BILL HOBBS GETS WHY DONALD TRUMP GETS HIS CRITICS: Most presidents possess an abundance of political skills that largely account for their success in gaining the Oval Office, but one in particular that most distinguishes them. For JFK, it was his ability to project energy and courage. For Reagan, it was his vision of America as “the shining city on the hill.”
For Donald Trump, it’s an amazing talent for recognizing and then pouncing on … go here and trust me, it’s worth the read.
IN THE MAIL: The Italian Executioners: The Genocide of the Jews of Italy.
Plus, Today’s Gold Box and Lightning Deals.
HMM: Housing demand sees biggest drop in more than 2 years.
Red-hot home prices, rising mortgage interest rates, very few listings at the entry level and a high rate of student loan debt have weighed on buyers for a while, but a strong economy and growing employment had mitigated those factors. Now, however, a market stalemate is developing as rates and prices continue to rise, further weakening affordability.
As a result, the number of people requesting home tours fell 6.1 percent annually in June, according to Redfin’s index, which is seasonally adjusted and covers 15 large metropolitan housing markets. There were 15 percent fewer offers made on homes as well.
The supply of homes for sale increased very slightly nationally in June, according to the National Association of Realtors, but in Redfin’s major market index, the total number of homes for sale was 3.8 percent lower than a year ago and there were 1.6 percent fewer new listings.
Anything that hot has to cool down eventually.
WING COMMANDER’S LAST FLIGHT: “Fini flight” in an F-22 Raptor.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, INSTITUTIONAL-RACISM EDITION: Economists approve statistical model that finds Harvard discriminates against Asians.
Harvard University has the support of the higher education establishment, and Students for Fair Admissions has the support of statistics that the establishment would prefer to ignore.
That’s the narrative told in friend-of-the-court briefs that side with SFFA in its lawsuit against Harvard’s race-conscious admissions policy, which claims that Harvard discriminates against Asian-American applicants.
Both parties are seeking summary judgment from the U.S. District Court in Boston ahead of trial this fall. Most of the briefs recently filed by outside parties are siding with Harvard, portraying race as essential to “holistic” admissions policies designed to produce a diverse student body.
They were challenged by a group of “leading economists and econometrics scholars,” who told the court that the statistical model used by the Asian-American plaintiffs’ expert witness is “methodologically sound.”
One of them is Prof. Glenn Loury of Brown University, who hosts a YouTube interview show that often deals with racial controversies in higher education.
THAT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE SHUT UP: Hey, journalists: Victims of that actually violent anti-Trump mob in San Jose can sue the police.
OH: NY Dem Governor Attacks Media For Asking Tough Questions.
When you hear about a politician verbally attacking a member of the media the story is supposed to be about President Trump, right? (And to be fair, he certainly does more than his fair share of it.) But this story, which you’re unlikely to hear much about unless you live in New York, isn’t about Trump. It’s about New York Governor (and 2020 presidential hopeful) Andrew Cuomo. During a press conference yesterday, NY1 reporter Zack Fink had the temerity to ask the Governor a question about the latest in a series of campaign finance scandals embroiling Cuomo and whether or not he planned to return some large and very dodgy donations. While he didn’t invoke the dreaded “fake news” claim, Cuomo did go after Fink’s employer, accusing them of fraud, and then went on to seemingly try to implicate the reporter himself in the company’s troubles. (Huffington Post).
That’s different because shut up.
MAKE CARS GREAT AGAIN: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler explain how reforms to fuel efficiency (CAFE) regulations will lower the cost of new automobiles and increase safety.
This reform is something my colleagues and I have been advocating for for many years. You can see our reaction and some background here.
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: UW-Madison encourages students to report ‘microaggressions.’ So many American institutions seem to be going out of their way to make themselves ridiculous.
LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Paul Manafort Owns an Ostrich Jacket and Much, Much More. “The trial will continue today, so stay tuned for the latest gossip about a trial that has nothing to do with RUSSIA collusion and everything to do with unfortunate fashion choices.”
FINALLY: Man Suspected of Murdering Brian Terry Extradited From Mexico to U.S. “Suspect Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes allegedly used a gun from Operation Fast & Furious, a gun-running scheme established under former Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice. He will face charges of first degree murder and have an arraignment in Tucson, Arizona.”
THEY’RE DANGEROUS CLOWNS, SO GOOD: RealClearInvestigations: Privately, Intel Officials Back Shutting Out Brennan, Clapper. “President Trump has been criticized for politicizing the intelligence community by threatening to strip the security clearances of former top officials including John Brennan and James Clapper. But numerous past and present senior intelligence officials say the Obama administration started that politicization — and revoking the clearances of those who abuse the privilege for partisan purposes may help right the ship.”
POLLS: Mr. Steady: Trump ‘unique’ with ‘remarkably stable’ support, higher than Obama or Bush had.
More Republicans approve of President Trump than Democrats did of former President Obama at this time according to a new report that expresses surprise at the steady and sustained support for the Republican.
Calling Trump’s solid backing from his base “unique” in recent presidential history, Pew Research Center added, “Over the course of an eventful first 18 months in office, President Donald Trump’s approval ratings have remained remarkably stable.”
Trump’s supporters have tuned out the press, and even many of his opponents have been numbed by the nonstop hysteria.
FRACK, BABY, FRACK: Oil Edges Lower on Surprise U.S. Crude Stockpile Build.
I had it on godlike authority that we couldn’t drill our way to lower energy prices.
BLUE WAVE? If Trump is disciplined enough to make the economy his headline, there’s not much Democrats can do to counteract his message. “Democrats were left to grumble about the rich benefiting most, and the mainstream press pointed to farmers hurrying silos of soybeans to China ahead of looming tariffs. But others recognized the seriousness of 4.1 percent growth. The Twitter feeds of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and potential presidential candidates like Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), were silent on the numbers — apparently operating under the theory that if you don’t have something mean to say, don’t say anything at all.”
Democrats have gone from “It’s the economy, stupid” to “It’s the stupid economy.”
MEH, IT’S ONLY THREATS OF VIOLENCE. IT’S NOT LIKE THE RA HAD A REPUBLICAN FRIEND OR MISGENDERED SOMEONE. Lawyers Want Removal of Stanford Resident Assistant Who Threatened Violence On Jews.
HMM: The F-22 Raptor Is Basically Wasting Away Thanks To Air Force Mismanagement.
F-22 availability, already diminished by maintenance problems endemic to the complex and finicky stealth fighter, has been further reduced by the small size of F-22 squadrons and the practice of deploying small detachments from individual squadrons overseas. The combined effect has been to reduce F-22 availability to the point where there are neither enough planes to meet mission requirements nor to provide pilots with sufficient training for air-to-air combat, which is the Raptor’s primary role
“The small size of F-22 squadrons and wings has contributed to low aircraft availability rates,” according to GAO. “Further, the Air Force practice of deploying a small portion of a squadron makes it difficult for F-22 squadrons, as currently organized, to make aircraft available for their missions at home station. The Air Force would also face difficulties generating aircraft to support DOD’s concepts for using distributed operations in high threat environments with its current F-22 squadron organization.”
Primary blame rests with former SecDef Donald Rumsfeld, who “arbitrarily chopped the F-22 program down to 180 aircraft.” He was not, in Michael Corleone’s memorable phrase, a wartime consigliere, and should have bowed out after 9/11 when it became clear that George W. Bush’s original intentions for Defense had been obsolesced.
SCAPEGOATS, SCAPEGOATS EVERYWHERE BUT THE ECONOMY CONTINUES TO SINK: Socialist Venezuela Falling Apart As President Maduro Shockingly Blames Party.
In a surprising twist on Monday, Maduro went against the Socialists United (PSUV) playbook of blaming Washington (especially the CIA) for Venezuela’s troubles.
“The production models we’ve tried so far have failed, and the responsibility is ours—mine and yours,” Maduro told the PSUV party congress.
“Enough with the whining,” Agence France Press reported him saying. “We need to produce with or without [outside] aggression, with or without blockades, we need to make Venezuela an economic power,” he said.
Wreckers, hoarders, saboteurs, Trotskyites, kulaks, Yankee Imperialists, counterrevolutionaries, and Jews can breathe easy — for now.
IS THERE SOME SORT OF ONGOING CAMPAIGN WITHIN THE JUDICIARY TO MAKE ITSELF LOOK SILLY? Legal Duty to Report Your Coworkers’ Off-the-Job Crimes? That’s what a New Jersey appellate court seems to have created, based on the theory that a criminal’s coworkers somehow have a special duty to the victim — even when the crime has nothing at all to do with the job.
VIDEO: O’Keefe Catches Antifa ‘Fight Instructors’ Teaching Activists How To Inflict Pain on Their Targets. “If you get a good liver or kidney shot, it’s pretty much crippling them.”
I’ll be at the range.
ABC NEWS: Pastor praises Trump as ‘pro-black’ at prison reform event.
President Donald Trump was lauded by inner-city pastors, including one who said he may go down as the “most pro-black president” in recent history, during a White House roundtable on Wednesday that was focused on efforts to reform the prison system.
Trump told the group, which included pastors and bishops from across the country, that his administration has been making progress on efforts to make it easier for prisoners to re-enter society and find work.
“When we say hire American, we mean all Americans,” Trump said.
Well, like they say, when your heart is filled with patriotism, there’s no room for bigotry.
Plus:
Among those gathered was Darrell Scott, a black Ohio pastor who was an early supporter of Trump’s campaign and has been working with the administration on urban and prison issues.
“This is probably the most pro-active administration regarding urban America and the faith-based community in my lifetime,” Scott told the group, adding, “This is probably going be … the most pro-black president that we’ve had in our lifetime.”
He compared Trump to his predecessor, Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, and said: “This president actually wants to prove something to our community, our faith-based community and our ethnic community.”
“The last president didn’t feel like he had to,” he added, saying of Obama: “He got a pass.”
During his campaign, Trump accused Democrats of doing too little to help urban communities and often asked African-Americans what they had to lose by voting for him.
The White House has been focusing its criminal justice reform efforts on improving re-entry, rehabilitation and workforce training programs, instead of sentencing reform, which many advocates argue would make a bigger difference.
Trump’s big on jobs.
InstaPundit is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
