WAIT, IF RICH GUYS USE THEIR MONEY TO CONTROL POLITICS, WHY DO THEY LOSE SO OFTEN? Good question. And Capital Research Center has the answer, based on the biggest spenders being the biggest losers in every national election since 2004. Great history and a great video.

WAS COMEY’S CLINTON EMAIL DECISION SELF-INTERESTED? Turns out former FBI Director James Comey talked about sensitive government business on his personal email routinely, according to new documents turned up by the Cause of Action Institute (COAI) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Here’s the key: “The FBI reviewed 526 pages, released only 156 pages, and withheld 370 pages in full. Notably, the FBI withheld seven emails under the FOIA’s law enforcement exemption, which applies only where the government can show that (1) a law enforcement proceeding is pending or prospective, and (2) release of information about that proceeding could reasonably be expected to cause some articulable harm,” COAI said.

So in July 2016 when Comey told the nation that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her key aides had acted “extremely carelessly” but without the intent of harming U.S. national security,  he not only was mis-representing the law, which doesn’t consider intent, but he also appears now to have been setting an agency precedent that might well have been beneficial to himself.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when we lie to the American people to protect our own behinds.

FEDERAL COURT RULES AGAINST MARYLAND GERRYMANDERING GOP VOTERS INTO OBLIVION: It got lost in the election news this week, but Walter Olson points it out in a tweet late yesterday. The Federal District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that when Maryland’s Democratic establishment redrew congressional districts in 2011, they:

•  “The state specifically targeted voters in the sixth congressional district who were registered as Republicans and who had historically voted for Republican candidates.

•  “The state specifically intended to diminish the value of those targeted citizens’ votes by removing a substantial number of them from the sixth district and replacing them with Democratic voters for the purpose of denying, as a practical matter, the targeted voters the opportunity to elect the candidate of their choice.

•  “The state gave effect to its intent by, on net, removing about 66,000 Republican voters from the sixth district and adding 24,000 Democratic voters in their place.

•  “The state meaningfully burdened the targeted Republican voters’ representational rights by substantially diminishing their ability to elect their candidate of choice.

•  “The state also burdened the Republican voters’ right of association, as demonstrated by voter confusion, diminished participation in Republican organizational efforts in the sixth district, and diminished Republican participation in voting, as well as decreased Republican fundraising.

•  “These injuries were the direct result of the state’s purpose to convert the sixth district from a solid Republican district to a Democratic district.”

As a result, the court ordered Maryland officials “promptly to adopt a new plan in conformance with this Memorandum Opinion for use in the 2020 congressional elections.”

I live in this district, so this decision is great news, especially because the 2011 gerrymandering resulted in my part of Maryland being “represented” by the insufferable radical left-winger, Rep. Jaime Raskin.(Correction: Make that “the insufferable Democratic Rep.-elect David Trone,” replacing Rep. John Delaney, who, for reasons understood only by him, is preparing to run for president in 2020).

Now the focus is on Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. The Democrat-dominated legislature will have to get the new plan past him. There are a bunch of us in Maryland who will be watching him very carefully on this issue.

IF YOU STILL HAVEN’T EXPLAINED TUESDAY’S RESULTS TO YOUR KIDS: “Uncle Strickland” at the Washington Free Beacon has it all laid out for you. Here’s a sample:

“I’m certainly no stranger when it comes to discussing politics with children. My nephews, Brayden and Attechus, are a pair of pompous, pampered hipsters who embody everything wrong with their generation — lazy cynics masquerading as intellectuals who trust Amazon to pack their orders of neckbeard oil and ironic tank tops, but don’t trust Arby’s to pack a sandwich full of succulent, slow-roasted American beef. I’ve had to set them straight a time or two at holiday gatherings. But when it comes to my own offspring, and other patriotic children, the conversations aren’t always so much fun.”

NOW THE IMMIGRATION COURTS ARE REALLY JAMMED: The backlog of immigration cases suddenly jumped to the highest level ever, 1,098,468 cases, according to data tracked by the Transactional Records Analysis Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. This news comes just as three large groups of new potential cases are making their way north from Central America via Mexico toward the southern U.S. border.

Don’t miss the neat map of the states that lets you click on one to get the number of immigration cases there. If you aren’t familiar with TRAC, you should be, especially if, like me, you can never get enough data about government operations and mis-operations.

YES, JOY BEHAR ACTUALLY SAID THIS: The Federalist’s Bre Payton has the sad details.

GUESS WHO EARMARKED $500 MILLION FOR REFUGEES IN 2016: Wasn’t the evil Koch Brothers or Sheldon Adelson or Phil Anschutz or Robert Mercer. It was … well, Luke Rosiak of the Daily Caller has the details. So much for the New York Times’ dismissal of conservative claims about who is helping fund those caravans coming north from Central America and through Mexico to the U.S. border.

HAS MANCHIN GIVEN UP? He says he will vote against a proposed amendment to the West Virginia constitution that would make it illegal to use state tax dollars to support abortion, according to Washington Free Beacon’s Bill McMorris.

Either Manchin thinks he’s so far ahead of his Republican opponent, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morissey, that opposing the amendment won’t prevent his re-election. Or Manchin’s internal polls have picked up the Trump effect and he knows Tuesday is not going to be a good day for him.

FOUR ‘BIG BANGS’ MAKE FOR ONE HUGE QUESTION: It’s Sunday morning, so here’s a question for you — Why is there “something” rather than “nothing?” It’s today’s question on the HillFaith blog. It’s something a lot of smart people on both sides of the science/faith divide have considered over the years. And it’s much more significant than the one about whether a problem is solved if a congressman offers a solution but nobody hears it on C-SPAN.

FACEBOOK IS SOOO SORRY IT MISTAKENLY CENSORED PRO-LIFE ADS: Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman lays out how the social media giant keeps censoring certain kinds of political ads, then bowing and scraping with apologies.

Freeman quotes Susan B. Anthony List spokesman Mallory Quigley saying, “’At this point all of the ads are back up and running,’ reports Mallory Quigley of SBA List via email. She adds that four different ads created by her organization ‘have been suspended and then approved multiple times in the last month or so.’”

But the fact remains that Facebook’s apologies don’t change the reality that Facebook shut down political speech of one side during an election campaign in which every minute of advocacy could change the outcome of voting.

THIS MAY SINK SEN. JON TESTER’S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN: The American Spectator’s David Catron reports that “Libertarian Rick Breckenridge decided to endorse Republican Matt Rosendale. The Libertarian has been pulling enough support in the polls to enable Tester to slither back to the swamp again.”

It worked for Tester in 2012 and appeared to be working again in 2018, but then somebody pulled some dirty tricks and it appears the senator is taking the brunt of the resulting blowback.

NO SUCH THING AS VOTER FRAUD? THINK AGAIN: Jason Snead, writing on The Daily Signal, demolishes the Left’s familiar claim that voting fraud is a myth in America. Reports Snead: “Simply put, the full scope of fraud in U.S. elections is unknown, and many states do not have in place the policies and procedures to detect and deter voter fraud.”

Enough is known, however, for Heritage to maintain a database on voter fraud, which you can view here. And trust me, considering how intensely the Left pours vituperation on any effort to expose and eradicate voter fraud, that tells you how serious the problem must actually be.

OBAMA’S DOJ PREDICTED FAMILY MIGRATION EXPLOSION, DID NOTHING: Lawyers for the federal government told a federal judge in 2015 that failing to allow U.S. immigration officials some leeway in how they implement the infamous Flores settlement would prompt an explosion of immigrant families – real and otherwise – trying to enter the country.

The judge refused, Obama did nothing to prepare for the onslaught and here we are today having to dispatch 5,200 U.S. troops to back up the 2,000 National Guardsmen and thousands of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers already at the border preparing for the next caravan. LifeZette’s Brendan Kirby has the story.

BESIDES TRUMP, IT’S ALSO THE FAULT OF FOX NEWS, RIGHT-WING RADIO: Leave it to Michael Moore to reveal the deepest of secrets. This time it’s that “angry right-wing men” are responsible for political violence in America, thanks to Fox News and conservative Talk Radio.

If you don’t believe it, just watch ABC, NBC, CBS, MSDNC and CNN for, oh, maybe five minutes and you will surely hear the best and brightest among us reinforcing Moore’s rant, uh, analysis. Just think how much simpler everything is when the smart people do all of our thinking for us!

FIVE DEMS WHO DON’T HAVE A CLUE ON THE CARAVAN: I know this will come as a shock to many of you but there are some major Democratic national leaders who really could use some tutoring on the national security aspects of the migrant march headed our way. If you see one of them on the street, please give them a hand.

SIX REASONS REPUBLICANS SHOULD STILL WORRY ABOUT MIDTERMS: Things are definitely looking up with two weeks left before the 2018 midterms, but LifeZette’s Brendan Kirby points to some continuing realities.

Then go read Byron York’s excellent analysis for the Washington Examiner of the reconciliation of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. And finally check out Jim Antle’s lengthy look, also at WEX, at whether the president can seal the deal and save the GOP majorities come election day.

SAUDI MEDIA SAYS KHASHOGGI ACCIDENTALLY RAN INTO A FAST-MOVING FIST: He died when a conversation he was having with 15 Saudi visitors to the country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, unaccountably became heated. Words were said, punches were thrown, fists went flying and, ooops!, we killed him.

SHE’S BACK! WELL, MAYBE. AIDE HINTS HILLARY IS SPOILING FOR REMATCH: And here are just three of the many reasons why this is a really bad idea for everybody concerned, including especially Hillary. Well, Bill might like it since they still have interns at the White House.

TRUMP THREATENS TO CLOSE BORDER WITH MEXICO: The president is tweeting this morning, saying he will send the military and close the southern U.S. border if the latest caravan of migrants from Honduras and Guatemala is allowed to continue unimpeded through Mexico. There is a faint odor of genuine national crisis in this.

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN THIS KID? He’s 11-years-old and you gotta hear his critique of Einstein and Hawking.

WHAT ARE THOSE PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON SMOKING? It turns out that a big majority of Americans — 65 percent of the respondents to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey — think mandatory random drug testing is a great idea for politicians.

TRUMP FALLING BEHIND IN FILLING EMPTY FEDERAL JUDGESHIPS: Yes, President Donald Trump has put two new conservative justices on the Supreme Court and appointed a record number of appellate judges as well.

“The president has offered up more nominees for district and appellate judgeships than any other president at this point in his first term since Bill Clinton. Trump’s 113 total nominations are nearly twice as many as former President Barack Obama at the same point of his presidency,” LifeZette’s Brendan Kirby reports.

But there were 104 vacancies when Trump took the oath of office and today there are 118, according to the federal judiciary’s Administrative Office. Democrats have slowed the confirmation process dramatically, even without the filibuster, but there are additional factors involved. Go here for Kirby’s explanation.

IT TOOK 1,279 DAYS BUT HILLARY CLINTON FINALLY LOST HER SECURITY CLEARANCE: Senate Committee on the Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) revealed Friday that Hillary asked that her security clearance be withdrawn, according to a September 21 letter from the Department of State.

And if you believe she voluntarily did this, I have some incredible ocean beachfront lots in Oklahoma that are available at prices you won’t believe … Go here for the rest of the story.

NOW RADICAL LEFT IS TURNING ON WHITE WOMEN: Tamika Mallory, the radical lefty who was seen at a Louis Farrakhan rally earlier this year, has a Huffpo oped up today, the title of which says it all: “White Women, Stop Waiting for Black Women to Save You.”

LifeZette’s Deirdre Reilly notes that Mallory also issued a tweet touting the oped, saying “We need white women to get comfortable with discomfort, to check their fellow white women when they prop up white supremacy and white male patriarchy.” In other words, being a white woman makes you as much a beneficiary of “white privilege” as being an angry white male.

And then there’s this from Mallory, according to Reilly: “In November, we will replace rape apologists with the women the march inspired to run against them. In January 2019, we’re coming back with an agenda to end rape culture, white supremacy and patriarchy in America.”

Does this tell us that when the radical Left has to choose between gender and race, race will win? And should a reasonable person then conclude that the goal of radical left activists like Mallory isn’t racial reconciliation but racial weaponization on behalf of political power?

HERE’S THE CASE THAT COULD END ABORTION: There being nothing in the 1973 decision defining how an abortion must be performed, it seems logical to assume the newly installed conservative majority on the Supreme Court could find one of those constitutional “penumbra” thingies to do the job.

At least, that’s the view of the legal experts LifeZette’s Brendan Kirby talked to about a certain Alabama law — the Alabama Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Act of 2016 — that banned slicing the unborn child into pieces that are then suctioned out of the uterus.

Actually, they don’t talk about penumbras. They’re all about precedents and law stuff like that. I just said it because I thought it might be worth a chuckle. And we all need a chuckle in the morning these days, right?