BETTER DEAD THAN RUDE: “As Jim Geraghty points out the whole policy that authorities have pretended will help fight terrorism of telling us that ‘if you see something, say something’ falls victim to political correctness. The Fort Pierce police officer who worked alongside Omar Mateen said that he had complained to his employer several times about his homophobic and racial comments…And remember the neighbors of the San Bernardino murderers who thought of calling the police about what was going on next door, but worried about being chastised for racial profiling because they were Muslims.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Job-Seeking Ph.D. Holders Look to Life Outside School: New doctorate holders are grappling with dwindling employment prospects within the academy.

If only they’d been warned.

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE UPDATE: 51 U.S. Diplomats Urge Strikes Against Assad in Syria.

The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process.”

Such a step would represent a radical shift in the administration’s approach to the civil war in Syria, and there is little evidence that President Obama has plans to change course. Mr. Obama has emphasized the military campaign against the Islamic State over efforts to dislodge Mr. Assad. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, have all but collapsed.

But the memo, filed in the State Department’s “dissent channel,” underscores the deep rifts and lingering frustration within the administration over how to deal with a war that has killed more than 400,000 people.

Unprecedented?

VANITY FAIR: Is Donald Trump’s Endgame the Launch of Trump News?

It’s an interesting theory, but the timetable in the article’s lede doesn’t ring true. CNN was well established before 1992 and its claim that MSNBC had parity with FNC in 2000 isn’t how I remember the floundering pre-Olbermann phase of the network. But in any case, why should Fox have the center-right largely all to itself on cable TV?

Related: Presidential Politics Pays Off for Cable News, But Networks and Newspapers Continue to Flounder.

WHEN EVERYTHING IS A CRIME: Harvey Silverglate, FIRE co-founder on the Overregulation of Ordinary Life (Video.)

STUART BROTMAN: Small business technology challenges require greater political attention.

GOING TO BED EARLY: Because I’m booked at Denver Comicon today and tomorrow.  If you’re attending, come by the Wordfire booth and say hi.  If I can find the batteries for the camera, (we just moved.  They’re in a box SOMEWHERE) I’ll take pictures!

OF COURSE THEY ARE: Zika mosquitoes are biting in America now — and we’re still not ready.

WHY THE BALL WAS DROPPED: Failure to connect the dots on Mateen.

BECAUSE THE VICTIMS ARE UNARMED? Why terrorists target gun-free zones.

IF IT WERE JUST DISNEY: How Disney teaches contempt for dads.

ANNOYING THE DAESHBAGS: Anonymous hacks ISIS’ Twitter, makes it as fabulously gay as humanly possible. It doesn’t bring back the lives lost, but sometimes mockery is a revenge too.

IN HIS WORLD. WHERE THE SKY IS MADE OF GREEN CHEESE: Obama in Orlando: Arming Club Patrons ‘Defies Common Sense’.

2008 REDUX: John McCain wimps out, walks back comment that Obama is “directly responsible” for Orlando massacre.

IN OTHER WORDS, AMERICANS: Bigots? No, Heroes: U.S. Gun Owners Everywhere Offering FREE Shooting Lessons to Gays.

BECAUSE HE’S ACTUALLY A LIBERAL REPUBLICAN: Why William Weld Worries Libertarians.

TEST DRIVE: 2018 Audi S4.

MCCAIN TEES OFF ON OBAMA: “Today John McCain told reporters that Barack Obama is ‘directly responsible’ for Omar Mateen’s terrorist attack in Orlando.”

SO THAT IDIOT GERSH KUNTZMAN WROTE ABOUT THE “BRUISING” RECOIL OF AN AR-15. Here you can see me shooting an AR-15 at Bullets & Bourbon. Now, granted, thanks to the Rippetoe workouts I’m pretty much a man-mountain these days [Really? — ed. Well, by law-professor standards.]. But you won’t see much recoil here. That’s because the AR-15 is in fact a pretty low-powered rifle with very mild recoil.

Related: If Firing An AR-15 Scares You, Maybe You’re A Sissy: If you can’t fire a commonplace sporting rifle without feeling ‘irritable and jittery’ for hours afterwards, that’s a problem with you, not with the gun.

SHOT: Mizzou Race Activists Declare ‘Too Many White People’ at Orlando Vigil.

Chaser:

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal Day 1134.

ON AMAZON VIDEO, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Everyone should see this before November.

EXCLUSIVELY ON AMAZON: The Segway Mini Pro.

Also, take 20% off Diamondback Bikes.

And: Take 15% off ChefWorks Aprons & Hats.

MY USA TODAY COLUMN: Unhappy With Trump And Hillary? The Problem Is What The Presidency Has Become.

STEVEN HAYWARD: Is Trump Our Charles De Gaulle? “Moreover, in his 1931 book The Edge of the Sword de Gaulle wrote that ‘one does not move crowds other than by basic feelings, violent images, brutal invocations.’ Yeah, that’s Trump, too.”