DEPRESSION LUST: Former New York Fed president says central bankers should interfere with the 2020 election to oust Trump.

(Classical reference in headline.)

WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT EXPERTS? Google defends tracking cookies—some experts aren’t buying it.

BACKGROUNDER: Deconstructing Google’s excuses on tracking protection.

HOW DECADES OF PARANOID ATTACKS ON THE KOCH BROTHERS TURNED INTO MAINSTREAM LEFTIST TACTICS.

Well, more like a decade of paranoid attacks. In the late 1990s, the conservative zillionare baddy du jour was Richard Mellon Scaife, but in his last years, Scaife’s cold war with Bill Clinton thawed to the point where, as this 2014 Politico article notes, after Scaife’s passing, “Bill Clinton on Saturday fondly memorialized one of the key financiers of what Hillary Clinton years ago deemed the ‘vast right-wing conspiracy.’”

Thus, new a new shadowy replacement was needed to counterbalance the right’s obsession with George Soros. That the Koch brothers were much more libertarian than conservative didn’t stop the left from picking the target, personalizing it, and polarizing it, as Hillary and Obama’s chief influence would say.

FASTER, PLEASE: ‘Extraordinary’ Breakthroughs In Anti-Aging Research ‘Will Happen Faster Than People Think.’

THE AFGHAN MESS: How To Get Out Without Creating Another. “Reality is, no army in history has successfully controlled all of Afghanistan — not Alexander the Great, not Genghis Khan, not the British, not the Russians, not the Americans.”

Not even the Afghans.

THIS IS CNN:

● CNN: Trump is Worse than Hitler, Mao and Stalin Combined Because Climate Change.

—Watts Up With That, Sunday.

● CNN schedules 7-hour climate town hall for 2020 candidates.

—Axios, yesterday.

● CNN: Climate change is an important issue; Brian Stelter: Hold my beers. . .

As CNN prepares for its marathon town hall on climate change, we have a question for Brian Stelter: Why do you hate the Earth?

—Twitchy, today.

Last week, Forbes columnist Michael Shellenberger wrote “The Real Reason They Behave Hypocritically On Climate Change Is Because They Want To.”

But when the ratings for CNN’s seven hour climate town hall are in, I wonder if the brass at ATTWarnerMedia will blame Stelter for giving viewers all the reason they needed to tune out?

Related: Obama Blows $15 Million on Mansion Doomed by Rising Tides He Failed to Slow.

GOP SENATOR JOHNNY ISAKSON (GA) TO RESIGN AT THE END OF THE YEAR. “Isakson, 74, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013 and suffered a fall in July that left him with a torn rotator cuff and four fractured ribs. He underwent surgery on Monday to remove a renal-cell carcinoma from his kidney, according to local ABC affiliate WJCL.”

Earlier: Republicans See Senate as ‘Firewall’ in Preventing Liberal Armageddon in 2020.

WSJ: Democrats’ Emerging Tax Idea: Look Beyond Income, Target Wealth. “Lawmakers and 2020 candidates offer a range of options focused on capturing some of the trillions of dollars in assets belonging to the nation’s richest.”

For the richest Americans, Democrats want to shift toward taxing their wealth, instead of just their salaries and the income their assets generate. The personal income tax indirectly touches wealth, but only when assets are sold and become income.

At the end of 2017, U.S. households had $3.8 trillion in unrealized gains in stocks and investment funds, plus more in real estate, private businesses and artwork, according to the Economic Innovation Group, a nonprofit focused on bringing investment to low-income areas. Most of the value of estates over $100 million consists of unrealized gains, said a 2013 Federal Reserve study. Much has never been touched by individual income taxes and may never be.

Democrats are eager to tap that mountain of wealth to finance priorities such as expanding health-insurance coverage, combating climate change and aiding low-income households. Their ideas range from new rules on inherited assets, to a plan by Sen. Ron Wyden for annual taxes on unrealized gains, to a proposal from Sen. Elizabeth Warren to tax wealth itself.

A century ago, progressives promised the income tax would only affect the top one percent, too.

HOWIE CARR IS MERCILESS: Lefty media rushes to puff up Elizabeth Warren.

Want to write a puff piece about the fake Indian, Elizabeth Warren?

Take a ticket!

It used to be that the Boston Globe practically had a monopoly on slobbering, unctuous flattery of the erstwhile Native American, the first woman of color at Harvard, emeritus.

It wasn’t enough for the Boring Broadsheet to pretend that the New England Historical and Genealogical Society hadn’t busted her melanin-impaired grift, or to peddle fake statistics about her scam DNA test. No, the bow-tied bumkissers also penned hagiographies of her dead dog (Otis), her new dog (Bailey) and her campaign headquarters in Charlestown (complete with a cameo appearance by Bailey).

But the Globe is one busy Democrat fanzine these days, what with having to break out the pom-poms for, among others, Ed Markey (he may be a doddering old fool, but he’s our doddering old fool), JoJoJo Kennedy (look, a Kennedy! And he has red hair!), and of course Seth Moulton (America’s loss is Essex County’s gain, or something).

So when it comes to open and gross cheerleading for Lieawatha, there’s an open lane, and boy, are the Democrat operatives with press passes rushing to fill the void.

The thesis is that Fauxcahontas is, well, thoughtful and substantive, plus you always have to mention, as the New Republic gushed, “her passion, her intellect and her lack of artifice.”

Here’s how Lieawatha’s thoughtful, substantive policies work: Bernie Sanders goes in front of some whining group of self-proclaimed victims demanding handouts, and promises them, say, $10 trillion.

So the fake Indian follows and says, I’ll raise you, Bernie – how’s $20 trillion in handouts sound?

Pretty much.

ROGER SIMON: You Can’t Go Home Again, Ilhan Omar.

BY MY FRIEND REUT COHEN: Natalie Goes To The Museum.

Jessi Combs Killed in Land-Speed Record Crash: Sad news in the motorsport world today. Supercool Jessi Combs, who held the title of “fastest woman on four wheels” after setting a record of 398 mph in her jet-powered North American Eagle Supersonic Speed Challenger in 2013 was killed yesterday in a testing crash.

WATCH THE SENATE: Republicans See Senate as ‘Firewall’ in Preventing Liberal Armageddon in 2020.

VIDEO: Bernie Punches Speed Bag, Speed Bag Punches Back. “I’ve watched this clip approximately a million and six times already, and it still hasn’t gotten old.”

B-25 FLANKED BY DESCENDANTS: Two B-1B Lancers flank a B-25 Mitchell in a display on the flight line at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. Static displays were set up outside of the Pride Hangar for the base community to view during an event commemorating the 77th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid. The photo was taken April 18, 2019.

BORIS THE BOLD: Outrage as U.K. leader Boris Johnson moves to suspend Parliament ahead of Brexit deadline.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Wednesday that a usual suspension of parliament would be extended until October 14, just two weeks before the U.K. is set to leave the European Union. The move enraged lawmakers, including many from Johnson’s own Conservative Party, who will have far less time to try and stop him delivering a “Brexit” without any agreement in place with the EU.

MPs will return to London later than in recent years, giving pro-EU lawmakers less time than expected to thwart Johnson’s Brexit plans before the U.K. is due to leave the bloc on October 31.

This is a real panic piece from CBS News, but what is Johnson supposed to do — acquiesce to those out to stop the thing he was elected to achieve?

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: The Federal Reserve Resistance: A recent official urges the central bank to help defeat Donald Trump.

Perhaps you’ve seen former Chairs of the Federal Reserve defending the central bank’s independence and foreswearing all political intentions. Fair enough. But then what are we to make of former Fed monetary Vice Chair William Dudley ’s marker that the Fed should help defeat President Trump in 2020? That’s the extraordinary message from the former, and perhaps future, Fed grandee in Bloomberg.

“Officials could state explicitly that the central bank won’t bail out an administration that keeps making bad choices on trade policy, making it abundantly clear that Trump will own the consequences of his actions,” Mr. Dudley asserts. We also think monetary policy should focus on prices rather than trade. But Mr. Dudley seems to be saying the Fed should do nothing to assist the economy even if it heads into recession. Then he goes further and essentially says the Fed should join The Resistance.

“There’s even an argument that the election itself falls within the Fed’s purview,” Mr. Dudley writes. “After all, Trump’s reelection arguably presents a threat to the U.S. and global economy, to the Fed’s independence and its ability to achieve its employment and inflation objectives. If the goal of monetary policy is to achieve the best long-term economic outcome, then Fed officials should consider how their decisions will affect the political outcome in 2020.”

Wow. Talk about stripping the veil. These columns wondered if Mr. Dudley was politically motivated while he was at the Fed, favoring bond buying to finance Barack Obama ’s deficit spending, urging the Fed to intervene in markets to boost housing, and keeping interest rates low for as long as possible. And now here Mr. Dudley is confirming that he views the Fed as an agent of the Democratic Party.

A key lesson of the Trump era is that every single allegedly neutral, nonpartisan, super-professional institution has turned out to be, in fact, a bunch of partisan hacks shilling for the permanent political party. Voters can be forgiven for adopting a “burn it all down” attitude in response.

PROTECTING AMERICAN COMBAT TECHNOLOGY — THE TURKISH F-35 SAGA:

Turkey’s purchase of the S-400 placed a digital Russian “spy” within NATO’s air defense network. The F-35 is a “networking” weapon. In stealth mode, the F-35 can detect targets and relay the information to non-stealthy U.S. and allied aircraft. Are you worried about Russian interference in U.S. elections? The S-400’s technology gives Russia an intimate look at NATO’s command and control communications technology.

Which is why the purchase puts Turkey’s continued operational cooperation with NATO in doubt.

I suggest you read the entire column.

RENOIR AND THE FOOLISHNESS OF CHRONOLOGICAL SNOBBERY: From Roger Kimball at Spectator USA, with a surprise assist from your humble narrator.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? California lawmakers advance measure allowing medical marijuana on K-12 campuses.

OMAR GIVES NEW MEANING TO ‘TAKING CARE OF YOUR FRIENDS:’ Sara Carter reports that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) paid $230,000 to a firm owned by the former staff aide with whom she is romantically involved. Doesn’t the Sharia law Omar as a faithful Muslim presumably wants to impose on the rest of us say something about not doing this kind of thing?

AT AMAZON, Hot New Releases – Updated Every Hour.

Plus, Save on Top Rated Products.

Also, Shop Amazon Outlet – Clearance, Markdowns and Overstock Deals.

And, shop the Kindle Deals of the Day.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Baby Bedbug Bret Stephens Edition. “The only people more tedious than the ones who complain on social media are those who complain about social media. Those who complain about social media on social media are a special sort of bottom-feeding class. It’s always done with a garbage ‘above the fray’ attitude and the implication that the whiner is off to a moral high plane to revel in newfound emotional superiority.”

THAT’S DIFFERENT, BECAUSE IT CAN’T BE USED AGAINST BOLSONARO AND TRUMP: More Fires Now Burning in Angola, Congo Than Amazon: Maps.