I’M SO OLD, I CAN REMEMBER WHEN SPORTS WAS AN ESCAPE FROM POLITICS: Colts GM Spends First Press Conference Of Season Focused On Guns And Politics. “It’s also worth mentioning that [general manager Chris] Ballard incorrectly identified the gun used by the shooter. The weapon was an AR-15, not an AK-15 as Ballard said. He also failed to mention that the right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution. But he wasn’t finished, as he moved on to praising media darling and left-wing extremist, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.”

TWO AP’S IN ONE!

Shot:

Chaser:

A recession is a falling-off of economic activity that may be a temporary phenomenon or could continue into a depression. A common definition is two straight quarters of economic contraction. A more official determination is made by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which considers a range of indicators in declaring a recession. The bureau’s determination is typically made well after a recession has begun and sometimes after it has ended.

—The Associated Press Stylebook, June 13, 2022.

And as Steve spotted earlier today:

As Steve asked in his exit question, “If you ever doubted that the AP had become a government mouthpiece, do you still?”

UPDATE:

Then vs. now: What is a "recession?"

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."

We are living in a George Orwell novel. pic.twitter.com/Woa3i9evNn

— Young Americans for Liberty (@YALiberty) July 26, 2022

JUST NBC THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES! Chris Hayes Suggests Zeldin Colluded With NY DA to Release His Attacker Without Bail.

TURNING POINT USA ISSUES CEASE AND DESIST TO ABC NEWS OVER ‘DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS’ ON THE VIEW.

UPDATE: As a wise community organizer advises, get in their faces, and punch back twice as hard: The View apologizes for wrongly linking neo-Nazi protestors to Turning Point USA.

The View managed to make TP USA sympathetic. I guess that's what threat of legal action does. https://t.co/fRGDYmY2iM

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 27, 2022

UPDATE: “That’s a half-baked apology of the ‘we’re sorry you didn’t grasp our brilliance’ variety, but it’s probably sufficient from a legal point of view. We’ll see if this satisfies TPUSA or its attorneys,” Ed Morrissey writes.

BORIS JOHNSON TIPPED TO BECOME NEXT SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO.

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD: Joe Biden Signs ‘Don’t Say Recession’ Bill.

JIM TREACHER: #Peson Isn’t the New #Covfefe Because Biden Isn’t a Republican.

“Peson”? What’s a “peson”? Is that anything like a person? Is that what you meant, Mr. President? Haw haw haw haw haw!!!

Etc.

Does this matter? No. It’s just a typo. So was “covfefe.” Trump made a typo, and five years later some White House staffer made a typo and nobody caught it. Neither one matters.

But the journos attack Republicans and defend Democrats, always and for any reason, and they don’t care how stupid it makes them look.

Then they wonder why we don’t trust them.

And express their wonderment with articles such as this Vanity Fair piece: Will Republicans Shut Out the Press in 2024? GOP politicians are increasingly shirking sit-down interviews, barring journalists from 2022 events, and skipping debates—an aversion to media scrutiny that could upend how the next presidential election cycle is covered.

THE LID: Two Huge Republican Senate Primaries Set For Next Week.

THE CORBYNIZATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTINUES APACE: Surprise: Alleged Jihad Terror Financiers Organized Campaign Events for Rashida Tlaib.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her, and I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.”

THE ULTIMATE EPIC PR FAIL: Rhode Island restaurant posts horrific meme of Anne Frank and the Holocaust — with restaurant owner saying he thought it was ‘funny’ and he ‘didn’t recognize her’ before deleting the post.

THE GASLIGHTING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES: Recessional.

The Biden administration continues to prepare the battlefield for the Commerce Department’s second-quarter 2022 GDP estimate on Thursday. Administration officials must anticipate an estimate reflecting that we are in a recession, because they are making fools of themselves to deflect it in the meantime.

QED:

OLD AND BUSTED: The Phone Cops and the Library Police.

The New Hotness? California officials crack down on the gallons needed for the archetypal Southern California yard, sending out ‘water cops’ to check; ‘My kids are asking me, what is going wrong with this grass?’ California’s Worst Drought on Record Spells Trouble for Classic Green Lawns.

I SAW THE BEST MINDS OF MY GENERATION DESTROYED BY TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, STARVING HYSTERICAL NAKED, DRAGGING THEMSELVES THROUGH THE TRANSGENDERED BATHROOMS AT DAWN LOOKING FOR AN ANGRY FIX. 2024: Bill Kristol Says Democrats Should Recruit John Legend (Not Kamala) to Replace Biden — ‘Our Version’ of Zelensky.

THE GRIFTERS: It’s Alyssa! ABC is set to name Trump’s WH comms director Alyssa Farah Griffin as Meghan McCain’s replacement on The View and will join the panel full time in September for show’s 26th season.

WHISTLEBLOWERS: One of the “Analysts” Who Declared the Hunter Biden Laptop “Russian Disinformation” Just Happened to be One of the “Analysts” In Crossfire Hurricane Who Vetted the Carter Page Warrant.

OF COURSE: Biden’s Cybersecurity Czar Says ‘Systemic Racism’ Is Major Threat to US Security.

President Joe Biden’s incoming cyber defense deputy has claimed that “systemic racism” is one of the greatest threats to U.S. cybersecurity.

Camille Stewart, a former Google strategist whom Biden reportedly tapped for White House deputy national cyber director, has argued that “our #NatSec apparatus must be a part of dismantling systemic racism,” and “pursuing anti-racist and anti-hate policy outcomes” should be a chief national security focus for the administration.

Biden’s new hire is likely to stoke concerns from Republican legislators that his administration has been more focused on pushing a race-focused ideological agenda than on traditional national defense issues—such as the increasing risk of cyberattacks from Russia, Iran, and China. The Department of Justice said in June it is bracing for more cyberwarfare from adversarial countries. Last month, the FBI revealed it intercepted an Iranian-backed cyberattack against Boston Children’s Hospital, and Russian hackers targeted an American satellite company in Ukraine earlier this year.

Stewart, who served as policy adviser for the Obama administration’s Department of Homeland Security, has criticized the United States as an intrinsically racist society in her writing and on social media.

But is “systemic racism” a bigger threat to cyber security than it is to the US roadway system?

Or: Yale Medical Professor Says Biden Working With Covid “Epitomizes White Supremacy Urgency.”

Or: “The healthcare system is built on a system of racism:” CBS Mornings guest says doctors are trained to have biases against black people.

ROLLING STONES FRONTMAN MICK JAGGER TURNS 79 TODAY:

The Rolling Stones singer and living rock icon Mick Jagger turns 79 years young today, and the man who has spent over five decades on the band’s nonstop adventure doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

Jagger has lived long enough and well enough to actually prove himself wrong, finally finding that most elusive and ethereal of concepts, satisfaction, but it certainly wasn’t always this way. Jagger was born to humble parents during wartime in Kent, England in 1943. His father was a teacher, as his father, Basil “Joe” Jagger, had been before him, and it was expected that the youngest Jagger would follow in their footsteps. With a stern mother, Mick got away from home as quickly as he could, eventually running into a long-missed former classmate and friend Keith Richards in university. Jagger’s life would never be the same.

“If you think Mick Jagger will still be out there trying to be a rock star at age fifty, then you are sadly, sadly mistaken:”

ADVOCATES THREATEN TO SHUT DOWN CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL GAME UNLESS CLIMATE LEGISLATION PASSES:

A coalition of climate advocacy groups says it’s time to leave everything on the field and plans to disrupt this year’s annual Congressional Baseball Game on Thu., July 28 unless Democrats pass climate legislation.

Organizers of The Coal Baron Blockade, which includes West Virginia Rising, along with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Beyond Extreme Energy, say they don’t believe sweeping climate legislation included in President Biden’s Build Back Better plan will pass the Senate. As a result, they are calling for this “Now or Never” action to push for the provisions to be included in a reconciliation bill that would be easier to pass since it would only require a simple majority. Build Back Better proposed $555 billion to fund electric vehicle tax credits, renewable power, and other clean energy initiatives.

“This action is coming from a deep, long-building frustration with Democratic failure to pass a reconciliation package that addresses the climate crisis as well as the crisis of rising costs,” says Jamie DeMarco, federal policy director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “We all know the government is currently considering a package that would reduce the cost of energy, reduce the cost of prescription drugs, or possibly reduce the cost of health care, and do it all while reducing our emissions and fighting inflation by reducing the deficit.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that leftist “advocates” have “shut down the congressional baseball game,” but curiously, typing CTL-F “Scalise” on the article brings back zero results.

Evergreen:

“THIS ISN’T GOING TO END WELL:” Antifa Declares War On Oregon Motorcycle Clubs.

OH, THAT LIBERAL FASCISM: Anthony Fauci Says If We Could Do It Again, COVID-19 Restrictions Would Be ‘Much, Much More Stringent.’

In contrast though: Monkeypox is Spreading Through the Gay and Bisexual Communities — But the CDC Can’t Recommend a Lockdown for Orgies. “Gee, maybe a strongly worded CDC advisory telling anyone with monkeypox symptoms to refrain from sex, especially from orgies, would be helpful, no? But no, the left’s constituent groups are never told not to do the things they like doing. If there’s a forbiddance needed, then all of society is told to lock down.”

With some exceptions, though:

● NPR: Dozens of public health and disease experts have signed an open letter in support of the nationwide anti-racism protests. “White supremacy is a lethal public health issue that predates and contributes to COVID-19,” they wrote.

● ‘Did I miss the memo?’: Hospital workers in full PPE applaud George Floyd protesters as they march past.

…And the more recent pivot by the DNC-MSM, such at the Atlantic. The change is subtle, but see if you can spot the difference in tone between the first two and last two headlines:

● Parents Are Losing Their Minds Over Masks in Schools.

—Atlantic headline, August 18th, 2021.

● Mask Mandates Don’t Need to Make Sense.

—Atlantic headline, February 20, 2022.

● Now Is as Good a Time as There’ll Ever Be to Leave Your Pandemic Bubble.

—Atlantic headline, March 3rd, 2022.

● Speech Therapy Shows the Difficult Tradeoffs of Wearing Masks.

—Atlantic headline, March 2, 2022.

As Ace of Spades wrote, at the start of a lengthy post on that last headline, “The masking mandates that the corrupt US and state and local governments forced on children, under pressure from the corrupt teachers unions have imposed developmental disorders on children that they may never recover from. The early years of development are critical ones. You don’t get those back. These are critical years of development in which children’s brains are wired to rewire themselves like crazy. Their brains will reconfigure themselves during these years like in no other point in their lives, ever. There is no ‘Do Over’ switch on a child’s formative years.”

Related: The Mainstream Media Damaged Our Children.

ICONIC PHOTOS OF BANDS AND MUSICIANS RESHOT IN THEIR ORIGINAL LOCATIONS: “Photographer Steve Birnbaum has been recreating music history by photographing images of musicians and bands in the exact location where they were originally photographed. The project started in 2010, and since then, he has covered 500 to 600 locations shooting from 100 to 150 days in a year. Birnbaum starts with an existing photo of musicians. Next, he tracks down the exact location where it was shot, positions the photo in his hand so that the site in the picture and the background line up to make one seamless composition, and then captures another photo.”

ROGER KIMBALL: Thoughts on the Swamp.

There’s something to be said for repetition.

In 146 BC, Rome besieged and then sacked Carthage. According to some accounts, the only thing left standing was a funerary monument.

The European Union is still moldering along, but at least the proximate goal of Hannan’s campaign, Britain’s exit from that soul-sucking Leviathan, has been accomplished.

With those victories in mind, I’m thinking of concluding all of my speeches with the phrase “palus delenda est”: “the swamp must be destroyed.”

What is the swamp?

The word has a long history, aided by the serendipitous contingency that Washington, D.C. was actually built on a literal swamp.

But the term, like a Chinese virus, underwent a “gain of function” makeover in 2015 when Donald Trump first strode onto the center stage of American political life.

“The Swamp”: that is the bureaucratic Washington establishment, the alphabet soup of agencies whose personnel, though unelected and largely unaccountable, run our lives right down to the latest permit, regulation, tax, fee, impost, and woke government requirement or interdiction.

But it’s also something more.

“The Swamp” names an attitude, an assumption, about power, about politics, but also about certain basic human realities.

Above all, perhaps, “the Swamp” rests and feeds upon the progressive assumption that the mass of citizens is incapable of self-government.

I call that assumption “progressive” because from the time of Woodrow Wilson on down to the latest Davos mandarin, the neofeudal bifurcation of humanity into elect and (ever the majority) subservient has been the guiding if unspoken nutrient.

The litany of Donald Trump’s policy achievements is long and distinguished.

It begins with his judicial appointments, some fruits of which we saw last month with the Supreme Court decisions on Roe v. Wade, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Second Amendment, and includes his attention to our Southern border, energy, taxes, the Middle East, and a host of other issues.

But more than any particular achievement, Donald Trump was the tocsin that awakened millions of people—those whom Hillary Clinton dismissed as “deplorable”—to the two-tier reality of political life in the United States.

Exit quote: A reckoning, that is to say, is coming. It cannot come too soon. In the meantime, join me in chanting palus delenda est.“

UNEXPECTEDLY: Biden Team Goes into Recession Denial. Welcome to ‘It’s Not a Recession, We Swear!’ Week

Politico’s Ben White characterizes this week as a “Category 5 economic storm,” but I think the dominant theme will be, “It’s not a recession, we swear!”

As much as economy-watchers will be studying the Consumer Confidence Index numbers on Tuesday and the Federal Reserve meeting and decision on interest rates Wednesday, the biggest deal will be the numbers for second-quarter economic growth, announced at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Thursday morning. We don’t know what the second-quarter economic numbers are going to be, but they’re probably not going to be good. The Atlanta Fed thinks it will show that the U.S. GDP shrank 1.6 percent in the last quarter. The previous quarter was a decline of 1.6 percent as well — so if the Atlanta Fed projection is correct, Thursday will bring news that the U.S. is now in a recession, at least by the traditional definition. (Even if it doesn’t, and it shows GDP growth at 0.0 or slightly higher, the U.S. is still in lousy near-recessionary conditions.)

Biden and his team will argue that, despite the numbers, the U.S. isn’t really in a recession. In fact, White writes that if Republicans declare we’re in recession, “It will not be true. At least not yet. But President Joe Biden and Democratic candidates across the country will face a daunting and possibly impossible challenge explaining to people why it’s not true.”

Jimmy Carter’s late economics advisor, Alfred “Bananas” Kahn, could not be reached for comment.

Related: New marker laid down:

“The Taliban won’t take over Afghanistan.”

“Inflation won’t be a problem.” https://t.co/LgJUfSIwKj

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 25, 2022

RIP, PAULIE CICERO: ‘Goodfellas,’ ‘Law & Order’ Actor Paul Sorvino Dies At 83.