brokering Middle East peace became another footnote in the story of Palestinian obstinacy. He too had something to prove.

From the administration’s standpoint, the deal was a grand slam. If it left Iran as an official nuclear power on the perpetual verge of a breakout, well, that was always the bargaining chip to get everything else. And with the United States having shown extraordinary cooperation and forgiveness, the thinking goes, even a nuclear Iran will become a less bellicose and more collegial member of the community of nations. What good the deal has already done, the administration believes, will continue to pay dividends. As is his wont, Obama is now declaring as much. But by the time his vision is upended by facts, he’ll be out of office, and we won’t have the luxury of fighting reality with abstractions.

QED:

https://twitter.com/nberryhill/status/621392314779475968

QUALIFIED IMMUNITY, explained.

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