* This tweet from Trump isn’t really about anything important. But if you want a clue about just how divorced he is from reality, it sums things up pretty well.
* Just to be clear, VP Pence isn’t too far behind Trump in his ability to create a world divorced from reality.
Pence on how to lead like Trump: Be humble and exercise self-control https://t.co/oC9OxoeKhx pic.twitter.com/3LOgn2cb5V
— The Hill (@thehill) July 12, 2017
* After Don, Jr. appeared on Fox New with Sean Hannity last night, Trump tweeted this.
Don’t you think that this indicates that the word “transparent” doesn’t mean what the president thinks it does?
President Donald Trump personally signed off on a statement provided Sunday by Donald Trump Jr., which insisted a meeting between the president’s eldest son and an emissary of the Russian government was a simple conversation about an adoption program.
* Apparently chatter among Russian government officials about Trump started earlier than many people thought.
U.S. intelligence agencies starting in the spring of 2015 detected conversations in which Russian government officials discussed associates of Donald Trump, several months before he declared his candidacy for president, according to current and former U.S. officials…
Then, in the spring of 2016, U.S. intelligence officials’ suspicions about Russian meddling in the election grew after their counterparts in Europe warned that Russian money might be flowing into the presidential election, according to officials with knowledge of the warning. It remains unknown if or whether those funds were funneled to a particular campaign or to others to spend it on behalf of candidates.
* The National Governors Association summer annual meeting starts tomorrow. Look who’s on the agenda.
But what also has heightened focus on the meeting is the appearance of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with other officials from Canada, Mexico, India, China and Japan.
The sudden interest in the work of the governors from abroad reflects fears by leaders of some foreign governments about the direction of U.S. trade policy under a president who has sharply criticized free-trade agreements negotiated by past administrations…
The number of attendees from foreign governments underscores concerns that these nations’ economic interests are at risk. The result is a more concerted effort by officials in other countries to create relationships below the level of the federal government that can help to maintain support for freer trade, particularly in North America. It is as if they are attempting to build a wall of protection, with the help of governors, as a bulwark against the president’s intentions.
* We often talk about how Democrats need to rebuild from the bottom up by making gains in state and local elections. But we rarely pay attention when that happens. For example, two Democrats flipped historically red districts in the state legislature of deeply red Oklahoma yesterday.
Democrats have swept two special elections in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas for state representative and senator after the resignation of Republican lawmakers.
In House District 75, which includes portions of east Tulsa and north Broken Arrow, unofficial results show voters picked Democrat Karen Gaddis over Republican Tressa Nunley. Both were vying to replace former Republican state Rep. Dan Kirby, who resigned this year after two former legislative assistants accused him of sexual harassment.
In Senate District 44 in south Oklahoma City, voters selected Democrat Michael Brooks over Republican Joe Griffin. He’ll replace ex-state Sen. Ralph Shortey, who faces three felony counts alleging he solicited a 17-year-old boy for sex.
It’s true that illicit behavior on the part of the previous representatives probably played a role. But I have two things to say about that, (1) Gaddis and Brooks weren’t running against those previous representatives, and (2) sexually illicit behavior didn’t stop Trump from winning Oklahoma by over 35 points.
* Finally, Dana Schwartz used this SNL skit as an introduction to her article titled, “Hating Trump Doesn’t Make a Man a Feminist.” It’s provocative, but rather than react, we should listen to what the young women Schwartz heard from are saying.
