RUN, CREEPY PORN LAWYER, RUN! Michael Avenatti Is Making Concrete Moves to Run for President in 2020 Against Trump.

In a brief phone interview with The Daily Beast, Avenatti stressed that his expenditures and exploratory travel would only ramp up in the weeks and months ahead, with stops planned for Texas, California, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, along with longer-term plans to visit Iowa, Ohio, and Nevada.

“This idea that this is a superficial thing is ludicrous,” Avenatti said. “It is so ridiculous. I don’t need to engage in a superficial exploration of a potential run. Why would I need to do that? I don’t need any more notoriety. Why would I be wanting to take my time and energy traveling the country to raise money for Democrats if this was superficial?”

Though Fight PAC had raised a relatively small $11,907.98 so far, Avenatti said that fundraising was “coming along pretty well.” He had not hired anyone permanently for his committee. But, he added, “I’m consulting with a number of people.”

Does he have real presidential ambitions, or is he just testing the waters for a bigger effort at fleecing Democrats out of campaign donations?

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: FBI looking at Manhattan district attorney’s office over potential undue influence in handling of cases: sources.

TIRED OF AD HOMINEM ATTACKS INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY ADDRESSING IDEAS? So is Conor Freidersdorf from the Atlantic, whose comprehensive takedown of a Guardian review of the bestselling book The Coddling of the American Mind on this basis is a sight to behold. (Disclosure: the book’s co-author is my boss.) And in Quillette, FIRE’s Pamela Paresky goes into further detail about how so much of what passes for “reasoning” these days is really the operation of taboo and “moral pollution.” If you’re one of the many people who just can’t stand political discussions these days (I quit posting to Facebook for just that reason), these articles go a long way towards explaining why.

SOCIALISM IS ALWAYS ABOUT HUMILIATING PEOPLE AND TAKING THEIR STUFF:

“Don’t just interrupt a Senator’s meal, y’all,” James Thomas, an assistant professor of sociology, tweeted from his @Insurgent_Prof account on Oct. 6, the day Justice Brett Kavanaugh was sworn into the Supreme Court.

“Put your whole damn fingers in their salads,” he wrote. “Take their apps and distribute them to the other diners. Bring boxes and take their food home with you on the way out. They don’t deserve your civility.”

But if you respond in kind, they’ll be all “have you no decency, you right-wing terrorist?”

DAVID HARSANYI: The Only Remarkable Thing About Beto O’Rourke Is How Much The Media Loves Him. “A perfect example of bias, advocacy. and wishful thinking.”

Despite my best efforts, I know exactly what Texas Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke’s post-punk indie band from the mid-’90s sounds like (not as bad as you’d think!). At the same time, I don’t know much about Senate candidate Josh Hawley, who is 38 years old (meaning, around eight years younger than “rising star” Beto), the attorney general of Missouri, and the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate.

In fact, Hawley’s name recognition outside of his state is probably negligible. When his name does come up in national political coverage, it’s mostly as a tack-on in pieces accessing opponent Claire McCaskill’s latest face-saving move or a panicky story about voter registration in Missouri. As with most other Americans, I don’t have any idea if Hawley likes to air drum to The Who when he pretends to win a debate. What I do know is that Hawley is slightly leading McCaskill, a two-time incumbent, in the RealClearPolitics poll average in a race that could decide which party controls the Senate.

O’Rourke, who is also up against an incumbent, Ted Cruz, is down seven points and falling. It wouldn’t be completely surprising if Cruz ends up winning Texas by nearly the same margin he did in 2012. Yet you might not have discerned this reality if you were merely paying attention to Betomania.

The Democrat-Media Complex is obsessed with the superficial because, well, what else have they got?

WORST NAZI EVER: Trump nominates openly gay conservative to federal appeals court. “Bumatay is an assistant U.S. attorney in California handling various criminal issues, including opioid abuse and transnational organized crime, according to the White House. He went to Yale and Harvard Law School, and the White House said Bumatay is a member of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and the Tom Homann LGBT Law Association. Bumatay is the second openly gay person Trump has nominated for the federal bench, according to the Washington Blade.”

Sadly, California’s homophobic female senators, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, oppose him and tried to block his nomination.

SO THAT WHOLE DNA TEST THING IS REALLY GOING SWIMMINGLY: Actual Pocohantas descendent to Warren: Apologize.

WHY ARE DEMOCRATS SO VIOLENT? Two GOP Candidates Assaulted in Minnesota: Attacks come as state Democrats suspend staffer for beheading post.

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN THIS KID? He’s 11-years-old and you gotta hear his critique of Einstein and Hawking.

THE HEAT IS ON: Women To Heitkamp: You’ll Hear From Our Attorney.

KAVANAUGH EFFECT: Poll: “The American public is becoming more skeptical about accusations of sexual misconduct.” “The share of American adults responding that men who sexually harassed women at work 20 years ago should keep their jobs has risen from 28% to 36%. The proportion who think that women who complain about sexual harassment cause more problems than they solve has grown from 29% to 31%. And 18% of Americans now think that false accusations of sexual assault are a bigger problem than attacks that go unreported or unpunished, compared with 13% in November last year.”

ROGER SIMON: Trump Takes the Right Position (Again) on Khashoggi.

BETO SCHOOL OF DRIVING: Michigan Dem. Gretchen Whitmer Crashed Into Parked Car in 2016, Witness Said She Was ‘Intoxicated.’ “In a message to PJ Media, the campaign admitted the incident occurred but insisted that alcohol was not involved. They did not give an alternate explanation for why the collision occurred, however.”

ROYAL INTERNATIONAL AIR TATTOO: An RAF pilot puts a WW2 Spitfire through its paces. (Tattoo: in this case, a military performance or exhibition presented as entertainment.)

LET’S GET FRACKING: Don’t rule out $400 oil if the U.S. sanctions Saudi Arabia.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, HOSTILE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT ON ACCOUNT OF SEX EDITION: Penn celebrates Anita Hill, intersectionality founder with ‘man-bashing fest.’

OH: Sweden to expel 6-year-old orphan to Ukraine while granting amnesty to 9,000 Afghans.

WHOA, CANADA: Canada to pardon pot possession as the country legalizes marijuana.

YOUR FEELINGS DON’T MAKE YOU SPECIAL: University of Chicago pres. slams ‘privileging of feelings.’. “Some people are trying to keep certain views unexpressed out of self-righteous, moral, or political indignation, an agenda driven by such moral or political views, and comfort, arrogating to themselves and those they agree with the right of speech, while denying it to others.”

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LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Khashoggi in the Headlines and Much, Much More. “This story continues to lead news coverage with the media wagging their finger at President Trump, sneering that he needs to dump/sanction/cancel arms sales/start a war with the Sauds. Despite all the moral posturing, we have no evidence of anything yet, NONE and yet an entire scenario has been constructed and floated around but there is no evidence and no admissions only convenient allegations from the enemies (Turkey, Qatar, Iran) of a Saudi, Israeli, US alliance. If the U.S. turns on the Saudis, qui bono?”

Good question.

THIS DNA TEST HAS BEEN ONE OF THE GREATEST SELF-OWNS IN ALL THE HISTORY OF POLITICS: Cherokee Nation to Elizabeth Warren: Drop dead. Cherokee Nation Secretary of State: “A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person’s ancestors were indigenous to North or South America. Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation. . . . Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven. Sen. Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage.”

#METOO: Judge denies Ellison’s petition to keep divorce file sealed and redact ‘sensitive’ information.

MICHAEL BARONE: Barone’s Guide to Government: Searches and Seizures.