IN DEFENSE OF JOE BIDEN’S INTRANSIGENCE: “I look at the polls every day, and I’m seeing Joe consistently outperform Kamala Harris. That must tighten Joe’s grip. . . . If Biden withdraws, and Harris becomes the candidate, and we see her speaking and fighting every day, will the polls show greater support for her? There’s very little reason to think so. And that’s why Joe isn’t just a selfish bastard to hang on.”

AN OUTSIDE COMMISSION, FAR OUT OF THE REACH OF MAYORKAS OR GARLAND, IS REQUIRED: Secret Service Explanations For Security Failures Not Adding Up; DHS Inspector General Launches Investigation.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Night 3 of the RNC Was Sheer Political Perfection. “Last night, the Republican National Committee did something I’ve never seen the GOP elite do: It orchestrated a convention agenda that was focused on regular American voters and not the Republican power players.”

IT’S BECAUSE TRUMP SURVIVED, ISN’T IT? Fireball Meteor Lights Up New York City Sky, Passes Over Statue of Liberty.

THE LEFT BROKE MY CAPACITY TO FEEL SYMPATHY FOR THE HOME DEPOT GRANDMA:

“I can’t believe these right wingers went after some poor grandma at Home Depot”… pic.twitter.com/SONYbie117

— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) July 17, 2024

IF YOU MISSED IT LAST NIGHT, Here’s J.D. Vance’s RNC speech. I would call it solid and substantive but not poetic. But you don’t want to upstage the star attraction, if that’s even possible.

And here’s his wife Usha’s introduction, which the Insta-Daughter, comparing her to Kate Middleton, loved.

VOX POPULI, VOX DEI: Voters: Biden attacks ‘led directly’ to assassination attempt on Trump.

According to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey shared fully with Secrets, 44% believe that it is now “more likely” that Trump will win versus just 13% who don’t.

Despite falsely claiming he hasn’t stirred up anti-Trump hatred, Biden and Democrat surrogates have for three years decried Trump and warned that he would destroy democracy itself if elected again.

And when asked about his recent comment that he wanted voters to put the Republican and leader of the MAGA movement in the “bullseye,” Biden scoffed with a revealing bark, “I didn’t say ‘crosshairs.’”

Rasmussen used a phrase from Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) to set up this question: “Do you agree or disagree with this statement: ‘The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.’”

The pollster said 61% agreed with the statement made by Vance before he was picked by Trump as his running mate. Just 31% disagreed.

Well, it’s true, you know.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Biden’s Insane Comments About Lloyd Austin, Black Neighborhoods in Trainwreck BET Interview.

Related: “Look at the heat I’m getting because I, I named a, uh, the, uh, Secretary of Defense — the black man.”

SCOTT PINSKER: After Surviving an Assassin’s Bullet: GOP Campaign Lessons from the ‘Silver Bullet.’ “If the key objective is to win in November, then the simplest path is to just give voters what they want. Don’t overanalyze it. Don’t overthink it. Just regurgitate it. And when you do, don’t tell voters what to think; simply set up the argument so they can reach the conclusion on their own.”

ANALYSIS: TRUE. James Bovard: We can’t trust politicized FBI to handle probe of Trump assassination bid.

DON SURBER: It Almost Was A Funeral. “Republicans have not been this united in decades as their delegates convene in Milwaukee.”

NOT ALL THAT MIXED, REALLY: Outside the GOP convention in Milwaukee, a protester expresses mixed feelings about political violence.

DEI MUST DIE: The Revenge Of The Diversity Non-Warriors. “You know who I mean because you encounter them in your work, community, local government all the time. And now you get to see them in places in the Federal Government that I’m sure you never expected. The military, the Secret Service, the FBI, and much more. In fact, pretty much the entire security and military apparatus of the US has been taken over by bureaucrats. And the bureaucrats are pushing diversity hiring and promoting agendas. The Secretary of Homeland Security has a stated goal of 30% diversity, which I suppose means that 30% of the workforce is something other than white men. But is the workforce competent and capable?”

Not so much.

“We have a military that could not possibly execute Operation Desert Storm today. Not only does our modern military have leadership that couldn’t even execute an evacuation from Afghanistan competently, but the rank and file are no longer particularly competent or physically fit, either. And those that meet the standards are demoralized and feel betrayed and unsupported by their country. And the failure to recruit enough soldiers in 2022 and 2023 to maintain strength levels is the proof in the pudding.”

Flashback: The US Army discovers woke doesn’t win wars — but is it too late?

ICYMI: OR AS SOME OF US SAY, DON’T GET COCKY: Don’t be complacent, Republicans — you’re falling into Democrats’ trap.

#JOURNALISM:

"We can't do our jobs because it might help Trump" has become a consistent theme in some media spaces.

Remember the AP analysis of why the media missed the Biden decline stories concluded many journalists "did not want to be accused of helping elect Trump" https://t.co/3jVW4JBXcC pic.twitter.com/IfWaxG7hm9

— AG (@AGHamilton29) July 16, 2024

AND IT ONLY TOOK THEM UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF JULY: Meta lifts restrictions on Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts ahead of presidential election.

HMM: FBI Claims Trump Shooter Remains an ‘Elusive Enigma.’

Related:

My guess is that Thomas Crooks is meant to be the dead end.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) July 17, 2024

A fiction story would go like this. Find a bright kid with a chip on his shoulder. Give him a secret life and training that makes him feel like Jason Bourne. He's psychologically yours. Send him on a mission with a BS exit plan that isn't meant to work.

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) July 17, 2024

AT AMAZON, Shop Today’s Deals. #Commissionearned

JOEL KOTKIN: A Golden State Realignment? As Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of a bill barring parental notification of children’s gender transitions makes clear, progressives still dominate California—but signs point to a potential shakeup.

‘MURICA: New Video Reveals Trump Walked Into ER Like a Boss After Getting Shot.

TOO TRUE TO BE SATIRE:

‘Let’s Settle This At The Ballot Box,’ Says Party That Tried To Kick Trump Off Ballots https://t.co/N6ne5hT8fq pic.twitter.com/ZF7FgBgMqG

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 17, 2024

WELL, THAT’S DONE FOR … A WHILE. TILL LATE NOVEMBER AT LEAST: The Fundraiser is Over, Long Live the Fundraiser!

ESCAPE HATCH OR TRAP DOOR?  Biden says ‘medical condition’ could prompt him to drop out ‘if doctors came to me’.

Nah. He’s just afraid of the pillow to the face till he’s comfortable.

THE BROAD ANTI-LEFT WORLD-WIDE MOVEMENT IS THE FINAL SPITTING OUT OF THE USSR’S AGITPROP THAT NATIONALISM WAS BAD AND NATIONALISM CAUSED WARS:  Trump and the Fate of Western Civilization.

Propagandizing the idea that loved your own country was wrong was very convenient to the USSR which flew under the banner of international socialism, but was barely masked Russian Nationalism. It gave the USSR the cover it needed to appeal to the academics and dreamer of “one world government” and it hid the naked brutality of its power grab. Nations are only now questioning why nationalism is so bad. Despising your own country does not stop wars, after all. It just allows you to be governed from far away by people who don’t care for you or your needs. This movement has started and is unstoppable, because the indoctrination in the other direction was highly artificial to human instincts and only maintainable with a constant and seamless barrage of mass media propaganda. Mass media’s days are past. The barrage is no longer seamless. The “internationalists” have already lost the war. We’ll still lose battles. There will still be casualties, but love of your country is no longer a dirty word. Nor should it be. Nothing is gained by centralized rule from far away. “One world” government would be totalitarianism. Inefficient and stupid, like all totalitarianism.

NOTHING REPELS POLITICIANS SO MUCH AS THE STENCH OF IMPENDING DEFEAT:  NBC’s New Poll Reveals More Dems Are Running From Joe.