DON SURBER’S TRUMP THE PRESS: I’ve almost finished reading a galley of Don Surber’s new book on Donald Trump and the 2016 presidential campaign. Glenn’s already given Trump The Press a link, and deservedly so. Here’s my overall impression: Don Surber has written an essential first history that is also a fun and witty romp. The book is a professional journalist’s exercise in factual due diligence. He documents –in arrogance-stripping detail– media bias, ineptitude, exaggeration and failure to learn from self-inflicted, unforced errors.

Surber has a knack for irony-rich chapter titles that also state the theme. Here are two examples: “An Army of Vincent Canbys” (Canby panned Stallone’s breakout Rocky movie, Trump’s candidacy is dismissed by similar toff experts); “Jumping the Shark” (The Fonz, of course.How many times has the media written Trump off as a lost cause due to perceived excess?).

Surber’s review of the December 2015 “schlonged” controversy is a wicked chuckle. Recall Trump said Hillary “got schlonged” when Obama whipped her in 2008. The reaction was instantaneous and vicious. He’s a wicked Republican misogynist! Hillaryites screamed. It’s a synonym for fornication.

“But was “schlonged” really a synonym for fornication? NBC analyst Jeff Greenfield asked a few linguistic scholars and found that while the noun schlong is Yiddish for penis, the verb schlonged is not. “On further review, Trump is right on this. ‘I got schlonged’ is a commonplace New York way of saying: ‘I lost big time,’ without the genital reference,” Greenfield tweeted on December 22.”

OK, Trump won that one on fact. However, if voters associated “schlonged” with Bill Clinton’s schlong, then Trump had also underscored an opposition weakness. Bill Clinton was the real misogynist. Perhaps they did. Surber argues that “People mistook his (Trump’s) extemporaneous speaking style for being undisciplined, but he had mastered speaking from an outline instead of a script.” Whatever happened Trump continued to win “the news cycles” and he did so by “being newsworthy.”

Good book.

NORTH KOREA THREATENS “PHYSICAL RESPONSE MEASURES” TO SOUTH KOREA-US ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILES: North Korea is also angry that the State Department has blacklisted dictator Kim Jong Un for human rights abuses. The missile system is the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile. (Here’s a photo.)

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL MICHAEL FLYNN SCORNS OBAMA’S WAR RECORD: As well he should. Obama’s Smart Diplomacy has a losing record. Media speculate LTG Flynn (ret) is on Trump’s VP list. From Flynn’s essay in The New York Post:

We’re in a global war, facing an enemy alliance that runs from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Havana, Cuba, and Caracas, Venezuela. Along the way, the alliance picks up radical Muslim countries and organizations such as Iran, al Qaeda, the Taliban and Islamic State.

That’s a formidable coalition, and nobody should be shocked to discover that we are losing the war.

If our leaders were interested in winning, they would have to design a strategy to destroy this global enemy. But they don’t see the global war. Instead, they timidly nibble around the edges of the battlefields from Africa to the Middle East, and act as if each fight, whether in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Libya or Afghanistan, can be peacefully resolved by diplomatic effort.

This approach is doomed. We have real enemies, dedicated to dominating and eventually destroying us, and they are not going to be talked out of their hatred. Iran, for example, declared war on the United States in 1979 — that’s 37 years ago — and has been killing Americans ever since. Every year, the State Department declares Iran to be the world’s primary supporter of terror. Do you think we’ll nicely and politely convince them to be good citizens and even (as President Obama desires) a responsible ally supporting peace? Do you think ISIS or the Taliban wants to embrace us?

I’ll wager LTG Flynn also fully understands the operational and strategic damage done to US national security by Hillary’s criminal mishandling of classified information.

TEXAS GARDENERS PREPARE FOR MONARCHS: On Saturday, while running errands in the car, I flipped on the radio to get some news. The host of the Saturday morning gardening program was discussing growing plants in your home garden that will nourish monarch butterflies as they pass through Texas enroute to Mexico. He indicated that for years gardeners living in the US “migration corridor” have been running highly distributed garden cafes and truck stops for the butterflies, with milkweed the primary menu item. Milkweed, he said, earnestly. Milkweed, he repeated.

I knew about the decline in monarch butterfly populations and efforts to protect habitat, particularly in Mexico’s winter “monarch colonies.” I’m a fan of monarch butterflies. As a kid I lived in West Texas during the worst years of the great 1950s drought. Migrating monarchs were explosive orange blossoms among the tumbleweeds.

But what intrigued me most was the host’s “we do this ourselves” approach. The effort he described sounded like an authentic volunteer operation by American citizens — “do your bit where you live” because you can and you care.

I wondered it was self-organized. A little internet research suggests that the project is a volunteer effort, for the most part self-organized though encouraged by university agricultural programs and government agencies. The US Department of Agriculture has a finger in it, and engages in some non-coercive cheerleading. This Fish and Wildlife Service webpage has a vague echo of doom-mongering.

In 2015 Fish and Wildlife put $3.2 million into restoring and conserving monarch-supporting habitat with special focus on “the I-35 corridor from Texas to Minnesota…” Texas has an interesting and extensive state program.

Monarch populations began declining in the late 1990s. Harsh weather (2013-2014) in the monarchs’ Mexican winter quarters took a heavy toll. The Fish and Wildlife Service now says populations (based new data) are rebounding.

Which brings us back to milkweed. The radio host preached the gospel of milkweed. Milkweed, he said, is the plant for spring– as we gardeners know, monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed. But what are the best plants we Texas gardeners can grow to provide sap to monarch butterflies flying south in late summer on their way to Mexico? Milkweed scores again.

As I turned the radio off the show host said returning monarchs will feed on nectar from other late blooming wildflowers. (Hence the term “nectar corridor,” used by the USDA.)

This site makes his point: “A mix of native flowers with different bloom times, including some overlap in flowering, to ensure a stable food source for butterflies.”

THE LATEST CAPITAL CRIME IN NORTH KOREA: Using a cell phone messaging app. North Korea’s dictatorship says using messaging apps like Kakao Talk, Line, and WeChat are criminal because:

…Those caught using these apps on Chinese cell phones may be executed. The reason is that these apps enable users near the border to send messages so quickly, and then hang up, that even the high-tech cell phone detectors used by the border guards and secret police, cannot catch the culprits.

Read the whole thing.

TIM SCOTT’S HOMILY: Last night Glenn linked to Senator Scott’s statement about the Dallas horror. I think it deserves another post. Senator Scott is a leader who speaks with the gentle power of thoughtful compassion.

AUTHOR OF BEN HUR SAVES WASHINGTON: The Battle of Monocacy, July 9, 1864. Union Major-General Lew Wallace and an ad hoc force delay Confederate Lieutenant-General Jubal Early’s army at the Monocacy River (near Frederick, Maryland). The multi-talented Wallace led a fascinating life.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Yes, the Dallas horror is today’s big story, and it should be. But Hillary’s loose lips damaged and will continue to damage US national security.

US TO DEPLOY THAAD ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILES TO SOUTH KOREA: North Korea’s threats produce a military response. This deal has been in the works for quite some time. The article comes from a South Korean publication. Note how it emphasizes that this was a mutual decision. It improves South Korean and Japanese anti-missile defenses (regional defenses).

Seoul and Washington agreed to deploy the U.S.-led Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system in Korea, a move aimed at countering North Korean nuclear and missile threats, the Ministry of National Defense announced Friday.

CELL PHONE VIDEO WITH DALLAS SNIPER: This Dallas Morning News report includes a cell phone video showing a sniper coming out of hiding during the gun battle. The report has several other gripping videos.

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS: (Post BUMPED AND UPDATED.) My latest Observer essay. World War II’s sobering rhyme “Loose Lips Sink Ships” reminded America that failure to protect national security secrets exacted a harsh price in blood. Even minimal negligence—much less the gross negligence exhibited by Hillary Clinton—could provide an enemy enough information to damage the U.S. and allied war effort and kill American servicemen and women.

This essay builds on Comey’s sellout.

UPDATES: PJ MEDIA has a copy of Speaker Ryan’s letter. Ed has already linked to Andrew McCarthy’s essay analyzing Hillary’s damage to US national security. Here’s a key quote:

Unlike most criminal statutes, the felony of grossly negligent mishandling of classified information does not call for prosecutors to prove that a defendant intended the harm done. It merely requires proof of gross negligence – which is no different from what Comey compellingly demonstrated was Clinton’s “extreme carelessness” in mishandling national defense secrets.

When loose lips sink ships — or even put ships at risk– the loose lips have earned prosecution. The “lipster’s” intent matters not.

RUSSIA REINFORCES KALININGRAD: The NATO summit meeting in Warsaw begins July 8. The Kremlin has been huffing and puffing and muscle-flexing for months, trying to rattle Eastern European NATO members. Kaliningrad figured prominently in month’s NATO wargame in Poland. The Kaliningrad Oblast (an exclave on the Baltic Sea wedged between Lithuania and Poland) is heavily fortified. Apparently the Kremlin is beefing up ground forces and upgrading anti-aircraft defenses in the exclave.

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS: My latest Observer essay. World War II’s sobering rhyme “Loose Lips Sink Ships” reminded America that failure to protect national security secrets exacted a harsh price in blood. Even minimal negligence—much less the gross negligence exhibited by Hillary Clinton—could provide an enemy enough information to damage the U.S. and allied war effort and kill American servicemen and women.

This essay builds on Comey’s sellout.

THE GAULT SITE: This archeological site near Florence, Texas, is a treasure trove of Clovis points. Researchers have also found evidence of pre-Clovis habitation.

The excavations at Gault from 1999-2002 were primarily to recover information about the Clovis culture. Scientists were dealing with a paradigm shift as the old hypothesis of the peopling of the Americas 13,500 years ago began crumbling. Sites like Monte Verde, Meadowcroft and Cactus Hill suggested that people had arrived earlier than previously thought but archaeology did not yet have a new generally accepted hypothesis describing the earlier culture. Our feeling was that if you want to understand the earlier culture (especially without a lot of technological data) you should start with the earliest you know and see that what can tell you. Recovery of over 600,000 lithic artifacts from Clovis context at Gault enabled us to do that. What we found was the signature of a highly sophisticated and knowledgeable generalized foraging culture. The people that utilized Clovis technology knew a great deal about their surroundings, were not nearly as mobile as previously thought and used nearly all of the available local resources to survive. This was not the signature of a pioneering culture but rather one of a group that was comfortable with and knowledgeable about their area.

The foundation supporting and conducting the research has a revamped website (gaultschool.org). It’s well worth perusing.

TWO DAYS AFTER: It’s still a sellout of the rule of law, Jim. Our laws protecting national security information exist for good reason. Think of them as a type of fortification. The idiots who don’t get that, well…they might be on the other side. Stephen Green just linked to Paul Ryan’s request that Hillary lose access to classified information. She should have already lost her security clearance. She should never have a clearance again, ever. So you ask, how could she serve as president? Well, I reply, she shouldn’t serve as president. If the laws were applied equally, she’d spend oh, three of the next four years serving time.

PAMPLONA’S RUNNING OF THE BULLS: Deutsche Welle leads with: “The annual ritual leaves dozens injured every year, but the fate of the bulls is far worse.” The Daily Star goes with this headlines: Running of the boobs: Girls flash and let blokes feel breasts at Pamplona festival. The usual animal rights suspects have also shown up and they’re demonstrating in the buff. Somebody call Hemingway. The Sun Also Rises needs an update.

LORETTA LYNCH RATIFIES COMEY’S SELLOUT: Law Is For Little People. The circle of sellout is complete.

TRUMP SON-IN-LAW JARED KUSHNER WRITES ABOUT THE DONALD TRUMP HE KNOWS: I freelance for The New York Observer, which Jared Kushner owns. I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me. But this is quite an essay.

Blunt lead:

My father-in-law is not an anti-Semite. It’s that simple, really. Donald Trump is not anti-Semitic and he’s not a racist. Despite the best efforts of his political opponents and a large swath of the media to hold Donald Trump accountable for the utterances of even the most fringe of his supporters—a standard to which no other candidate is ever held—the worst that his detractors can fairly say about him is that he has been careless in retweeting imagery that can be interpreted as offensive.

Kushner is responding to an essay written by an Observer staffer.

Read them both…We link. You decide.

A LOT OF LEFTIES DON’T KNOW WHO KATE STEINLE WAS AND DON’T WANT TO KNOW: Senate Democrats thwart a vote on a bill “aimed at stopping violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants.”

The “Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act” would revoke federal grants provided to so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with Homeland Security requests to detain illegal immigrants.

The bill is one of several “legislative reactions to the death of Kate Steinle, who was killed on a San Francisco pier by an illegal immigrant.”

FBI DIRECTOR COMEY SELLS OUT RULE OF LAW: Mr. Comey’s cowardly decision will go down as one of the government’s worst assaults on truth. (BUMPED)

After describing clear evidence of extensive mishandling of classified national security information, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI will not recommend indicting former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. This is naked crony government, ugly and exposed.

Column 5 in the WAR ON HONESTY series, a weekly column examining and deploring “examples of media and government lying” for “…mendacity by commission and omission, which favors a particular political party in an election year—is savage falsehood that damages free societies.”

GOOD VIRUS DEFEATS BAD VIRUS: Fascinating study conducted by University of Texas researchers.They’ve dubbed it Virus Wars. A “therapeutic virus” blocks the spread of a lethal virus.

“Our suggested approach is thus futuristic, but it is only a few steps from current practices.” The authors suggest that therapeutic viruses could one day be designed to prevent viral infections or even to destroy malicious viruses upon entry.

NATO’S JULY SUMMIT IN WARSAW CONFRONTS RUSSIAN BELLIGERENCE: The summit (which begins July 8) is the subject of my Creators Syndicate column this week. NATO’S Warsaw meet up has been preceded by a lot of political and military signaling –signals directed at Moscow. This month-old Observer essay on NATO’s June 2016 war game in Poland is something of a companion piece to the new column. Today I read an essay the Atlantic Council just published advocating a NATO Black Sea command. My column mentions Bulgarian, Turkish and Romanian concerns about increased Russian military activity in the Black Sea region. My column also mentions NATO naval modernization. The detailed Atlantic Council essay tells you why that matters in the Black Sea.

THE RETURN OF RUSSIAN ICEBREAKERS: Russia is building three new nuclear-powered icebreakers.

FBI DIRECTOR COMEY SELLS OUT RULE OF LAW: Mr. Comey’s cowardly decision will go down as one of the government’s worst assaults on truth. (BUMPED)

After describing clear evidence of extensive mishandling of classified national security information, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI will not recommend indicting former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. This is naked crony government, ugly and exposed.

I hope you’ll read it all.

FBI DIRECTOR COMEY SELLS OUT RULE OF LAW: Mr. Comey’s cowardly decision will go down as one of the government’s worst assaults on truth.

After describing clear evidence of extensive mishandling of classified national security information, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI will not recommend indicting former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. This is naked crony government, ugly and exposed.

I hope you’ll read it all.