ROGER SIMON ON THE TENNESSEE WALTZ: How Marsha Blackburn Can Stop Phil Bredesen.

STEPHEN KRUISER: Do the Democrats Have Their Own Tea Party Movement?

Yes, in the sense that a bunch of well-informed, grassroots Republicans and independents politely insisted that taxes and spending were both too high, and the new Democrat upstarts are and want none of that.

THE POPULATION THREAT TO CHINA’S PROSPERITY.

CHANGE: More users than ever are deleting the Facebook app & taking lengthy breaks, new survey shows.

I came to loathe the Facebook app, which is a far thicker and taller silo than AOL ever was — and a lot creepier, too.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, ADMINISTRATIVE BLOAT EDITION: Ohio State employs 88 diversity-related staffers at a cost of $7.3M annually.

HERE ARE DEMS’ SIX STEPS FROM BORK TO CONFIRMATION CHAOS: Liberal journalism icon Scotty Reston warned Democrats in 1987 not to follow Teddy Kennedy down the Borking path. They ignored Reston, the first of six steps that have brought the Democrats (and the rest of us as well) to their present Kavanaugh confirmation debacle.

THIS IS WHAT A “PROTRACTED POLITICAL CRISIS” LOOKS LIKE: Economy adds more jobs than expected in August, and wage growth hits post-recession high.

WINNING: August Job Creation Rebounds — “Fueled By Tax Cuts,” Notes AP, Bloomberg.

Jobs, that is, for the lucky few who weren’t literally murdered to death by the tax cuts and/or ending net neutrality.

Plus: 6.3%: African-American Unemployment Rate Second-Lowest Ever.

Worst. Racist. Ever.

ON THIS DAY AT THE 1960 OLYMPICS IN ROME: Wilma Rudolph won her third Olympic gold medal for track and field. Not bad for a woman who contracted polio at the age of four and who had to wear a leg brace for much of her early life.

THEY TOLD ME IF TRUMP WERE ELECTED PRESIDENT, WE’D SEE CAMPUS VIOLENCE AGAINST NONCONFORMISTS. AND THEY WERE RIGHT! VIDEO: UNC prof charged with assault at Confederate statue toppling.

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LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Deep State Op-Ed, KavaNOPE and Much Much More.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT? ‘Frozen’ Actor Snatches Trump Flag From Audience Member During Curtain Call.

That hardly seems the time or place for any of that.

HMM: Larry Sabato: Cruz looks safe, GOP should keep, maybe expand, Senate.

AMERICA IS NOT IN A “PROTRACTED POLITICAL CRISIS,” THE LEFT IS IN A PROTRACTED POLITICAL TANTRUM.

This thread from Richard Fernandez explains what’s going on.

COLD WAR II: What Russia’s Vostok-18 Exercise with China Means. “Moscow knows what it is doing and Washington should take note.”

Other than the vast scale of the exercise, the fact that Chinese forces have a role seems to have dominated reporting on Vostok-18. But, at least two critical analytical points seem to have been missed. First, the location of the exercise no doubt reflects the Kremlin’s desire to cool down tensions in the European theater. At a time of emerging fissures within the Trans-Atlantic Community, such an enormous exercise close to NATO countries would be excessively provocative and counter to Russia’s interests. That the Kremlin understands this is no doubt a good thing for European security. The other important point that has not registered in most Western analyses is the confluence of the September Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok and the Vostok-18 exercise. It’s easy to forget that six months ago, it looked more than a little likely that a massive war would engulf Northeast Asia. The exercise was most likely put together as a show of force meant to favorably impact diplomacy and the related “correlation of forces” in and around the Korean Peninsula.

Undoubtedly, it is also true that Russia-China strategic cooperation has reached a new stage.

But: “As good as this sounds, it is fair to say that not all Russians are so optimistic, and some have even suggested that Vostok-18 has a double message that is also meant t o warn Beijing. I have recently described in this forum at least one prolific Russian strategist who considers China as the preeminent threat to Russian national security.”

This is the second deep-think article I came across this week on Vostok-18. The other, from Stephen Blank for MSN, was more ominous: “Russia is rehearsing for a global war, and giving early warning to the West.”

Given that Putin is an opportunist who plays his opponents rather than his country’s weak hand, I’d guess that his grand plan, such as it is, is to keep Russia’s options open.

DEMS NEED ANTISEMITES TO WIN, SO THIS WILL BE NO BIG DEAL: Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib Joins Radical Cast at Muslim Conference.

Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib was featured at the Islamic Society of North America’s annual conference alongside numerous radical figures, including individuals who have defended terrorist groups, openly called for violence against Israel, and pushed for extreme punishments for homosexuals.

Tlaib will almost certainly be heading to Congress in November as the Democratic candidate in a race without a Republican opponent. She has also expressed radical views on Israel since her primary win, saying she would “absolutely” vote against aid to Israel once in Congress. Tlaib supports the BDS movement to wage economic warfare against Israel and opposes a two-state solution—stances that lost her the endorsement of even liberal J Street, a group highly critical of Israel.

Expect more of this.

IT’S COMPLICATED: ‘Still an illegal substance,’ marijuana’s federal ban complicates things for cities, towns, vendors.

It’s my understanding that the FDA itself has the authority to move marijuana off the Schedule 1 list of “drugs with high risk and no counterbalancing benefit.” Unlikely as that is, perhaps Congress should act and return the issue to the states where it more properly belongs.

OH: Linda Sarsour Says “Humanizing” Israelis is a Problem.

CONSEQUENCES ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: After Equifax’s mega-breach, nothing changed.

ELI LAKE: For John Kerry, Every Brag Is Humble.

John Kerry has many passions. He loves the Boston Red Sox. He adores his wife, Teresa. He relishes diplomacy and bicycling. What John Kerry is most fond of, though, is John Kerry.

This is what stands out in his new memoir, “Every Day is Extra.” It’s Kerry’s mastery of faux-modesty. He writes like the guy who apologizes for his worn-out running shoes because, try as he might, he just can’t give up his cherished marathons.

Ouch.

Stephen Kruiser’s take was shorter and sharper: “Or ‘Every Wife is Richer’.”

16 YEARS BEHIND ME, BUT HEY, THEY’VE CAUGHT UP AT LAST: Science academies urge paper ballots for all US elections: No Internet technology is safe, secure or reliable for voting, find National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Related thoughts here.

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT: Wait Until You See How Many Google Employees Donated to Democrats.