TRUMP CHALLENGES HILLARY TO HOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE, SINCE HER LAST ONE OCCURRED 236 DAYS AGO: Even Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) tells PJM that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton should have press conferences “all the time.”

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 1178.

SOCIALISM ALWAYS STARTS WITH THE SAME GLOWING PROMISES, BUT ALWAYS WINDS UP LIKE THIS: Venezuela calls for mandatory labor in farm sector.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Let’s Roll: Why Standing Up to a Terrorist Is Your Best Self-Defense.

After the carnage like we’ve witnessed in American cities such as San Bernardino and Orlando, and more recently in Europe, the national conversation tends to shift temporarily back toward gun control legislation and how to best protect ourselves in the homeland from future terrorist attacks.

Sadly, however, what is always absent from these post-tragedy conversations is any mention of one change with enormous potential to save lives—one which would not require controversial legislation, millions of dollars, nor procurement of expensive advanced technologies. This change includes an overdue re-examination of how unarmed civilians should respond during these events, including how federal, state, and local authorities tell the public to respond.

Most every American has at some point either discussed or practiced an “active shooter response” based on guidance developed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Originally created, in part, as a buffer against potential lawsuits in the wake of a Nebraska mall shooting in late 2007, the guidance teaches us to run away if possible, hide if you are unable to escape, and fight back only as a last resort.

Today, “Run, Hide, Fight” is taught to everyone and mandated not only by the DHS, but also by the FBI, law enforcement…and even the military, including for its own members. Fear of lawsuits (by grieving family members of victims who fought back) still drives this and indirectly paralyzes everyone into watching helplessly as the active shooter and terrorist menace rampages. . . .

The mindset that we are helpless without weapons is not only self-defeating, but dangerous, and government policy that reinforces this perception is a flawed one.

A September 2013 FBI report found that of the 160 active shooter incidents in the U.S. between 2010 and 2013, 21 (13.1 percent) ended after unarmed citizens made the “selfless and deeply personal choices” to confront the active shooters. In each of these cases, the citizens “safely and successfully disrupted the shootings” and “likely saved the lives” of many others present.

Another compelling reason to consider change is because future attacks are inevitable, and relying on police rescue might actually lower your own chance of survival.

The 2013 FBI report found that of those 160 active shooter incidents—incidents that generated 1,043 total casualties—60 percent ended before police arrived. These disturbing numbers warrant attention, especially when examined alongside CIA Director John Brennan’s recent remarks: “ISIL has a large cadre of Western fighters who could potentially serve as operatives for attacks in the West … our efforts have not reduced the group’s terrorism capability and global reach … [and] we judge that it will intensify its global terror campaign.”

Yep. The real first responders are the people who are already there. Related thoughts here.

WELL, I CERTAINLY CAN’T FAULT HER: Malia Obama skipped the DNC for Lollapalooza.

AN EXCITING HISTORY of drywall. “Like white bread in the 1950s, drywall became the de facto consumer substance with the promise of a better, cleaner, easier life. White bread sales are now declining, but drywall is doing better than ever. Maybe that’s because drywall really is the best way to create affordable housing for millions.”

AT AMAZON, fresh deals on bestselling products, updated every hour.

Also, coupons galore in Grocery & Gourmet Food.

Plus, Kindle Daily Deals.

And, Today’s Featured Digital Deal. The deals are brand new every day, so browse and save!

MY GOD, SHE’S RUNNING AS HILLARY CLINTON, writes Jonah Goldberg in his latest G-File:

Not every speech over the first three nights was a homerun — or even a success. But cumulatively they succeeded in building a narrative arc that begged for a rhetorically pyrotechnic crescendo. The angry denunciation of Trump by a Muslim father of a fallen American soldier, the patriotic pride of a Muslim Medal of Honor winner, the stentorian harangue from Marine General John Allen, the chants of “USA! USA!”: It all built anticipation for the big reveal at the end of the night. The Joycean run-on-sentence was primed like a coil to burst the dam of expectation with an exclamation point so enormous only horribly mixed metaphors can capture it.

Like attendees of a tribal war feast, the crowd waited for the main course. What glorious dish of red meat lay under the giant brass dome? A whole roast bull stuffed with an ostrich stuffed with a boar, perhaps?

Finally, the panel opened up and out came the meal: A gluten-free bran muffin and a warm kale smoothie.

Read the whole thing.

MATT DRUDGE FINDS THE BURIED LEDE: Hillary refused to cooperate with the FBI investigation into her campaign being hacked:

The FBI warned the Clinton campaign that it was a target of a cyberattack last March, just weeks before the Democratic National Committee discovered it had been penetrated by hackers it now believes were working for Russian intelligence, two sources who have been briefed on the matter told Yahoo News.

In a meeting with senior officials at the campaign’s Brooklyn headquarters, FBI agents laid out concerns that cyberhackers had used so-called spear-phishing emails as part of an attempt to penetrate the campaign’s computers, the sources said. One of the sources said agents conducting a national security investigation asked the Clinton campaign to turn over internal computer logs as well as the personal email addresses of senior campaign officials. But the campaign, through its lawyers, declined to provide the data, deciding that the FBI’s request for sensitive personal and campaign information data was too broad and intrusive, the source said.

Hmmm — I wonder why?

THE NEW POLITICAL DIVIDE: Farewell, left versus right. The contest that matters now is open against closed.

CORY BOOKER: Trump’s support among the gay community is ‘terrifying.’

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is alarmed by polls that suggest GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is seeing a rise in support from the gay community.

“That’s terrifying,” Booker told the Washington Examiner after the Democratic National Convention. “Donald Trump probably picked one of the most anti-gay vice presidential candidates we’ve had in a long time.”

Booker said Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., has been at the forefront of leading efforts he said unfairly discriminate against members of the LGBT community. The New Jersey senator went on to argue why he believes the Democratic Party is best for the gay community.

“Clearly we are the party of civil rights, worker’s rights, women’s rights and definitely gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights,” Booker said.

Apparently, it’s not so clear.

FILE IT AWAY: “The Ten Stages of Trump Excuse-ism: If Trump loses in November–which isn’t a sure thing, of course–I think it’s pretty clear that we’ll see the following responses, in the following order, from his supporters.”

UNEXPECTEDLY: Sheryl likes her! Now Facebook’s COO Sandberg endorses the ‘leader we need’ Hillary Clinton—just months after the site was involved in ‘liberal bias’ controversy.

THE HILL: Dem Anxiety Hangs Over Clinton:

Democrats are worried about Hillary Clinton’s inability to separate herself from Donald Trump in the polls, even after what they believe was a largely successful convention that represented a real step toward party unity.

Clinton is hoping for a big post-convention boost, but the reality right now is that she in behind Trump in the polls, and has been in a relatively tight race for weeks.

While the Electoral College may give her an advantage, party leaders and strategists say they remain concerned that Clinton is a tough sell when a majority of Americans think the country is on the wrong track and want to shake up Washington.

“The most important thing is there is a bias for change and there’s an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll where people express that bias even when they don’t know what the change is going to be,” said Geoff Garin, a pollster who worked for Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and now advises Priorities USA, a pro-Clinton super PAC.

That July survey showed a majority of voters, 56 percent, prefer someone who will bring major changes to government even if they don’t know what those changes will be. Only 46 percent wanted a candidate who would bring a steady approach to government.

It helps explain Trump’s success, and the strong challenge to Clinton in the Democratic primary from Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Away from the hoopla of the Wells Fargo, Democratic officials and strategists say it’s a major concern.

“I’m nervous. The country is in a bad mood. It’s such an unpredictable year,” said a Democratic National Committee official who requested anonymity to speak frankly about Clinton’s prospects.

Other concerns include the possibility of an enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats — Trump got more votes in the GOP primary than any candidate in history while Hillary received fewer votes than she did in 2008 when she lost — and a possible “October surprise.”

One labor official fretted that more hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee may surface later in the campaign and hurt Hillary.

I think there’ll be something. But her biggest weakness is that she’s most popular when she’s not in the news, and it’s hard to run a campaign that way.

WIKILEAKS CRASHES THE PARTY: “Any sense of decency is long past. Democrats liked secret-stealing Russians so much better when they called themselves Communists.”

Heh.™

IMPOSSIBLE! HER SERVER WAS WIPED CLEAN – LIKE WITH A CLOTH OR SOMETHING: Clinton campaign hacked.

TO BE FAIR, HER LEGISLATIVE CAREER WAS NEVER ANYTHING BUT A SPRINGBOARD: Hillary’s Single Legislative Success: Renaming a Building in NYC.

HEADLINES FROM 1933: How Democrats became the party of ‘safe socialism.’

Of course, some things never change: Other than repealing prohibition, FDR’s campaign promises in 1932 were vastly different than what he delivered.

WELL, WE CERTAINLY CAN’T ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO WORK HARD AND SAVE: The Post-Modern Emphasis on “Dumb Luck.” “Attributing one’s success in life to dumb luck makes it politically expedient for politicians to raise taxes on those who are successful and pander to the ‘less fortunate’ by telling them nothing is their fault as they are victims of circumstances beyond one’s control. The unsuccessful (who are the majority) feel vindicated and the politicians have goodies to pretend to distribute–the goodies of those with dumb luck.”

THOMAS LIFSON: Something very weird about Hillary’s face at the convention. “There has to be a lot of resentment. The stories of screaming matches, thrown lamps, and the rest are credible to me because Hillary has endured a level of private humiliation at her husband’s hands, in ways overt as in all the extracurricular sex, but also in ways completely unintended, the product of her negative charisma. The result of all this is a burning desire to surpass Bill, to occupy the Oval Office, and get revenge for his casual ease at being liked. And the facial expression? I think it is a window into the intensity of Hillary’s desire, buried deep within her soul, and rarely allowed out. Professor Althouse chose to compare Hillary’s picture to The Scream, the famous painting by Munch. I think that comparison makes my point.”

Related: America Can’t Stand Hillary: “I have thought for a while that pretty much everyone’s mind is made up about Hillary, after all these years. But Gallup finds a remarkable fall from grace, with Hillary having been at 59% favorable as recently as last year. Apparently the FBI’s finding her to have been ‘extremely careless’ in handling classified information, together with ongoing focus on her Libya/Benghazi failings, have seriously hurt her in the eyes of many Americans. That, plus the fact that she is always most popular when out of sight. When people see Hillary, as during the current campaign, they tend not to like her.”

THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL: Started today, runs through Sunday. Here’s Mahalia Jackson at the festival in 1958. And Anita O’Day — also 1958. Both clips are from the classic documentary Jazz On A Summer’s Day.

HOW DO WORD PROCESSORS change authors’ writing style? When I read back over my old stuff, it doesn’t seem like it’s changed much at all, but then I’ve been using some sort of word processor for pretty much my entire adult life.

THIS ISN’T THE 21st CENTURY I WAS PROMISED: ‘Freedom Fairy’ Protests Trump at RNC (Video).

ADDRESSING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: What High Heels Say About The Gap Between The Rich And The Poor. Pretty much exactly what you’d expect, actually.