HEH: Georgia Lawmaker Claims Chick-Fil-A Employee Told Her To Go Back To Her Country, Later Clarifies He Actually Said ‘My Pleasure.’

DAN CRENSHAW: The Outrage Incentive Is Dooming Our Politics. “Social media rewards ‘owning’ your opponent, and fails to reward a nuanced discussion of topics.”

Somebody should write a book on this.

THE NATION: These Questions for Mueller Show Why Russiagate Was Never the Answer.

“For two years, Democrats have waited on Robert Mueller to deliver a death blow to the Trump presidency,” The New York Times observed on July 20. “On Wednesday, in back-to-back hearings with the former special counsel, that wish could face its final make-or-break moment.” The very fact that Democrats had to subpoena Mueller in order to create this final moment should in fact be the final reminder of what a mistake it was for Democrats to have waited on him. If Mueller had incriminating information yet to share, or had been stymied from doing his work, or if Attorney General William Barr had somehow misrepresented his findings, then it stands to reason that Mueller would be welcoming the opportunity to appear before Congress, not resisting it. The reality is that Mueller’s investigation did not indict anyone on the Trump campaign for collusion with Russia, or even for anything related to the 2016 election. Mueller’s report found no evidence of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, and even undermined the case for it.

That said, there are unresolved matters that Mueller’s testimony could help clarify. Mueller claimed to have established that the Russian government conducted “a sweeping and systematic” interference campaign in order to elect Trump, yet the contents of his report don’t support that allegation. The Mueller report repeatedly excludes countervailing information in order to suggest, misleadingly, that the Trump campaign had suspect “links” and “ties” to people connected with Russia. And Mueller and other intelligence officials involved in the Russia probe made questionable investigative decisions that are worthy of scrutiny. To address these issues, here are some questions that Mueller could be asked.

The entire Russian collusion/Mueller operation seems to have been a house of cards premised on the belief that Trump would fold in the face of sufficient media pressure. When he didn’t, it failed. Now comes finding out who did what, and holding them responsible.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: UPS forms a new subsidiary for drone delivery and seeks FAA approval to fly.

CLAUDIA ROSETT: Why Hong Kong Hearts Are Burning.

CONDUCTED BY KULAKS, TROTSKYITES, COUNTERREVOLUTIONARIES, CAPITALIST PIGS, AND OF COURSE JEWS: Venezuela is recovering from its worst blackout since March, and the government is blaming it on ‘electromagnetic attack.’

THE NIXON-KHRUSHCHEV KITCHEN DEBATES: On this day in 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon, on a trip to Moscow to open a trade show exhibit of American wares, engaged Soviet First Secretary and Premier Nikita Khrushchev what came to be known as “the Kitchen Debates.”

The Exhibit contained a full-scale model of a modern American kitchen. Khrushchev insisted that the Soviets had such things. But Nixon countered by telling him that “any steel worker” could afford them in America.

The debate was friendly and inconclusive. But no doubt many Soviet citizens who visited the Exhibit knew they didn’t have such things. And … well … some of them probably got to wondering about how things were in America.

THE HILL: Robert Mueller soon may be exposed as the ‘magician of omission’ on Russia.

BUT OF COURSE: Journalist Who Peddled Shoddy Kavanaugh Story Defends Al Franken.

While there were pictures of Franken’s described behavior, there is no evidence that Kavanaugh had even met his primary accuser, much less that he tried to rape her. There is no evidence whatsoever that he led a serial gang rape cartel that roamed suburban Maryland, as Michael Avenatti and Julie Swetnick accused him of. Neither is there evidence that he had gone on a nationwide rape spree from California to a boat off Rhode Island.

Of all the people in the world who are in a position to write an article poo-poohing Al Franken’s problems or fretting about journalistic excesses, Jane Mayer may be the very worst choice.

That’s because she has repeatedly published unsubstantiated allegations of sexual impropriety against her political opponents. Most recently she was part of the public relations rollout of Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation against Kavanaugh, publishing one of the stories that released a few details about the allegation to gin up excitement for the Washington Post report that was to come. Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, is a frequent source for Mayer and her colleagues, including in the Franken article.

Read the whole thing.

JOHN HINDERAKER: On Regulation, Trump Exceeds His Campaign Promises. “When I talk to business people about taxes and regulation, it is striking how often they emphasize counterproductive regulations. Lower taxes are good, definitely, but over-regulation is just as important a problem. That is the input I get, anyway. Cutting regulations is one area where the Trump administration has succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation.”

LIES, DAMN LIES, AND WIKIPEDIA EDITS.

NEW YORK SUN: Senator Franken’s Regrets.

So upset is Mr. Franken, even to this day, over the way his critics spoke of him that at one point in his interview with Ms. Mayer, she reports, he began to cry. Nor is Mr. Franken the only one that has regrets. Ms. Mayer counts what she calls “a remarkable number” of Mr. Franken’s Senate colleagues who regret their own roles in his downfall.

Senator Leahy calls his decision to seek Mr. Franken’s resignation “one of the biggest mistakes” he’s made. Senator Heitkamp, now out of office, confessed she called for Mr. Franken to quit “without concern for exactly what this was.” Tammy Duckworth, Angus King, Bill Nelson, Jeff Merkley, Thos. Udall, all seem ashamed of failing to stand for due process. Maybe for penance they’ll quit, too.

Heh. Fat chance. Consequences are for the little people. Well, and for Bill Nelson, as it turned out.

MY RULE WOULD BE, ABLE-BODIED MEN GET SQUAT: White House Proposes Rule that Would Cut 3.1 Million People From Food Stamp Rolls.

EXPLOITER OF THE WORKING CLASS: Bernie’s Presidential Campaign Hit With Federal Labor Complaint.

A SMALL MEASURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY: Wayne State Ordered To Pay In Mackinac Center Legal Win: Request was to uncover Flint water crisis documents. “The Mackinac legal team forced Wayne State University to release public documents that were being wrongfully withheld, which shed light on allegations that high-ranking state employees were obstructing justice by interfering with Flint water crisis research at WSU in 2016-2017.” It’s mystifying: Why would a bunch of high-ranking state employees interfere with research into the failure of a Democrat-run city government to protect its people?

NO, I DON’T BELIEVE ALL THESE DEMOCRATS ARE BEING TOLD TO “GO BACK WHERE THEY CAME FROM”. THOSE WHO’VE HEARD ME, KNOW MY ACCENT. IF NO ONE HAS EVER TOLD ME THAT, WHY WOULD THEY TELL THAT TO PEOPLE WITH NO ACCENT?  SOME OF WHOM ARE FAR LESS TAN THAN I AM?  Go Back.

… Exception made if they’re being told to go to h*ll.  I mean, I understand some of them might have come from there, in which case they are indeed being told to go back. I mean, I try not to get metaphysical on these pages, but I’ve heard less likely hypothesis. … I’m just making an effort to interpret this plague of “I too was told to go back” in the most charitable manner possible, you understand?

WE’RE HUMAN, THEREFORE WE CREATE:  Did Archaeologists Just Find the Oldest Art Ever Made? A New Study Claims Archaic Humans Designed Patterns on Bones in China.

OH MANY MORE THAN TWO. TRUST ME: Two Minds, One Thought?

TOO BAD, SO SAD. AFTER THE SHENANIGANS TODAY I ADVISE ALL LEFTISTS TO BUY AN AMPLIFIER SO THEY CAN HEAR ME PLAY THE WORLD’S TINIEST VIOLIN, IN ANSWER TO ALL THEIR SOBBING:  Gibson’s Bakery: “there is serious concern about [Oberlin College’s] ability to pay this sizeable judgment three years from now”.

Pay Up!

A DEMOCRAT LIED? THIS IS MY SHOCKED FACE:  Elizabeth Warren’s erroneous claim to have tried to help women with breast implant claims when she represented Dow Chemical.

I GOT FRANK J. FLEMING TO WRITE A BLOG POST FOR ME:  FRANK TIPS FOR WRITING SATIRE – by Frank J. Fleming.

RIGHT NOW? SHE’S A BIT PALER THAN I. RELIGION IS NEITHER RACE NOR COLOR:  Tlaib isn’t ‘of color’.

MY PRONOUNS ARE “YOUR MAJESTY” AND “YOUR MOST SERENE MAJESTY.”  I IDENTIFY AS A BEAUTIFUL BUT EVIL SPACE PRINCESS. IT HAS NO CONTACT WITH REALITY, SO MOST OF THE LEFT SHOULD LOVE IT:  Presidential Candidates Listing Gender Pronouns is Insufficient.