THIS DOESN’T GET MUCH PLAY IN THE PRESS; WHY IS HARDLY A MYSTERY: Trump’s economic advantage within the Democratic base.

While those figures wrote the headlines, overlooked ones told the broader economic story. The unemployment rate stayed at historically low levels of just 3.7 percent. Simultaneously, labor force participation continued to rise, reaching 63.2 percent, while average hourly earnings have increased by 3.2 percent over the last year.

For the large majority of Americans, these are the real economic variables, the DJIA or GDP being relevant only in so far as they affect these basic household ones. The reason is simple: For a prolonged period, having a job has been a dicey question for too many.

It is through that prism, and particularly in comparison with this recent past, that the current economy looks so good for Trump.

At the same point during the Obama administration, and almost two years (Q3 of 2009) after the economy had begun growing again, August 2011 unemployment stood at 9.1 percent. There were 14 million unemployed then, compared to today’s 6 million.

Even comparing August 2016, President Obama’s eighth year in office, Trump’s economy looks strong. Just three years ago, unemployment was 4.9 percent, the number of unemployed were 7.8 million — almost 2 million more than today.

Additionally, those higher figures came despite a lower labor force participation rate: 62.8 percent versus 63.2 percent today. This resulted in 6.3 million fewer Americans working then: 151.6 million versus 157.9 million today. To cap it, in August 2016, hourly wages had increased just 2.4 percent over the previous year, compared to 3.2 percent today.

The secondary comparisons are just as telling.

Lots of good data — read the whole thing.

Related, from yesterday: Trump’s 2020 Game Plan Preview.

OUT: NO JOBS FOR BURLY MEN.

IN: Hammer time: US construction index at record high, more work than workers.

GLOBEMASTER DEPARTS SYRIA: A USAF C-17 Globemaster takesoff from a coalition airfield in Northeast Syria. Photo snapped June 26, 2018. Given the dust, it’s a good bet the field is what the Pentagon euphemistically calls “austere.” Two years ago I wrote a column about the Pentagon’s airlift and sealift deficits. The mainstream media recently rediscovered the sealift shortage.

But here’s an excerpt focusing on the C-17:

Many people thought ending C-17 production was foolish. The plane has admirers around the globe, and not just in military circles. It can land on primitive airfields and has earned a stellar reputation for delivering aid in natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

Would Congress be willing to fund more? That is not a likely prospect, unless more international buyers appear. There are reports of renewed international interest. Several nations fly C-17s, including India, Australia, Canada, Qatar and Britain. Note McDew and McCain mulled the combat loss of U.S. strategic transports. U.S. adversaries have developed extended range anti-air defenses, and that is evident in Asia. Replacing C-17 combat losses requires a “reserve” of some size. If the U.S. “pivot” to Asia is for real, America and its allies will need more C-17s.

A decade ago I spoke with a several logisticians who said the U.S. needed another 60 or so C-17s. At that time the USAF had about 200 C-17s. I understood the additional 60 they wanted to mean in addition to aircraft already on order. Per the 2017 column, the Pentagon has approximately 220 now, so the supply guys wanted 280. In 2017 I spoke with an Australian defense adviser. Australia had eight C-17s (and still does). He said considering Australia’s location (Pacific Ocean distances as well as continental size) Australia needed six to eight more C-17s. He lamented the fact the production line shutdown in 2015. The UAE bought the last two C-17s built before Boeing ceased production. Here’s a photo showing a low-level formation of C-17s. Final photo: 25th Infantry Division paratroopers jump from a C-17 near Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

PEGGY NOONAN: Why They’ll Never Stop Targeting Kavanaugh: The continuing assault reflects both a fixation and an effort to deprive the court of its legitimacy.

Here are the reasons, in no certain order, that the accusations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh will never stop and his foes on the progressive left never let up.

Because progressives have to prove they were right to advance the sexual-assault accusations of Christine Blasey Ford. They lost that battle; Justice Kavanaugh sits on the court. They won’t stop the assault until they can prove they were right to launch it.

Because people become fixated on their targets. Because #MeToo continues as a potent cultural force. Because as the court assumes an ever more powerful role in American life, confirmation hearings and their aftermath will become more brutal and never-ending.

Because the authority and legitimacy of future rulings that are not pleasing to progressives (most prominently, perhaps, on Roe v. Wade) can be undermined through footnotes that say “the 5-4 decision was joined by a justice credibly accused of sexual assault.”

Because the steady drum of allegations diminishes not only Justice Kavanaugh’s stature but that of the court itself, which will be helpful when Democrats attempt to pack it.

Because the crazier parts of the progressive left increasingly see politics as public theater, with heroes and villains, cheers and hisses from the audience, and costumes, such as outfits from “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Because modern politics is, for the lonely and strange on all sides, entertainment and diversion. And one’s people must be entertained.

Because many progressives believe deep in their hearts that conservative men are both sexually obsessed and repressed, that conservatism is a way of looking at the world in which women are lesser, mere prey. They think this is behind everything, including conservative reservations about or opposition to abortion. In this view, conservative jurists who say things like “60% of my clerks were women” and “I coach the girls’ soccer and debate teams” are engaged in an elaborate cover. They hate the modern world. Behind closed doors they’re always swinging caveman’s clubs.

Because where there’s smoke there must be fire. There was Ms. Ford, then the Yale rumors. There’s no way there isn’t something to it.

So it will never end.

For Democrats, it is not “good politics,” and most of them know it. What was done to Justice Kavanaugh had a positive impact on 2018 Senate outcomes—for Republicans. There was a backlash. Women worried their sons and husbands would be targeted in a prosecutorial atmosphere that had abandoned due process.

But they can’t help themselves. Because all they had to do was not be crazy, and they couldn’t manage that.

Bottom line: “The charges will probably never stop, but at this point many of us, having seen what Justice Kavanaugh was put through because of ideology and politics, will never find them believable.”

NIFTY: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works ‘Project Riot’ demos F-35 multi-domain ops. “During the demonstration, called Project Riot, an F-35 detected a long-range missile launch with its onboard sensors and shared the information through the U-2 to the air defense commander on the ground, enabling the commander to quickly make the decision to target the threat.”

DOWNSIDE FOR NEW YORKERS — NOW HE’LL HAVE MORE TIME FOR MAYORING: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio ends 2020 presidential bid.

MATT VESPA: Why CNN’s Chris Cuomo And Beto Got Into It Over Gun Confiscation.

2012 Flashback: Andrew Cuomo: ‘Confiscation Could Be An Option.’

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: 2020 Dems Rally Around Union Amid Corruption Probe.

NOT A GOOD LOOK FOR BEIJING: Hong Kong cancels National Day fireworks on Oct 1 as protests continue. “The upcoming National Day celebrations⁠ which include a flag-raising event⁠ will mark 70 years of the People’s Republic of China.”

REMINDER: Outer Space Is Not A Global Commons, And It Is Not “The Common Heritage Of Mankind.”

GOOGLE AND FACEBOOK ARE SO UNPOPULAR THAT EVEN THE CHIVE IS DISSING THEM: Facebook and Google are currently playing their toxic Endgame.

Last week Bob Ferguson the State’s attorney general for Washington launched an anti-trust probe into Google and Facebook. Amongst the many allegations, he claimed that the Duopoly had not only formed an unfair monopoly to squeeze publishers and “squash competition”, but also that Google and Facebook had gone one step further by, “actively seeking to harm consumers.”

How and why? I’ll explain why below but to put it succinctly – it is in their best interest to do so. Once complete they will have succeeded in creating a platform-based internet, keeping you in their walled garden and removing your freedom of choice. You will see whatever they want you to see. Adios free will.

This is tearing at the fabric of our society. They create filter bubbles, fuel hate, and narrow our worldview. They are invading our privacy. Have you ever talked about something and then seen an ad for it? Yes, they’re listening in on every device.

They are doing all of this while also crushing free enterprise on the internet. Which brings us to this post today.

They’re increasingly unpopular.

NOT A SONIC ATTACK THEN: Neurotoxin may have caused diplomats’ illness in Cuba.

The study was the first to include diplomats for whom there was baseline medical testing from before their postings in Havana, so as to better compare with the tests from afterwards. Canada started implementing the practice after diplomats first started complaining of sickness.

The researchers said they had detected different levels of brain damage in an area that causes symptoms reported by the diplomats and which is susceptible to neurotoxins. They then concluded that cholinesterase, a key enzyme required for the proper functioning of the nervous system, was being blocked there.

Some pesticides work by inhibiting cholinesterase, the report said, and during the 2016-2018 period when diplomats became ill normal fumigation in Cuba was stepped up due to the Zika epidemic in the Caribbean.

Bad, but if true it’s easier to deal with going forward than some mystery weapon.

SHOCKER: Government Employees Think People Hate Them. Increasingly, They’re Right. “One retired IRS agent told reporters that ‘throughout his career, he dealt with antigovernment tax avoiders in Arizona, but once the Tea Party scandal broke, his encounters with otherwise law-abiding ranchers became more hostile.'”

Flashback: When Rulers Despise The Ruled. “If the rulers feel neither loyalty nor empathy toward the ruled, the ruled can be expected to return the favor.”

JUSTIN TRUDEAU’S FACE:

The front for the Liberal campaign has been Trudeau making a frankly listless and uninteresting argument about good governance and affordability. The bulk of it has been a country-wide values argument from which the leader was carefully insulated, but executed on his behalf, and its message has been: These are bad people we are running against. They don’t deserve your vote.

Where does that campaign stand now? “If everyone who is going to be standing for office needs to demonstrate that they’ve been perfect every step of their lives, there’s going to be a shortage of people running for office,” Trudeau said tonight. Yet another idea that doesn’t seem to have occurred to him until just after somebody at Time hit PUBLISH.

Well, hypocrites gonna hypocrite.

OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: Sanders Shrugs Off Projected ‘Green New Deal’ Job Losses.

Bernie wants an omelet, and you’re the egg.

FLASHBACK: Give Bankers Skin In The Game.