LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Hey Nazi-Racist, Your Rhetoric is Dividing the Country. “Rep. Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight Committee said on a Sunday snuff show that Trump’s tweets telling The Squad to ‘go back to where they came from’ reminded him of the time he was told to ‘go back from where he came from.’ Cummings made his remarks to George Stephanopoulos, who also revealed that has been told to ‘go back from where he came from.’ This is a new epidemic, so many Democrats have been told to ‘go back,’ why are we only hearing about it until now?”

It’s the chic new victimhood cred.

TO BE FAIR, THE WORD HAS LOST ALL MEANING: Cory Booker Says Donald Trump is ‘worse than a racist.’

HMM: Chinese firms ask for tariff exemptions to buy US agricultural products, state media says. “The announcement of new Chinese purchases of US farm products came only a few days after Trump complained that China was not living up to promises made at the summit to increase its agricultural imports from the US, and renewed his threat to impose further trade tariffs if necessary.”

OH: Deal for Naval Outpost in Cambodia Furthers China’s Quest for Military Network. “Use of Ream naval base would help China’s military project power across a broad swath of Southeast Asia.”

The pact—signed this spring but not disclosed by either side—gives China exclusive rights to part of a Cambodian naval installation on the Gulf of Thailand, not far from a large airport now being constructed by a Chinese company.

Some details of the final deal were unclear, the officials said, but an early draft, seen by U.S. officials, would allow China to use the base for 30 years, with automatic renewals every 10 years after that. China would be able to post military personnel, store weapons and berth warships, according to the draft.

Military operations from the naval base, airport, or both, would sharply increase Beijing’s capacity to enforce territorial claims and economic interests in the South China Sea, to threaten U.S. allies in Southeast Asia and to extend its influence over the strategically important Malacca Strait.

China’s oil — and Japan’s — is shipped through the Strait.

OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: The Fallout From A Seemingly Sweet Oil Deal For Venezuela’s Neighbors.

“The fuel itself was never discounted. This was a public finance program,” Goldwyn says. In his estimation, what the PetroCaribe countries “got was a loan from Venezuela to buy that fuel over a very long term at a very low rate.”

Since the inception of PetroCaribe in 2005, 17 countries took part. They included the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nicaragua and the tiny island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, with a population of just 50,000 people.

President Chavez claimed the program would free up government funds for schools, roads and other public infrastructure. His idea was that the money the nations saved by not paying full price up front would be parked in a local PetroCaribe development fund and could be used to finance social programs.

Jamaica stashed billions of dollars in fuel savings into a trust that handled the fuel debt payments to Caracas and offered discounted loans for local development projects. The Dominican Republic used PetroCaribe funds to offer subsidized electricity. But with little oversight and oil prices skyrocketing, some other countries used the long-term loans simply to keep gas prices low at the pump.

Critics say PetroCaribe suppressed the development of renewable energy, burdened these small nations with billions of dollars in debt – and spurred corruption.

Now that’s what I call real socialism.

WELL, GOOD: Illegals Trying to Storm Border Turned Back by CPB Agents Using Tear Gas.

BUT DON’T YOU DARE QUESTION THEIR PATRIOTISM: 6th Grade Project Claims State Flag Is ‘Violent’ Against Native Americans, SPLC Awards $10K.

BUSTED: Twitchy Uncovers #DeportMelania Used by Known Democrats and Journalists.

I QUESTION THE MENTAL STATE OF PSYCHIATRISTS WHO DIAGNOSE PATIENTS THEY’VE NEVER MET: Yale Psychiatrist Claims Trump’s Racism Is a Coping Mechanism for His Deteriorating Mental State.

RELATED? Psychiatric diagnoses are ‘useless,’ experts say.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY VII: When Methagators Attack.

APOLLO 11: The Complete Descent.

This is quite good.

INSURANCE FRAUD:

This is one of the craziest Twitter threads I’ve ever seen, and it’s the true story of how “Dr. Dave” bilked insurers out of millions… as a personal fitness trainer.

BOOK REVIEW: The 12 Lessons of ‘Guns and Self-Defense’ by Robert A. Waters.

OH FER CRYIN’ OUT LOUD: Trump Supporter Stripped of Miss Michigan Title for Hijab Tweet.

FIFTY YEARS OF WHITEWASHING FOR TED KENNEDY, AND NO SIGN OF STOPPING:

BILL GERTZ: China Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile Tests a Signal to US, World.

The four-star admiral noted that Wei, the Chinese defense minister, spoke at a security conference in Singapore in early June in remarks he described as “quite chilling.”

“Not only did [Wei] make it clear that he didn’t think Asia and the Western Pacific was any place for America, he said Asia wasn’t even for Asians—it was for the Chinese,” Davidson said.

“Within 24 hours of that they tested a new nuclear ballistic missile, not in nuclear mode necessarily.”

The admiral was referring to China’s test of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile known as the JL-3

Then on July 8, Wei spoke to a forum of defense ministers from Latin America and Pacific island nations in China and admitted that China’s global development program known as Belt and Road Initiative was indeed a basis for future military expansion.

Chinese officials previously insisted there was no military component to the multitrillion-dollar initiative.

And who believed that?

IT ISN’T A SUPERCAR FOR THE MASSES, BUT IT’S VERY CLOSE: The Mid-Engined 2020 Chevy Corvette Is Here.

IT’S DEAD, JIM: Trump Administration & Pelosi Negotiate $2 Trillion Budget Deal Over the Corpse of Fiscal Conservatism. “Trump’s proposal to cap some domestic spending was DOA in the Democrat-held House, and there’s a deadline coming to raise the debt ceiling or risk default — a chance Mnuchin reportedly doesn’t want to take. Pelosi on the other hand isn’t afraid to play chicken with the debt ceiling. When Republicans hold the House and the there’s a government shutdown, that’s the Republicans’ fault. When Democrats hold the House and there’s a government shutdown, that’s the Republicans’ fault, too. You can thank the Democrat-Media Complex for this impossible situation.”

Much more at the link.

UH-HUH: ‘Squad’ Member Ayanna Pressley: There’s No Tension Between Freshman Dems and Pelosi, ‘Much Ado About Nothing.’

TAMMY BRUCE: Trump vs. AOC and ‘the squad’ – What bare-knuckle fight means for 2020.

Trump’s comments may be blunt, but they’re not “racist,” an accusation now thrown about by the Democrats as casually as saying hello. That, in fact, is the cold, hard strategy.

As Clay noted in his comments about Ocasio-Cortez accusing Pelosi of racism: “You’re getting push back so you resort to using the race card? Unbelievable.”

Unfortunately, it’s all too believable when smearing your opponents is the only card you have.

Still, after years of lies about his character and intention, USA Today reported the president’s approval rating among Republicans is now at 93 percent and the GOP’s approval rating among Americans is at 51 percent.

Trump is shoring up his base while at the same time turning Democrats against one another.

I’m not getting cocky, but this tumultuous week has nevertheless been a good week.

UPDATE: Link was missing — fixed now. Sorry!

I COULD HAVE TOLD YOU THIS: Dropping F-Bomb Increases Pain Tolerance By A Third, Study Finds.

LIZ SHELD’S MORNING BRIEF: Ilhan Omar Says Boycotting Israel Is Like Boycotting Nazi Germany. “David Steinberg is doing the heavy lifting the Pulitzer-winning, corporate, “news” industry is not. Over at Powerline, Steinberg has the receipts on Omar’s marriage to her brother. Did you know Omar isn’t really her last name? Interesting stuff, go check it out. It’s not just that Omar married her brother, which is gross, but she did it (allegedly) to commit fraud. I wonder what the consequences will be?”

PRIVACY: How extensions slurped up browsing histories from 4M users. “Have your tax returns, Nest videos, and medical info been made public?”

PAUL CURRY: The Squad to Re-Elect President Trump. “Donald Trump, by injecting himself into the Democrat’s civil war and compelling the Pelosi establishment to embrace the Squad, may have just pulled off a classic Tom Sawyer move. Rather than allowing the Democrats to reign in their extreme left flank and quell the temper-tantrum-like calls for impeachment, he has gotten the left to embrace their darker demons and make the Squad the face of the party. In doing so, he has made four freshman Congresswomen the Squad to Re-elect the President.”

It might be a Grand Master-level trolling event if Trump were to send them all campaign donations in the maximum amount.

FASTER, PLEASE: Number of US overdose deaths appears to be falling.