The scaled-back Republican National Convention will feature three Florida speakers with the Sunshine State potentially poised to be the deciding factor in closely contested presidential race. Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz will speak Monday night. Tuesday brings Florida Lt. Governor Jeannette Nunez and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.President Donald Trump is looking for a boost coming out of the convention, with most polls showing him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden. The most recent Mason-Dixon poll shows Democrat Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in Florida 50% to 46%, but the margin of error makes the race a tie.In a state that's too close to call, Orlando sits in the middle of the region that will likely decide the election in the Sunshine State. It's one of the few things on which Republicans and Democrats agree. As goes the I-4 corridor, so goes Florida, said Wes Hodge, the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee Chair. Charles Hart, the Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chair echoed that sentiment. How important are we? We're critical, Hart said. The state is so critical that President George H.W. Bush was the last president to carry the state, and lose, which happened in 1992.In 2016, most of President Trump's support came from the north, and southwest Florida, while Hillary Clinton's came from the southeast. Interstate 4 between Tampa and Daytona, outside of strongly blue Orange and Osceola counties, is a mix, with roughly a third of voters either independent or in minor parties. Those voters will likely decide who wins the state, and draw the attention of the major parties from the conventions until election day. So the Republicans just need to basically go out there and say what we believe in. Which is, we believe we are pro-freedom, we are pro-life, we are pro- second amendment and we are pro-Trump. And that's it, Hart said. If you want a big tent where you can have a seat at the table, come to the Democratic party, come to Joe Biden. We know that you are going to get stability, you know that you are going to get a calm leader, we know that we're going to get someone that is going to work for Americans, not just Trump Republicans, Hodge said.

The scaled-back Republican National Convention will feature three Florida speakers with the Sunshine State potentially poised to be the deciding factor in closely contested presidential race.

Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz will speak Monday night. Tuesday brings Florida Lt. Governor Jeannette Nunez and former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

President Donald Trump is looking for a boost coming out of the convention, with most polls showing him trailing former Vice President Joe Biden.

The most recent Mason-Dixon poll shows Democrat Joe Biden leading Donald Trump in Florida 50% to 46%, but the margin of error makes the race a tie.

In a state that's too close to call, Orlando sits in the middle of the region that will likely decide the election in the Sunshine State.

It's one of the few things on which Republicans and Democrats agree.

As goes the I-4 corridor, so goes Florida, said Wes Hodge, the Orange County Democratic Executive Committee Chair.

Charles Hart, the Orange County Republican Executive Committee Chair echoed that sentiment.

How important are we? We're critical, Hart said.

The state is so critical that President George H.W. Bush was the last president to carry the state, and lose, which happened in 1992.

In 2016, most of President Trump's support came from the north, and southwest Florida, while Hillary Clinton's came from the southeast.

Interstate 4 between Tampa and Daytona, outside of strongly blue Orange and Osceola counties, is a mix, with roughly a third of voters either independent or in minor parties.

Those voters will likely decide who wins the state, and draw the attention of the major parties from the conventions until election day.

So the Republicans just need to basically go out there and say what we believe in. Which is, we believe we are pro-freedom, we are pro-life, we are pro- second amendment and we are pro-Trump. And that's it, Hart said.

If you want a big tent where you can have a seat at the table, come to the Democratic party, come to Joe Biden. We know that you are going to get stability, you know that you are going to get a calm leader, we know that we're going to get someone that is going to work for Americans, not just Trump Republicans, Hodge said.

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GOP convention to feature heavy dose of Florida - WESH 2 Orlando

Treasure Coast Newspapers Published 4:00 a.m. ET Aug. 21, 2020

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As I write, the postmaster general has decided to stand down on disrupting the mail flow for the general election Nov. 3. However, based on his previous behavior and conflicts of interest, I don't trust him.

In Martin County, a safer way than mailing it is to hand-carry the ballot to the Martin County election office on the corner of Martin Luther King and Dixie Highway, up to the last minutes of the election. There is a slot outside or you can bring it in.

From Oct. 19 through Oct. 31 you can bring it inside any libraryin Martin County.

Check with the election office on any details. Make your vote count.

Harvey Finegold, Stuart

Letter carriers load mail trucks for deliveries at a U.S. Postal Service facility in McLean, Viriginia, on July 31, 2020.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

Back when I was in school, we were taught that you could not go on to the second lesson until you mastered the first lesson. If you did move forward without a full grasp of the first lesson, you were surely going to stumble and fail on the second lesson.

As we try to debate the Second Amendment, and come up with solutions on gun control, I wonder if the real root cause is not in the Second Amendment? It seems most of the mass shootings stem from someones hatred against another persons or groups freedom, religion, or right of expression. Those are First Amendment guarantees.

I grew up with guns. Some of my fondest memories as a kid was taking my gun into the woods with friends, setting up bottles or cans, and shooting at them to see who was the better shot. In addition to having fun, it also taught you respect and responsibility, because you knew the danger involved. I would hate to see that privilege taken way.

So, as we fight not to have that privilege taken away, I think we take the wrong approach. We say that weapons are there for our protection. The reality is that no personal firearm, regardless of its capabilities, would defend you against an attack from a foreign country, as it would have back when the Second Amendment was written. You would be no match for such arsenals as tanks, missiles, rockets, fighter jets, bombers, and nuclear bombs.

So my question is: What are you really protected against? Certainly not an attack from a foreign country. My guess: someone who hasnt quite mastered the first lesson (the First Amendment). The next time you really want to stand up and fight for the Second Amendment, start and practice the First Amendment.

Mike Bentz, Stuart

I was so sad to hear about the shops and restaurants in Port St. Lucie West. Having lived in PSL West for over 15 years I cannot understand why the snowbird bill that is before Congress again (vetoed by President Obama) is not passed. I am a Canadian and this bill sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio would allow seniors to stay in your wonderful country for eight instead of six months. Many Americans do not realize that we are only allowed 182 days in America and being law-abiding people we adhere to the law.

My wife and I can not access any government programs, we have health insurance and love to dine out, buy things and generally enjoy the area. The statistics for snowbirds spending is well documented. Why not increase it by a third?

The only negative reason I have been able to find is that this is an immigration issue and part of a bigger picture. No offense, but I do not want to immigrate and this is a bipartisan bill. Our government lacks common sense just like yours but tell my barber, grocery store worker or favorite waiter in PSL that this makes sense.

I last heard it was before Homeland Security, and an all-out attack from Canadian seniors could be a serious national disaster.

Looking forward to again returning this November. I'm sure my wife's shopping will stimulate the local economy and I hope there are many restaurants open for our dining pleasure.

Murray Chalmers, Port St. Lucie

As I was watching the president of this rich country doing another one of his campaign speeches from his country club, surrounded by his (except for one) white-privilege millionaire members and donors, I was wondering how his unemployed loyal minions were reacting to the crumbs he was tossing at them by signing an executive order that would givethem $400 a week and no payroll taxes.

Am I missing something here? You do not get a paycheck, so you do not pay payroll taxes, really.

Trumps Republican minions refused to vote on the $600 that the Democrats felt was needed, which came to $31,200 year, only $5,000 above the federal poverty guideline for a family of four. The $400 a week comes to $20,800 a year, which is $5,400 less than the $26,200 federal poverty guide line for 2020.

On the other hand the living wage in the United States is $16.54 per hour, or $68,808 per year, in 2019, before taxes for a family of four (two working adults, two children). However, since our president is only interested in lining his pockets,he would not have been briefed on this fact.

I guess Trump agrees with his Republican fat cats: Keep the masses barefoot and pregnant and let them eat the crumbs thrown at them and expect them to thank him for all he has done for them.

Sandra Cordes, Stuart

Marlette(Photo: Marlette)

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Letters to the Editor: Aug. 21, 2020 - TCPalm

Since President Donald Trump deployed federal police to Portland, he can talk of little else. Perhaps that's because he sees the images of civil unrest in our streets as a winning issue for his reelection campaign. It could signal his eagerness to "send in the National Guard," as he's previously threatened. Maybe he just really likes saying "Portland." Whatever the reason, at most of his press briefingsfrom Aug. 11 through 17, they were predominantly held in the White Househe discusses our city.

How fixated is he? We decided to conduct a regular review of his official remarks, as compiled by the White House Press Office, to ascertain how angry the president is with Portland this week.

How many times did the president say the word "Portland" in official remarks last week? 9

What was his harshest appraisal?"What you're seeing in Portland and Seattle, New York, Chicago is really the Democrat road map for America," he said on Aug. 11. "They want every city in America to resemble Portland, in a form. They want to pass federal legislation gutting and hamstringing every police department in America. They want to get rid of your Second Amendment. They want to end cash bail, close prisons, defund police departmentsor at least largely defund."

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How Angry Is Donald Trump at Portland This Week? We Updated the Presidential Rage-O-Meter. - Willamette Week

Campaign Beat: Greens, Guns And Preexisting Conditions

Montana's Secretary of State loses his battle to keep Green Party candidates on the ballot. New campaign ads focus on family and gun rights. The two candidates for governor release their health care plans. The national party conventions may hold little sway over Montana races. And Governor Bullock rebukes State School Superintendent Elsie Arntzen in their ongoing dispute over school masking policy

Listen now on Campaign Beat with Sally Mauk, Rob Saldin and Holly Michels.

Mauk Holly, when the state Supreme Court recently ruled to keep the Republican-backed Green Party candidates off the ballot we thought that was the end of it. But now Secretary of State Corey Stapleton plans to appeal that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. Is Stapleton a closet fan of the Green Party? What's going on?

Michels Yeah, so it has been a pretty hectic last couple of days. Like you said, the Montana Supreme Court did uphold a lower court decision that removed the Green Party from the ballot. People had asked for their signatures to be removed from petitions that qualified the Greens once they found out, like you said, the Republican Party financed that effort. On Thursday, which was the deadline for Stapleton to certify the ballot in Montana, he sent a three paragraph press release that morning saying that he was going to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also asked on Thursday for the state Supreme Court here to issue a stay on its own order trying to delay Stapleton from certifying a ballot that would include the Green Party. Stapleton argued if for some reason the U.S. Supreme Court accepted his appeal and did decide the Greens should be removed from the ballot, he could somehow cover up those names or something and just adapt the ballot later. That's how things shook out. But been lot of back and forth. We do now have the certified ballot. It does not include the Green Party, though Stapleton did include a little addendum in the certification document noting his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mauk My guess Holly is that federal justices will decline to hear the case.

Michels Yeah, it is pretty unlikely this appeal will get taken up by the Supreme Court just to start with. They really don't accept that many cases, except maybe 100, 250 of the more than 7,000 that they're asked to look at every year. There's also the issue of it might not be a case that they are able to review. They can't really review cases that just deal with state law. There needs to be a bigger federal issue there. And the lower district court ruling in Helena really only dealt with if Stapleton followed administrative duties that are laid out in state law. We haven't seen the state Supreme Court's full order, so we don't really know if they expanded to include in their deliberations something else. But as of now, it looks like this might not even be a case the U.S. Supreme Court could review.

Mauk All right. And meanwhile, as you said, the ballot has been certified and the Green Party candidates are not going to be on the ballot. So that's kind of the bottom line.

Rob in the Senate race Governor Bullock's campaign put out a new ad featuring the governor's wife, Lisa, and their three kids. Here's that ad.

[Bullock family]: I'm Caroline Bullock. I'm Alex. And I'm Cam. Our dad likes to talk about us. This time we're going to talk about him.

[Lisa Bullock]: They're teenagers. What could go wrong?

[Bullock family]: My dad loves Montana, it's where he grew up. He was raised in a single parent household and met our mom, Lisa, at the same school we go to go. Go Bengals!

I love fishing with him. I love running with my dad. He was by my side when I got my first buck.

We'll be hiking, then he'll always be like, "you know what's great? Every one of us owns these public lands.

I'm really proud of the work that he's done for our education system. He's been fighting in secret money in politics since before I was born.

[Lisa Bullock] Practically since he was born.

[Bullock family]I love teasing him. He's talking, he's like this ... He does not know how to whisper. [imitating] 'This is Steve Bullock.'

[Lisa Bullock] I hope they don't bring up the dance scene.

[Bullock family] He may not be a great dancer, but he is a great dad. He's doing the best job that he can for my generation and for the generations to come. And if you want to know what kind of senator he'll be, Just look at what he's done as governor.

[Steve Bullock] I'm Steve Bullock, and you bet I approve this message.

Mauk This ad Rob is funny and heartwarming and strengthens Bullock's image as an all around good guy.

Saldin Yeah. Yeah. It's a welcome change, isn't it? It's a classic positive ad. It features his kids, obviously. It's funny and endearing. It has a light touch. It humanizes Bullock and reinforces the image he wants us to have of him as just a fundamentally decent guy who's like us. And it manages to do all of that on a personal level while also connecting to a couple policy issues; public lands and education that are important Bullock. So it's all just an effective reminder, I think, of why Montanans like him.

You know, Sally, perhaps not coincidentally, I noticed that a few days after this one popped, Daines put out a similar video of his own over Twitter, of his family, wishing him a happy birthday. That one's not an official ad; at least not yet. But I thought that clip also worked well for similar reasons.

As a general rule, I do think these kinds of ads are most useful when a candidate isn't well-known. So in the context of the big three Montana campaigns in this cycle, this kind of thing would probably be even more effective, carry more bang for the buck, for candidates like Matt Rosendale and Kathleen Williams, who are somewhat less well known, I think, than Bullock and Daines. And especially I mean, the one I think you could really benefit from this kind of stuff would be Mike Cooney, who's less well-known than all the rest. So relative to them, you know, name I.D., it's not a problem for Bullock and Daines, but it's still a welcome break from the barrage of negative ads that we've been seeing, which are all designed to run up disapproval ratings on your opponent. So these positive ads work to counter those negative impressions. And this one featuring Bullock family as it's just about as good as it gets on that front.

Mauk Meanwhile, his opponent, Steve Daines, has a new ad that goes to a well-trod tried and true Montana attack, gun rights.

[Daines]: When it comes to the Second Amendment you have a clear choice. I'm a fifth generation Montanan who will always defend our Second Amendment rights. I'm endorsed by the NRA and received an A plus rating. They gave Steve Bullock an F. And here's why. Steve Bullock is ready to help Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden pass the most radical gun control laws in our nation's history. I'm Steve Daines and I approve this message because our Second Amendment rights must be protected.

Mauk This ad, Rob, shows Daines leaning on a fence with mountains in the background, looking very Montana. But I do wonder if touting the backing of the NRA plays as well now as it used to given the recent allegations of major corruption of the group's leaders. What do you think?

Saldin You know, Sally, I tend to think this still works pretty well for Daines. And we knew this kind of thing was coming. You know, the one big downside to Bullock's run for president was that it forced him to move to the left on some issues; guns being the most notable. And, you know, that made all the sense in the world when you're trying to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee. But it's not necessarily best practices when you're trying to be the U.S. senator from Montana. The positions Bullock took on guns, it's just a little out of step with how successful Democrats in Montana handle the issue and how Bullock himself handled the issue prior to his presidential run. So I think it is a liability for him, and Daines is hitting him hard on it.

That said, of course, it's worth pointing out that Bullock's position in the presidential was far from extreme. He wanted to increase background checks, do red flag warnings, ban assault weapons. He also talked, I thought, pretty movingly, actually, about his nephew who was killed in a school shooting. But that's not something he talked about much before a presidential run. We could also say all those policy proposals are pretty mild stuff, particularly in comparison to what some of the other Democrats, I mean, notably, like Beto O'Rourke, were saying. So in the big scheme of things Bullock is well in line with public opinion on this issue. And yet, you know, Holly, I thought you made a great point, what, a week or two ago on this? You know, our debate over guns has just become so ridiculously polarized. It's entirely reasonable to be both a proud gun owner or a supporter of the Second Amendment while also supporting something like background checks.

Mauk Holly in the governor's race, both candidates, Mike Cooney and Greg Gianforte, recently laid out their health care plans and both have the same goals to make health care affordable and accessible to Montanans. But they differ on how. And Cooney remains a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act, while Gianforte has been an opponent of the ACA, which now provides health coverage for tens of thousands of Montanans. That, to me stuck out is the main difference in their plans.

Michels Yep, I agree with you there. Cooney made really clear his support for the ACA and continuing Medicaid expansion in Montana. Medicaid expansion covers about 85,000 Montanans now, and is allowed for under the ACA. Cooney also made a point about talking about preserving protections for people with preexisting conditions. He said that he would like to see state law change, codify those protections within Montana law. He also stopped short of saying he would ask for a bill that would remove work requirements from the Medicaid program in Montana, but said he would support that kind of effort.

For Gianforte, he said that he recognizes the safety net Medicaid expansion provides in Montana, but he talks about wanting tighter asset and income verification on the program. I think something that's hard for Republicans to talk about this cycle is preserving protections for people with preexisting conditions. Gianforte points out he has co-sponsored and voted for bills that would protect coverage for people with preexisting conditions. But none of those have passed. So if the ACA were to be repealed or fall under some other mechanism, that provision would go away and people with preexisting conditions could be denied insurance coverage. Another difficulty for Republicans is President Trump's Department of Justice has filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to strike down the entire. ACA in a case that they'll hear after the November election. So that puts Republicans like Gianforte who support Trump in a difficult spot where they'll say they support protection for preexisting conditions, but at the same time the administration has asked in a brief for the Supreme Court to strike down the entire ACA, including that provision.

Mauk Rob, Democrats held their national convention this week with some memorable speeches about what's at stake in this election. And Republicans, of course, will hold their convention next week. Do you think these national conventions sway voters outside of the party base? What's their impact? Normally, and what do you think it will be in this unusual year?

Saldin This is an unusual year, although one thing is consistent. You know, the thing that sticks out to me on the Democratic side is that these conventions are always a little tricky for Montana Democrats to navigate. Back in 2008 Brian Schweitzer gave a very memorable speech at that convention in Denver. But Schweitzer is the anomaly. Tester and Bullock have typically chosen to keep their distance from these things, I think, because they don't want to be associated too closely with the National Party. And we saw that kind of tension again this week from Bullock when he came out against the Democratic Party platform on the basis of oil and gas development and the death penalty and policing; basically saying on all those issues that the National Party is too far to the left. So clearly, Bullock is a bit uncomfortable with being tied too closely with those National Party figures, the people who Daines is very eagerly trying to tie him to. In fact, we saw that in that NRA ad we talked about earlier.

Mauk Well, Holly state schools superintendent Elsie Arntzen sent another letter of complaint to Governor Bullock about school masking policy. She's feeling very left out. But the governor has sent her a sharp response.

Michels Yeah, we've talked about on this show before, this ongoing dispute between Arntzen and Bullock over how the directives the governor has issued; closure of schools in March, the mask mandate that earlier this month he extended to apply to public and private K - 12 schools, how each of their offices interact with each other over making those decisions.

Arntzen said that she feels like she has been cut out of the process. In Bullock's letter Friday morning he pretty clearly is accusing Arntzen of making statements to the press that contradict what he says is going on in the background. Bullock is saying he has sought-out ways to involve Arntzen and her staff in the process, and they've provided letters between the two offices that show there's been efforts to have some consultation there. In Bullock's letter he says that Arntzen's response has been to "stonewall privately and to claim publicly that you have been shut out. This is not a time for political posturing.".

So I think it was kind of coming to a head maybe. I think part of what's going on here is that under the emergency order Montana has been in since March, all these broad powers to make these decisions do fall to the governor and then, to some extent, the state health department. So it wouldn't be Arntzen who has the ability to make these choices. I think she is trying to say she wants more involvement. Bullock is trying to say, we've tried to include you. And I think this being an election year probably is part of why this has been such a high-profile dispute too.

Mauk You think?

There was a lot going on this week. Next week will likely be the same. And Rob and Holly, we'll talk to then. Thanks.

Campaign Beat is a weekly political analysis program produced by Montana Public Radio. Campaign Beat features University of Montana political science professor and Mansfield Center fellow Rob Saldin, and Lee Newspapers Capitol Reporter Holly Michels and host Sally Mauk.

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Campaign Beat: Greens, Guns And Preexisting Conditions - MTPR

Fox News hosts on Wednesday night devoted four hours to Day 3 of the Democratic convention but carried little of the convention itself.

Instead, the programming included more criticism of the Democratic Party; its nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr.; his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris; former President Barack Obama; and the 2016 Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.

An example: The host Tucker Carlson asked Sarah Palin if there was anything she could have done in 2008, when she was the Republican vice-presidential nominee, to warrant what she and Mr. Carlson described as the fawning media coverage that Ms. Harris is enjoying.

I would not have prostituted myself in terms of changing any of my positions in order to garner better press, Ms. Palin said.

For instance, she elaborated, I am all about all of our freedoms, including the Second Amendment, and I would not, for instance, say yeah, you know, mandatory gun confiscation, which is what the Democrats are rooting for and pulling for. I would never have gone there in order to get that good coverage.

Ms. Palin was apparently referring to the false claim that Ms. Harris has threatened to send the police to peoples houses to take their guns.

Ms. Palins words marked a change in tone from last week, when she congratulated Ms. Harris on Instagram and offered tips like, Dont get muzzled connect with media and voters in your own unique way.

Mr. Carlson summed up the convention as platitudes heaped upon clichs smothered in a thick sauce of self-righteousness and stupidity, adding, We only tune in because its our job.

The host Sean Hannity cut away to the actual convention only to show about 20 seconds of remarks by Mrs. Clinton, calling her the twice-failed candidate.

The host Laura Ingraham wrapped up the night by criticizing Mr. Obamas policies on trade, immigration and international affairs.

Hes the man who solved none of these terrible issues and problems that theyre all talking about during his eight years in office, she said. The Obama pixie dust he was sprinkling tonight was more like sand in your eyes.

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On Fox News, Palin used a sexist smear to suggest Harris betrayed her convictions. - The New York Times

1. Rival Gun Rights Group Accuses NRA of Never Advocating for Second Amendment Amid Lawsuit  Newsweek
2. How did Caribbean yacht vacations promote the Second Amendment? We may find out in court.  The Washington Post
3. Texas attorney general welcomes NRA after New York sues pro-gun group  New York Post
4. Noah Feldman.: New York AG errs in going after NRA  Greensboro News & Record
5. NY AG Who Wants to Dismantle NRA Calls It a 'Terrorist Organization'  Prescott eNews
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Rival Gun Rights Group Accuses NRA of Never Advocating for Second Amendment Amid Lawsuit - Newsweek

Article 1, Section 8, of the proposed Constitution had southern slave owners concerned about the future of their economy. Slavery can exist only in the context of a police state, and the enforcement of that police state was the explicit job of the militias.

If the antislavery folks in the North could figure out a way to disband those southern militiasor even just to move the militias out of the statesthe police state of the South would collapse. And, similarly, if the North were to invite into military service the slaves of the South, then they could be emancipated, which would collapse the institution of slaveryand the southern economic and social systemsaltogether.

These two possibilities worried southerners like James Monroe, George Mason who owned more than 300 slaves, and the southern Christian evangelical Patrick Henry the largest slaveholder in the state of Virginia.

Their main concern was that Article 1, Section 8, of the newly proposed Constitutionwhich gave the federal government the power to raise and supervise a militiacould also allow that federal militia to subsume their state militias and change them from slavery-enforcing institutions into something that could even, one day, free the slaves.

This was not an imagined threat. Famously, 12 years earlier, during the lead-up to the Revolutionary War, Lord Dunmore offered freedom to slaves who could escape the American South and join his forces. Liberty to Slaves was stitched onto the pocket flaps of the escapees jackets. During the war, British General Henry Clinton extended the practice in 1779. And numerous freed slaves served in General Washingtons army.

Thus, southern legislators and plantation owners lived not just in fear of their own slaves rebelling, but also in fear that their slaves could be emancipated through military service.

At the ratifying convention in Virginia in 1788, Patrick Henry laid it out: Let me here call your attention to that part [Article 1, Section 8, of the proposed Constitution] which gives the Congress power to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States. . . .

By this, sir, you see that their control over our last and best defense is unlimited. If they neglect or refuse to discipline or arm our militia, they will be useless: the states can do neitherthis power being exclusively given to Congress. The power of appointing officers over men not disciplined or armed is ridiculous; so that this pretended little remains of power left to the states may, at the pleasure of Congress, be rendered nugatory.

George Mason expressed a similar fear: The [slave patrol] militia may be here destroyed by that method which has been practiced in other parts of the world before; that is, by rendering them useless, by disarming them. Under various pretenses, Congress may neglect to provide for arming and disciplining the militia; and the state governments cannot do it, for Congress has an exclusive right to arm them [under this proposed Constitution].

Henry then bluntly laid it out: If the country be invaded, a state may go to war, but cannot suppress [slave] insurrections [under this new Constitution]. If there should happen an insurrection of slaves, the country cannot be said to be invaded. They cannot, therefore, suppress it without the interposition of Congress. Congress, and Congress only [under this new Constitution], can call forth the militia.

And why was that such a concern for Patrick Henry?

In this state, he said, there are two hundred and thirty-six thousand blacks, and there are many in several other states. But there are few or none in the Northern States. . . . May Congress not say, that every black man must fight? Did we not see a little of this last war? We were not so hard pushed as to make emancipation general; but acts of Assembly passed that every slave who would go to the army should be free.

Patrick Henry was also convinced that the power over the various state militias given to the federal government in the new Constitution could be used to strip the slave states of their slave-patrol militias. He knew the majority in the North opposed slavery, and he worried that theyd use the Constitution to free the Souths slaves a process then called manumission.

The abolitionists would, he was certain, use that power (and, ironically, this is pretty much what Abraham Lincoln ended up doing): [T]hey will search that paper [the Constitution], and see if they have power of manumission, said Henry. And have they not, sir? Have they not power to provide for the general defense and welfare? May they not think that these call for the abolition of slavery? May they not pronounce all slaves free, and will they not be warranted by that power?

This is no ambiguous implication or logical deduction. The paper [proposed Constitution] speaks to the point: they have the power in clear, unequivocal terms, and will clearly and certainly exercise it. He added, This is a local matter, and I can see no propriety in subjecting it to Congress.

James Madison, the Father of the Constitution and a slaveholder himself, basically called Patrick Henry paranoid. I was struck with surprise, Madison said, when I heard him express himself alarmed with respect to the emancipation of slaves. There is no power to warrant it, in that paper [the Constitution]. If there be, I know it not.

But the southern fears wouldnt go away.

Patrick Henry even argued that southerners property (slaves) would be lost under the new Constitution, and the resulting slave uprising would be a disaster for them: In this situation, Henry said to Madison, I see a great deal of the property of the people of Virginia in jeopardy, and their peace and tranquility gone.

So Madison, who had (at Jeffersons insistence) already begun to prepare proposed amendments to the Constitution, changed his first draft to one that addressed the militia issue to make sure it was unambiguous that the southern states could maintain their slave patrol militias.

His first draft for what became the Second Amendment had said: The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed, and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country [emphasis mine]: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms, shall be compelled to render military service in person.

But Henry, Mason, and others wanted southern states to preserve their slave-patrol militias independent of the federal government. So Madison changed the word country to the word state and redrafted the Second Amendment into todays form:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State [emphasis mine], the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Little did Madison, Jefferson, or Henry realize that one day in the future, weapons-manufacturing corporations, newly defined as persons by a dysfunctional Supreme Court, would use his slave-patrol militia amendment to protect their right to manufacture and sell guns to individuals who would use them to murder schoolchildren.

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Slave-patrols and the Second Amendment: How Fears of Abolition empowered the idea of an armed militia - Milwaukee Independent

An interesting article by New York lawyer David Z. Carl, from the June 2020 issue of the Nassau Lawyer (the journal of the Nassau [N.Y.] County Bar Association):

In 2008, in D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court declared that the right to have a functional handgun in the home is a fundamental right under the Second Amendment.[5] In 2010, the Court held in McDonald v. Chicago that this "fundamental right" is incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.[6]

Although it declined to "undertake an exhaustive historical analysisof the full scope of the Second Amendment," the Heller court declared "longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms bythe mentally ill" were "presumptively" constitutional.[7]

Since then, some federal Circuit and District Courts have explored the issue and decided that "presumptive" constitutionality might not mean "actual" constitutionality. These courts have based their reasoning on a combined interpretation of Second and Fifth Amendment rights.

Pursuant to 18 USC 922 (g) (4) "It shall be unlawful for any personwho has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution to [possess a firearm]."[8] The Code of Federal Regulations defines certain terms as follows:

"Committed to a mental institution: A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily[9]

"Mental institution: Includes mental health facilities, mental hospitals, sanitariums, psychiatric facilities, and other facilities that provide diagnoses by licensed professionals of mental retardation or mental illness, including a psychiatric ward in a general hospital.[10]

Despite the regulatory authority above providing that "committed to a mental institution" means a "a formal commitment by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority," the Second Circuit in U.S. v. Waters[11] upheld the conviction of a New York man who had been admitted to a mental health unit solely upon the evaluation of two physicians. Mr. Waters was subsequently convicted of being a prohibited person in possession of firearms. The Waters case, however, was decided fourteen years before the Supreme Court held the possession of a firearm is a fundamental right. Accordingly, the court never considered whether the absence of, or minimal elements of, due process available at that time, was enough to allow for the deprivation of a newly secured fundamental constitutional right.

Under the New York state statutes still in effect today (e.g., MHL 9.27[12]) [the statute at issue in Waters] and MHL 9.37 [13]an otherwise astute individual could theoretically seek representation and some type of hearing, but only after the individual had already been admitted without such a hearing or counsel for as many as 60 days at the behest of two (or fewer) physicians. No automatic hearing or assignment of counsel is required prior to involuntary admission to a mental health facility. If, perhaps, believing he/ she will soon be discharged, the individual never requests counsel or a hearing, the only available due process is effectively waived. The person is nonetheless deemed to have been "committed," which would require firearms deprivation. This seems to conflict with other cases, discussed infra, that require before-the-fact due process for deprivation of a constitutional right.

Decades earlier, in United States v. Hansel,[14] the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals observed that Nebraska law provided a two-step procedure for determining when a patient was mentally ill and in need of hospitalization. If the County Mental Health Board made such determination, the individual could be hospitalized for up to 60 days; much like the time frame in New York. There was a second step available for keeping the patient beyond 60 days, but since Hansel was released after two weeks, this second provision was never invoked. The Court found that Hansel's temporary confinement did not constitute a commitment.[15]

Despite the equivalent length of 60-day hospitalizations in New York and Nebraska, the holding in Hansel is contradictory to the holding in Waters in that in New York, the initial 60 days of hospitalization, without due process, is sufficient to refuse an individual his Second Amendment rights. In Nebraska, only the holding of an individual after the 60 days is sufficient to refuse said rights.

Current Decisions

Now that the ability to possess a functional firearm is an individual right,[16] a once largely mundane area of law has surfaced as a hot topic. In United States v. Rehlander,[17] the State of Maine offered two categories of hospitalization. One offered due process, the other did not. The First Circuit Court of Appeals held that since possessing a firearm is a fundamental right, an admission without any adversary proceeding lacked the necessary due process procedures for permanent deprivation under Section 922(g)(4).

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals later made it clear en banc, in Tyler v. Hillsdale County Sherriff's Department, that 922(g)(4) "applies only to persons who are involuntarily committed by an appropriate judicial authority following due process safeguards."[18]

This is highly significant, because in Waters: (1) there was no advance due process; (2) the admitted individual was permitted only an opportunity to attempt to contact counsel from the hospital; and (3) said individual had to request an optional (rather than mandatory) hearing at some future time. If, as held by the Sixth Circuit, due process is required as a prerequisite for the deprivation of firearm rights, the holding in Waters presumably could not stand.

In United States v. McMichael, for example, the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan held that "a commitment [for the purpose of firearm rights-deprivation] does not occur until the completion of an adversary process that results in an adjudicative decision in favor of hospitalization."[19]

Moreover, in Wilborn v. Barr, the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that an emergency mental health examination lasting 120 hours or less directed by someone other than an authoritative body, where the individual did not have the right to counsel or an adversarial proceeding, could not support firearm deprivation.[20] If the logic of the Wilborn court is to be considered, the deprivation of rights by New York's provision for confinement up to 60 days without mandatory due process could be constitutionally suspect.

To be clear, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has subsequently (and recently) held in an unpublished case that appellants admitted based on New York's strictly medical standard could be denied fundamental firearms rights. In Phelps v. Bosco, the Second Circuit cited to Waters in upholding the denial of a firearm to the appellant. The Court took care to note, however, that:

Phelps did not raise a constitutional challenge to the state's conduct on appeal. Such a challenge would present complex issues, whether under the Second Amendment or the Due Process Clause.We therefore do not consider whether the state violated any of his constitutional rights when it reported his hospitalizations to the FBI or whether concern for these constitutional rights might change our interpretation of the word 'commitment' under New York's scheme[21]

Finally, in Doe v. Evanchick, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania held that:

Although the Supreme Court in Heller articulated that prohibition on the right to own a gun by the mentally ill is presumptively lawful, a temporary emergency commitment to a mental institution is not sufficient to consider the individual 'mentally ill' for the purposes of the Heller mental health exception. Thus, an individual committed under [Pennsylvania law] still retains a protected liberty interest in the right to bear arms.[22]

Curiously, though, the court denied the Plaintiff's contention that Pennsylvania lacked sufficient due process safeguards as Pennsylvania provided a mechanism for reinstatement of Second Amendment rights post-deprivation. The court held that the post-deprivation remedy was sufficient to satisfy due process requisites.[23]

Possibilities for Restoring Rights

One could argue that New York also offers post-deprivation remedies, as it offers a potential Certificate of Relief from Disabilities (restoring firearms rights) for individuals who have been committed without due process in accordance with the "NICS Improvement Act of 2007."[24] This remedy, nonetheless, seems akin to holding a person guilty (at the whim of a doctor) without any trial, and forcing him to prove his innocence later at his own burden and expense. It hardly seems like a sufficient protection of due process when countless individuals could be easily afforded adequate pre-deprivation safeguards for now-fundamental Constitutional rights.

It is eminently reasonable that people should not live with a lifelong disability because of unfortunate health conditions, which no longer endure, perhaps because of successful medical treatment or perhaps because their disabilities are from the distant past. Most courts so far seem to be correct in the wake of Heller and McDonald that the determination should be made on an individualized basis with robust pre-deprivation due-process safeguards. But whether this theory will prevail nationwide is a matter only time will tell.

[I added the bracketed text in the third paragraph because the author reports that this point was inadvertently deleted in the editing process for the published piece. -EV]

[1] The APA Removes "Gender Identity Disorder" From Updated Mental Health Guide, Dani Heffernan (Dec.3, 2012), available at https://bit.ly/3fEeou0.

[2] 18 USC 922 (g) (4).

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).

[6] McDonald v. City of Chicago, Ill., 561 US 742 (2010).

[7] District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).

[8] 18 USC 922 (g)(4).

[9] 27 CFR 478.11.

[10] Id.

[11] United States v. Waters, 23 F.3d 29 (2d Cir. 1994).

[12] MHL 9.27.

[13] MHL 9.37.

[14] United States v. Hansel, 474 F.2d 1120 (8th Cir. 1973).

[15] Id.

[16] District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).

[17] United States v. Rehlander, 666 F.3d 45 (1st Cir. 2012).

[18] Tyler v. Hillsdale Cty. Sheriff's Dep't, 837 F.3d 678, 68182 (6th Cir. 2016) (en banc)(emphasis added).

[19] United States v. McMichael, 350 F.Supp.3d 647 (W.D. Mich. 2018) (emphasis added).

[20] Wilborn v. Barr, 401 F. Supp. 3d 501 (E.D. Pa. 2019).

[21] Phelps v. Bosco, 711 Fed.Appx. 63 (2d Cir. 2018).

[22] Doe v. Evanchick, 355 F.Supp.3d 197 (E.D. Pa. 2019).

[23] Id.

[24] NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA), Penal Law 110-180.

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"Second Amendment Rights of the Successfully Treated/Former 'Mentally Ill'" - Reason

As a strong supporter of our right to bear arms, I was very disappointed with the actions of Governor Northam and the General Assembly earlier this year to infringe on our Constitutional rights.

When I vote I look for a candidate who will protect the Second Amendment (along with the rest of the Bill of Rights).

Bill Wiley is such a candidate. He is pro-Second Amendment and opposes the continuing gun control agenda in Richmond.

Please join me in voting for Bill Wiley in the Firehouse Primary this Saturday, August 8th. Voting will take place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Millwood Station Banquet Hall. If we nominate Bill Wiley and elect him this year, we are sure to have a delegate who supports our Second Amendment Rights.

Go here to see the original:

Letter to the editor: Wiley will support Second Amendment rights - The Winchester Star

Buried in the news of the first US Senate debate over the weekend, was another piece of big news: the National Rifle Association (NRA) gave liberal Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) an "F" rating.

Back in May, we shared the news that Montana's Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) earned an "A+" rating from the NRA. Both Bullock and Daines are now head-to-head in the US Senate race this Fall.

Here's the reasons listed by the NRA for giving Bullock an "F":

Supports Semi-Auto BanLike California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Bullock supports a ban on commonly owned firearms used for hunting, recreational shooting and self-defense.

Supports Magazine BansBullock supports bans on standard-capacity magazines.

Opposes Right-to-CarryBullock vetoed legislation in Montana which would have expanded the ability forlaw-abiding Montanans to carry a firearm for self-defense.

Supports Criminalizing Private Firearm TransfersBullock supports the Schumer/Biden/Bloomberg so-called universal background check system that would criminalize the private transfer of firearms, which is only enforceable through federal firearms registration.

Supports Red Flag LawsBullock supports unconstitutional Red Flag laws that would strip Second Amendment rights of individuals by confiscating firearms without due process.

Opposes PreemptionBullock vetoed preemption legislation in Montana that would have protected gun owners from a confusing web of local anti-gun laws.

Over the years in Montana politics, Democrats have done a good job at attempting to portray themselves as pro 2nd Amendment. Some have even earned the coveted endorsement of theNational Rifle Association(NRA). At best, though, Montana Democrats have typically been able to at least keep the NRA at bay and kept the NRA from making an endorsement in some high profile races.

Not when it comes to the 2020 US Senate race in Montana, however. Liberal Gov. Steve Bullock's (D-MT)open embrace of a semi-automatic weapons banandother gun control measuresgives gun owners and the NRA an easy choice.

DAINES: Montanans know I am their strongest ally when it comes to defending our Second Amendment Rights. This is about protecting our freedom and liberty, and fighting back against any effort to infringe on our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Ill always be there to protect our guns rights and our way of life.

Jason Ouimet, the Chairman of the NRA's Political Victory Fund called Daines "an unwavering defender of the Second Amendment, adding:

OUIMET: You have fought tirelessly to protect the constitutional right to self-defense for NRA members and law-abiding gunowners in Montana. Based on your strong leadership on Second Amendment issues, you have earned the highest attainable rating, an 'A+', from NRA-PVF.

In case you missed it,Roll Call highlighted Bullock's flip flop on gun rightsback in August of 2019:

After campaigning against an assault weapons ban and universal background checks during his 2016 reelection, Bullock reversed both positions in the middle of 2018, fueling suspicions that he was preparing for a national campaign.

Wait a minute. Isn't this the same governor who used to pretend to be a moderate who supported the Keystone XL pipeline? That was my first reactionto this story in The Sidney Heraldabout Governor Steve Bullock (D-MT) taking shots at the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that bring tens of millions of dollars into Montana every year.

Yep. Apparently there's this hilarious new website called "BothWaysBullock.com" that is pointing out his series of flip flops as he desperately seeks a rise in poll numbers for the Democrat presidential race.

Back in 2013 Bullock said this:

I write to express my strong support for the Keystone XL Pipeline project.

Now, Bullock is criticizing the project in his official capacity as governor, according to The Sidney Herald:

Gov. Steve Bullock today submitted comments on behalf of the State of Montana on the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) for the Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, expressing concerns over the failure to adequately analyze potential spill impacts and response, cultural resource impacts, and fish and wildlife resource impacts.

As the "Both Ways Bullock" website also points out, Bullock previously campaigned in support of 2nd Amendment rights, and now wants to ban semi-automatic rifles.

Here's a video featured prominentlyon the website:

Read More:NRA Endorses Daines with A+ Rating in MT Senate Race|

See original here:

Bullock Gets an "F" Rating from the NRA - newstalk955.com

PRESS RELEASEREGULATED INFORMATION

Paris, 5th August 2020

Availability of the second amendment to the 2020 Universal Registration Document

Societe Generale informs the public that a second amendment to the 2020 Universal Registration Document filed on 12th March 2020 under number D-20-0122, has been filed with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on 5th August 2020 under number D-20-0122-A02.

It includes in particular the information of the interim financial report for the first half-year 2020.

This interim financial report comprises the following pages of the amendment:

This document is made available to the public, free of charge, in accordance with the conditions provided for by the regulations in force and may be consulted in the Regulated information section of the Companys website (http://www.societegenerale.com/en/measuring-our-performance/information-and-publications/regulated_information) and on the AMFs website.

Press contact:

Corentin Henry _ +33(0)1 58 98 01 75_ corentin.henry@socgen.com

Societe Generale

Societe Generale is one of the leading European financial services groups. Based on a diversified and integrated banking model, the Group combines financial strength and proven expertise in innovation with a strategy of sustainable growth. Committed to the positive transformations of the worlds societies and economies, Societe Generale and its teams seek to build, day after day, together with its clients, a better and sustainable future through responsible and innovative financial solutions.

Active in the real economy for over 150 years, with a solid position in Europe and connected to the rest of the world, Societe Generale has over 138,000 members of staff in 62 countries and supports on a daily basis 29 million individual clients, businesses and institutional investors around the world by offering a wide range of advisory services and tailored financial solutions. The Group is built on three complementary core businesses:

Societe Generale is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (World and Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Euronext Vigeo (World, Europe and Eurozone), four of the STOXX ESG Leaders indices, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index. For more information, you can follow us on Twitter @societegenerale or visit our website http://www.societegenerale.com

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Societe Generale: Availability of the second amendment to the 2020 Universal Registration Document - Yahoo Finance

August 8, 2020; Martinsville, Indiana: Black Lives Matter activist Belinda Snowden argues with a member of the Scallywags III-percenter motorcycle club as BLM holds a rally on the Morgan County Courthouse Square Saturday. The BLM activists were met by armed counter-protesters who surrounded the square. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)

Before the group of Black Lives Matter activists showed up the Morgan County Square was already surrounded by people holding flags, and some carrying guns.

The rally was supposed to start at 3 p.m., but as a man sat near the war memorial downtown, holding a 16-gauge shotgun, the activists were nowhere to be seen. The man spoke using words like family, and heritage and expressed he was concerned the war memorial would be vandalized.

Two other men stood in the shade near a wall holding AR-15 rifles, one said he had been a cavalry scout in the U.S. Army, as he talked to another man sitting next to a scoped military-style rifle on a tripod, who reached out to pet a dog on a leash.

A man wearing a Military Police hat to indicate his service in the army sat on a sidewalk a short distance away, and a group of women stopped at the corner to pray. A couple from Florida had broken down near the site of the protest, and asked, Whats going on here?

The United States has been the location of continuous Black Lives Matter protests since Minneapolis Police killed George Floyd in May. However, this was the second Black Lives Matter protest in Martinsville.

A man could be heard saying to some people in a vehicle, They wont get much support here. This isnt Democrats like Bloomington. However, a member of the Martinsville Police Department said that Martinsville doesnt deserve the reputation it has and most people from the city would not protest against Black Lives Matter protesters. The city is known for the murder of a young Black woman in 1968, but it turned out the killer was from another city.

As a group of young women in their late teens or early 20s gathered to participate in the BLM rally, a man in his 50s walked past, looked at them, and grabbed his crotch.

Three women organized the rally Saturday. Katelynn Shaffer, and Shaelyn Powell, of Mooresville, spoke to a local reporter while they waited for BLM activist Sherry Tucker.

(Counter-protesters continued to show up at the square, and one man, maybe in his late 50s, wearing a white t-shirt looked at The Bloomingtonians Jeremy Hogan (me) weighed down with cameras and said in a threatening way, Try it and see what happens, as he put down a cooler, I noticed he was strapped with a handgun. So, I held my bottle of water and said to the man, I already have water, and then he said, Thats not what Im talking about.)

Black Lives Matter is for everyone. You dont have to be black to support Black Lives Matter. I feel that if you are not a racist person and you, you, everyone, despite their skin color is equal to you that you would also want them to feel safe and for them to receive justice. Were not anti-police officer. Were not anti-white people. Were just want to ensure that justice is served for people like Brionna Taylor and you know the names, said Katelynn Shaffer of Mooresville.

Tension filled the square as two young men carried Trump flags past the BLM activists who were finally gathering around 4 p.m. Two men carried a sign for the reelection of Donald Trump, and a BLM activist began to engage verbally with them, and out of nowhere Martinsville Police rolled up and separated the men from the BLM activists.

A few of the BLM activists got AR-15 style rifles from their vehicles and carried them throughout the rally.

The Scallywags III-percenter motorcycle club rolled up around 4 p.m. and parked on the square. A member of the group told The Bloomingtonian they are second amendment activists, and they are against tyranny. Some of the same bikers had participated in a Defend the Police caravan in Bloomington earlier Saturday.

The men walked in a group past the BLM protesters, and one of them flipped off the activists. Later a biker parked right in front of the group to drown out their chants, and as he revved his engine, he made a fist. Police once again appeared, and a member of the Martinsville police went over to talk to the bikers.

Our Black Lives dont matter, thats why we are out here protesting, said one of the BLM activists.

A woman maybe in her 60s, wearing a plaid shirt, grey sweatpants, and blue sandals, could be heard saying, They look like trouble makers to me. I protested against the Vietnam War, but I didnt go to someone elses town to do it.

The Mayor of Martinsville, Kenneth Costin, standing on the square, told The Bloomingtonian hed gotten no advance notice that the BLM activists would hold a rally in Martinsville, and when he heard about it, he reached out to the organizers of the previous rally, but they said they were not the organizers. The Mayor asked where the protesters had come from and seemed surprised that the bikers who had come to oppose them were also from out of town.

At various points during the rally, both sides insulted each other, and some people were held back by others, or the police.

A chaplain from the Martinsville Police Department handed out water to BLM protesters, and also the counter-protesters, and said he didnt want anybody to have a medical emergency due to dehydration.

Sherry Tucker told the crowd of counter-protesters that its not that white lives dont matter, they do matter, but since Black lives dont matter, that until they do, all lives cant matter.

Tucker told the crowd shed answer any questions they had. Some counter-protesters yelled questions, and Tucker attempted to answer them. Then the BLM activists marched around the courthouse again, and a man in his 50s put a scoped hunting rifle back into his vehicle.

By 6 p.m. the crowd began to dissipate, and the BLM activists appeared to be huddled in a group preparing to leave the area.

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Link:

Black Lives Matter activists rally in Martinsville Saturday - The Bloomingtonian

NSSF, the trade association for the firearm industry, said in a statement that it is troubled by the politically-driven decision of New York Attorney General Letitia James to seek to dissolve the National Rifle Association, Americas oldest civil rights organization.

NSSF said the lawsuit filed on August 7 by Attorney General James seeks to punish the over five million members of the National Rifle Association based on mere allegations of possible wrongdoing by a few individuals.

NSSF is deeply concerned about the apparent political agenda to silence the strongest voice in support of the Second Amendment ahead of the election in November.

This lawsuit, and one filed today by the District of Columbia Attorney General, should concern all Americans who cherish both the First and Second Amendments to our Constitution regardless of their views on what laws and regulations are appropriate to address the criminal misuse of firearms.

Original post:

NSSF Statement On NYAG's Intent To Dissolve The NRA - SGB Media

To a striking degree, Donald Trumps administration evokes the final days of the mad king of some Ruritanian backwater, spewing splenetic ravings while his shrinking cadre of sycophants struggles to steer their foundering ship of state.

Take these incoherent ruminations from a mid-July press conference:

But we had, in 2016, something even more so, but we got in, and we had 306 to, I guess, 223, which was a tremendous margin of difference. You remember, they all said, He cannot get to 270. I went to Maine a number of times, where we just freed up lobster fishing and fishing. Justthey took away 5,000 square miles from Maine. I just opened it up. And I just got rid of tariffs in China. And were working on European Union, which charge our fishermen tariffs. And I said, Youre not going to do that. So we freed it up for Maine. But if you take a look, we went up there recently. There were crowds. Thousands of people lined up going over to a factory where we were opening up forwere making swabs. A beautiful, big, new factory, making swabs.

Problem is, he does this pretty much every day.

Emulating a frightened oldster hearing the first, faint echo of senescence like a distant signal on a transistor radio, Trump bragged to Chris Wallace about acing a test designed to detect the onset of Alzheimers or dementia. But his problem is differentinstead of entering his second childhood, Trump seems never to have left his first.

These recurring scenes from a Peter Sellers movie might have a certain seriocomic fascination had Trump not failed the most serious test of real-world leadership: a rolling public health disaster which has afflicted sickness, death, and privation on many millions of Americans.

Once again, COVID-19 is surging. Our total number of cases is heading toward 5 million; our fatalities already exceed 160,000. Asks Ed Yong in the Atlantic:

How did it come to this? A virus a thousand times smaller than a dust mote has humbled and humiliated the planets most powerful nation. America has failed to protect its people, leaving them with illness and financial ruin. It has lost its status as a global leader. It has careened between inaction and ineptitude. The breadth and magnitude of its errors are difficult, in the moment, to truly fathom.

Yong provides the obvious yet appalling answer: Trump is a comorbidity of the COVID-19 pandemic. He isnt solely responsible for Americas fiasco, but he is central to it.

Podcast August 07 2020

On today's Bulwark Podcast, Bill Kristol joins Charlie Sykes to discuss the President's new religious case against Joe B...

Trumps abdication of responsibility proceeds apace. He has no national testing strategy; no plan for the reopened schools he so noisily demands; no road to reviving the economy; no disciplined or sustained message about social distancing and wearing masks. Nothing but the prattling of a self-absorbed child regurgitating willful make-believeclaiming that the virus will disappear or that hydroxychloroquine is great.

By at least February, any sane president would have rallied the country to curb the coronavirus before disaster struck, fusing federal power with the expertise of scientists to distribute vital resources, facilitate testing, and develop a national public health regime. Instead Americas ersatz Nero heeded the discordant notes of his own incessant fiddling, downplaying the threat to life and health while spreading disinformation that endangered all who believed him.

In the Washington Post, Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker explain his lethal incapacities:

People close to Trump, many speaking on the condition of anonymity to share candid discussions and impressions, say the presidents inability to wholly address the crisis is due to his almost pathological unwillingness to admit error; a positive feedback loop of overly rosy assessments and data from advisers and Fox News; and a penchant for magical thinking that prevented him from fully engaging with the pandemic.

Instead of listening to science, Trump looks for affirmation from the fever swamp of right-wing media, recycling falsehoods, bogus conspiracies, and patent quackery. To please his base, he has mocked mask-wearing, campaigned against the public health measures recommended by his own administration, and shifted blame to everyone from the Chinese to Barack Obama. The only unifying theme is the cosmic self-pity which disqualifies Trump from leadership and destroys his empathy for otherslicensing Trumps laser focus on himself as the pandemics chief victim.

All this creates the bizarre dissociation from reality he exhibited in his interview last month with Chris Wallace, in which he asked his press secretary to fortify his own bubble of ignorance: I heard we have one of the lowest, maybe the lowest mortality rate anywhere in the world.

So pathetic was this spectacle that, for the moment, Trump descended from the mad king to Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, insanely fixated on demented self-delusions nurtured by her slavish retainerswhich, as with Trump, prove deadly for others. This raises a frightening question: does Trump remain simply a sociopathic and remorseless liar of convenience, or has he become so addicted to his own fantasies that he has taken leave of the world as perceived by normal humans?

Daily, Trumps statements suggest the latter. The Washington Post reported but one example: In wide-ranging, often erroneous comments on Fox & Friends, Trump claimed the virus was spreading in a relatively small portion of the country (it is spreading nearly everywhere); said children are virtually immune to the virus (they are not); and once again insisted the outbreak will go away like things go away.

This followed Trumps surreal interview with Jonathan Swan of Axios, a spectacle aptly described by Ryan Bort in Rolling Stone:

Trump genuinely seems to think at the top of this clip that hes about to put the idea that hes mismanaged the pandemic to rest by showing Swan a few charts his aides printed out for him. As Swan soon realizes, Trump is touting that the death rate by the case is lower than in other countries. Far more pertinent, obviously, is the percentage of the American population Trump has let die from COVID-19, as Swan quickly points out.

You cant do that? Trump says.

Why cant I do that? Swan asks.

You have to go by . . . you have to go by . . . Trump begins before shuffling some papers and trailing off.

But for the rest of America, reality biteshard. Said Dr. Deborah Birx on CNN: What we are seeing today is different from March and Aprilit is extraordinarily widespread. In the latest manifestation of his penchant for projection, Trump called her remarks pathetic.

It fell to another member of his captive coronavirus task force, Admiral Brett Giroir, to discredit yet again one of Trumps most persistent quack cures: hydroxychloroquine. Little wonder, then, that public health officials fear Trump will pressure the FDA to approve a vaccine before it is proven safe and effectivewhich is to say, before November.

Perhaps the most dramatic example of Trumps departure from reality is his failure to comprehend that containing COVID-19 is, and always was, the indispensable prerequisite to reopening the economy. Particularly astonishing is this most self-interested of presidents failure to comprehend his own political self-interest. Rather than grappling with the linkage between public and economic health, he attempted to transform America into a Disney World wherein the economy could rebound on its own.

Our real-world reward is the largest quarterly economic decline9.5 percentin the 70 years since the government began posting such data. This news broke immediately after our tangerine soothsayer assured us that the recovery has been very strong. Sixteen-plus million unemployed Americans were no doubt relieved to hear that.

Rationalizing Trumps failure to deal with the pandemic, his economic adviser Stephen Moore lionized his crippling myopia: Hes so focused on the big problem, which is getting the economy up and running and trying to get businesses up on their feet. Thats been their priority.

Whats so scary is that Moore is not the biggest fool to advise Trump on the economy. That distinction goes to the time-tested buffoon Larry Kudlow, who continues to celebrate our V-shaped recovery despite the ongoing slump driven by COVID-19.

In the Atlantic, Annie Lowery summarizes the comprehensive results of such mindless compartmentalization: Failed businesses and lost loved ones, empty theme parks and socially distanced funerals, a struggling economy and an unmitigated public-health disaster: This is the worst-of-both-worlds equilibrium the United States finds itself in.

Trumps refuge from reality is that the stock market is thriving. But a chasm of privilege separates Wall Street from the real economy. At least for now, financial institutions and the wealthy are largely insulated from the economic depredations of COVID-19principally because of prior stimulus spending spearheaded by Democrats, and interventions from a Federal Reserve Trump so often disparages. But for millions of Americans trapped in this pandemic, work is either dangerous or unavailable.

Trumps indifference to their plight accounts for his abstention from working with Congress to craft a further stimulus bill that would renew enhanced unemployment benefitswhich, humanity aside, helped prevent our economy from collapsing altogether. Democrats proposed such legislation by mid-May; Trump and his party still have not. Starting this week, Robert Reich wrote last week, more than 30 million Americans will no longer receive $600 in extra weekly unemployment benefits. As a result, tens of millions will not be able to make rent or mortgage payments. More will go hungry, including children. The economy is likely to slide even further.

Why delay unemployment benefits? Because, Kudlow advises, We dont want to create disincentives to work.

If only we could disincentivize Kudlowaccording to Catherine Rampell, five recent expert studies concluded that enhanced unemployment benefits did not inhibit workers from seeking re-employment. At least when Caligula named his horse a consul, he included the entire horse.

Cosseted by sycophants like Moore and Kudlow, Trump also floated a proposal so irrelevant that not even Republicans embrace it: a payroll tax cut which, by definition, does nothing for the unemployed. Instead of engaging with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, Trump disparages them for seeking to prevent a potential financial collapse of state and local governments that would accelerate unemployment and hamstring the providers of essential services like the K-12 schools which Trump insists must re-open, the police departments whose funding he so loudly defends, and the hospitals and public health institutions to which he has delegated the brunt of this pandemic.

Instead of trying to find a legislative solution, Trump on Saturday issued four executive orders of dubious constitutionality and design, including deferring payroll taxes through December and providing $400 weekly in unemployment aidpart of which would be paid by the cash-strapped states for which he refuses to provide relief. As the New York Times observed the day before, anticipating Trumps unilateral move: It was not clear that he had the power to do so without Congress, which controls spending, or that any set of executive actions could stabilize an economy devastated by the pandemic.

This is dereliction on an epic scale. But, increasingly, Trump spouts hallucinatory nonsense like a man awaking from a fever-dream. Were going to be doing a very inclusive healthcare plan, he said in July. No such legislation existedexcept, perhaps, in Trumps Lotusland of the mind. Nonetheless, Trump said to Wallace of Obamacare: Were getting rid of it because were going to replace it with something much better. He would sign a new plan into law very soon, within two weeksor so he promised three weeks ago.

Not to worry. Trump now promises to reform healthcare by executive ordera literally impossible task which, Lindsey Graham nonetheless assures us, hes pretty excited about.

What is so unnerving about this folie deux is its utter evanescence. No one else on Capitol Hill can verify that such a plan existsnor, except in his imaginings of monarchical omnipotence, can Trump transform healthcare by presidential fiat.

But there is one larger mercy: Unlike a Ruritanian potentate, Americas president must run for re-election.

This goes badly. Trumps approval ratings are underwater. In early August, the Washington Post summarized his week:

A slew of public polls showed Trump falling further behind Biden, who now leads by double digits nationally; Trump demoted his campaign manager Brad Parscale and replaced him with longtime GOP operative Bill Stepien; nearly 25,000 Americans died of the novel coronavirus, and a record 2 million were infected; Trump canceled the Republican National Convention celebrations; the economic recovery from a record contraction slipped into reverse; and 30 million Americans lost their $600 weekly federal unemployment assistance after the White House and Congress struggled to negotiate a stimulus package.

What stands out amid this self-inflicted wreckage is that, as ever, Trump found someone else to blamethe erstwhile genius Parscale. But this cannot obscure what would be obvious to anyone but a pathological narcissist: that Trumps most insuperable problems fester within.

Denuded of self-awareness, Trump looks in the mirror and sees himself in the eyes of his adoring base. But in his suffocating solipsism he refuses to perceive how many Americans will vote against him out of ineradicable loathing.

Instead, Trump demonizes Joe Biden. Consider this semi-hysterical tweet:

One trembles at the thought. But, on Thursday, Trump further informed us that Biden was out to kill off Christianity, the Bible, and God himself: Hes following the radical left agenda, take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God. Hes against God. Even worse, Trump added, Hes against energy, our kind of energy.

Such incoherent vituperation captures Trumps central problem: Compared with Trump himself, Biden is Mr. Rogers. Trumps ad hominem lunacy isnt working, and his time is running out: Early voting in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Wisconsin starts in mid-September, and Trumps campaign seems to be writing off Michigan.

In desperation, Trump has declared war on the ultimate reality which separates democracies from monarchies: that, come November 3, voters will render judgment on his presidency. Hence his preemptive claims of voter fraud spawned another hallucinationpostponing the election itself.

Oblivious to John Lewiss funeral, Trump tweeted:

That this would abridge the Constitution eluded Americas premier historical illiterate. Whats real is a fear of mail-in balloting so deep that he threatens not to honor the electoral results.

Trumps solution is to sabotage another of our institutions: the postal service. The Washington Post reports that his new postmaster general, a Trump mega-donor, is cutting overtime pay, shutting down sorting machines early, and requiring letter carriers to avoid extra tripsall of which operate to delay mail deliveries.

The almost certain effect will be to undermine voting by mail, and therefore the election itselfwhich is precisely what Trump wants. Observes the Post: A delay in delivering ballots to voters and then returning them back to election officials could cause people to be disenfranchisedespecially in states that require ballots to be returned by Election Day, voting rights experts warn.

This would force Americans to vote in person at risk of their own health or, Trumps preference, to have their ballots discarded. This evokes the maddest of monarchs: having abandoned his duties to America, he would trash its democracy to save himself. Because nothing ever matters to Trump, but Trump.

It is what it is, Trump said of our national death toll. And what it is, more terrible to say, is the perfect expression of everything Trump is.

The rest is here:

The Ravings of Mad King Trump - The Bulwark

Political commentator Walter Lippmann once offered this lament about the modern age: For the most part we do not first see, and then define, we define first and then see.

As a labor arbitrator and mediator, I resolve grievances filed by unions challenging actions taken by their employers by analyzing the facts, making findings and drawing conclusions. When asked to mediate, I ascertain the facts and then attempt to define a common ground upon which the parties might compromise. Using Lippmanns terms, it is my role to first see, and then define.

As we draw closer to what is going to be one of the most contentious presidential elections in our lifetimes, I am especially frustrated watching the current political discourse that defines first, then sees. I am referring to an increasing penchant for grasping partisan positions and obtusely rejecting out of hand any facts that conflict with the narratives. It is the primary reason for gridlock at all government levels, because political bodies cannot find solutions when they are unable to agree on one set of facts.

Indeed, the U.S. Senate was intended to be the body where things get done by compromise. This is no longer the case. In fact, in our modern age the word compromise has taken on a more sordid connotation (he was caught in a compromising position). Compromise is now a sign of weakness because it conflicts with the partisans definitions.

The National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood would never be considered kindred spirits politically, yet their partisan approaches are similar. Both groups define first. In the case of the NRA: the Second Amendment protects citizens rights to own a firearm. Planned Parenthood: Roe v. Wade and the right of privacy preserves a womans right to choose. Then with teeth-gritting determination both entities resist any proposed restrictions on these constitutional rights. This is so even when the facts what many Americans see (i.e., senseless gun violence, partial birth abortion) may warrant sensible regulations.

When governing is driven by define first and then see, it usually results in endless posturing and law ultimately being made by five U.S. Supreme Court justices. It also leads to overcorrection, as recently evidenced by efforts to defund police departments or to use violence against lawful protests. Most Americans favor neither.

Donald Trumps presidency has seen the zenith of define first, then see, with partisans doubling down on their definitions. Thus, the only negatives Trumps partisan supporters begrudgingly see is that he has trouble reading a teleprompter and tweets too much. Shockingly, they cannot see the very same childish behaviors, overactive ego and boorish treatment of others they would not tolerate if exhibited by their own children, much less their president.

Many cite Trumps defense of religious liberties and the right to life while ignoring his well-documented less-than-Christian behaviors. These partisans refuse to admit that the self-proclaimed wartime president initially dismissed reaction to COVID-19 as a hoax and has since blamed others rather than unify the country. Anything seen that detracts from the partisans definitions is disregarded or deflected (usually with a what about her emails, Benghazi, etc., retort).

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People on the anti-Trump side have their own sacred definitions. Based on flimsy evidence and panicked by his 2016 win despite the polls, they defined Trump from the start as an illegitimate president who stole the election by conspiring with Russia. Once this narrative was undermined by the Mueller report, the partisan left simply replaced it with the obstruction of justice definition.

They refuse to acknowledge any of Trumps accomplishments, such as the (pre-COVID-19) robust economy and rising employment numbers. Many Democratic legislators now reject some of the same border security measures they previously supported under President Barack Obama. The partisan left also chooses not to see the fact, confirmed by the FBIs inspector general, that Obamas FBI provided untruthful and misleading information to obtain warrants to spy on Trump associates even before he took office.

Then there are facts that neither side wants to acknowledge, such as Trumps termination of trade deals loathed by labor unions or signing bills providing for paid child care leave. The left cannot admit Trump has certain populist leanings, while the right cannot admit that he is less than a true conservative.

If we were to see the Trump presidency the way an arbitrator would, we might initially find that the leftist partisans took unethical (and perhaps illegal) steps to marginalize the Trump presidency from the start. Then, with the help of a sympathetic media, it doubled down with impeachment proceedings knowing they never had the votes to convict. We also may find that Trump is a narcissistic, thin-skinned, unsteady leader, who divides by exploiting our worst instincts. On his watch the economy and unemployment improved before the pandemic hit, but he has failed to lead since. Partisans would say all of these findings cannot coexist.

Dont expect any self-analysis from the partisans because it is hard to admit ones deeply held definitions are wrong or misplaced. It is much easier to ignore facts to support the narrative. But as John Adams once posited, Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Alas, our modern-day problems cannot be resolved via arbitration or mediation. They will never be solved utilizing genuine facts and compromise until we are willing to question our revered definitions.

James M. Darby is an arbitrator and mediator who lives in Lancaster. He is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and chairman of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. The opinions expressed in this column are his own.

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Perspectives on partisanship from a professional neutral | Columnists - LancasterOnline

LAND O' LAKES, Fla. A man believed to have been upset at a family supporting his estranged wife broke into their home Saturday afternoon and was shot to death by its homeowner, the sheriff said.

Deputies responded around 12:30 p.m. to the home in the Sunset Lakes subdivision, where 55-year-old Ronald Fleet was pronounced dead.

Fleet kicked in the door of the family's home and was met by the homeowner armed with a gun, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said. Fleet also was armed and was fired upon but returned a round of gunfire before exiting.

Fleet then "charges" into the house, Nocco said, forcing the homeowner to shoot and kill him.

"He was defending himself and his family," Nocco said. "Any loss of life is tragic, but the victim was utilizing his Second Amendment rights to protect himself and his family from the fear of Ronald who was carrying a gun, kicking in a door, trying to harm them.

"I can't imagine the fear that they were going through, but I'm very happy the fact that he was able to defend himself and his actions."

Nocco said the family was helping to protect the woman during divorce proceedings get out of a "horrific marriage." Records show Fleet had prior arrests for domestic battery and driving under the influence.

No one else was hurt in the shooting.

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'He was defending himself and his family': Homeowner shoots, kills suspected invader - WTSP.com

Negotiations on a new coronavirus relief bill edged toward the brink of collapse after a meeting yesterday between White House officials and top congressional Democrats ended with each side accusing the other of being unwilling to compromise and the biggest issues far from resolved.

The four negotiators, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, emerged from a more than three-hour meeting with little to show and with no guarantee they would resume talks today.

Mnuchin and Meadows said that while talks made progress on a few areas of possible compromise, there still are disagreements on the topline numbers for a stimulus bill and on the biggest individual provisions, including aid to state and local governments that Democrats want.

The differences are still significant, Meadows said.

Pelosi said Republicans are not facing up to the gravity of the economic calamity facing the U.S. Schumer said the meeting was disappointing because the White House wasnt willing to meet them in the middle.

We are very far apart, Pelosi said. Its most unfortunate.

The talks began under the pressure of expectations from financial markets and the threat from President Donald Trump that hell act unilaterally to restore some of the stimulus measures that ran out during a stalemate in Congress.

Meadows and Mnuchin said they will consult with Trump and call Pelosi and Schumer today to determine if it makes sense to meet. Schumer made clear Democrats are willing to keep talking.

Todays release of the Labor Departments July jobs report may influence whether talks resume. While high-frequency data have indicated a slowdown in economic activity in recent weeks, the report is forecast to show another positive, though modest, gain in jobs. Still, the unemployment rate is expected to remain higher than it was at the peak of the deep recession that followed the financial crisis in 2008.

If the jobs report comes in better than expected, it could stiffen the resistance of the White House to spending anywhere close to $3.5 trillion Democrats have been demanding in the talks. A worse than expected report could hasten them to a conclusion. Read more from Erik Wasson, Steven T. Dennis and Laura Litvan.

Signs Are Pointing to a Far Less Rosy Jobs Report: After a surge in coronavirus cases across the U.S., all signs point to a slowdown in job gains last month or worse. The report is forecast to show a 1.48 million increase in nonfarm payrolls in July, the median estimate in projections ranging from a 600,000 decline to a gain of 3.2 million. Thats following a combined rise of 7.5 million in May and June, which just started to make up the 22 million drop over the first two months of the pandemic, Reade Pickert and Maeve Sheehey report.

The House meets at 10 a.m. for a pro forma session.

The Senate will reconvene Monday at 3 p.m., with no votes currently planned.

No hearings are scheduled in the House or Senate as of this morning.

Hawaii State Democratic Sen. Kahele Favored to Succeed Gabbard: A Democratic House primary tomorrow in Hawaii is more of a coronation than a competition. State Sen. Kai Kahele is an overwhelming favorite to win a four-candidate election in the 2nd District, which includes most of Hawaii outside Honolulu. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D) is retiring.

None of Kaheles competitors in the primary reported raising $5,000, according to Federal Election Commission data as of July 19.

Kahele got a big head start when he announced in January 2019 he would run against Gabbard, who had just announced her candidacy for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Gabbard, whose White House bid faltered, announced in October 2019 she wouldnt seek re-election to the House. Read more from Greg Giroux.

Judge Denies GOP Bid to Stop House Proxy Voting: A federal judge rejected a bid by House Republicans to block proxy-voting procedures Democrats created for members who are quarantined or otherwise house-bound during the Covid-19 pandemic. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said that House lawmakers may continue to vote by proxy because the U.S. Constitution protects members of Congress from civil suits contesting legislative acts. David Yaffe-Bellany has more.

Pipeline Bill Passed: The Senate last night by unanimous consent passed legislation (S. 2299), with a substitute amendment by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), that would authorize appropriations through fiscal 2023 for some pipeline safety programs, among other provisions. The bill now moves to the House. The chamber also passed S. 4075, legislation to amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, introduced by Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee.

Oil Profit by U.K. Firm Stirs Scrutiny: A Senate Democrat is calling on federal regulators to conduct a deep analysis of whether oil markets are susceptible to manipulation following a Bloomberg News report that documented how a small London firm made as much as $500 million when the price of oil went negative in April. Senate Banking Committee ranking member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Vega Capital Londons trading profits show additional regulatory safeguards are necessary. Ben Bain, Liam Vaughan, and Kit Chellel have more.

Rubio Wants More Time to Count Votes: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is warning of potential chaos in the election because of the pandemic and wants to give states nearly two months to count ballots. Under Rubios measure, states would have until Jan. 1 to certify electors to the Electoral College rather than Dec. 8. Read more from Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Senate Confirms SEC Nominees Peirce, Crenshaw: Hester Peirce and Caroline Crenshaw will serve as SEC commissioners until at least 2024 after receiving the Senates endorsement. The Senate confirmed Peirce and Crenshaw for terms on the Securities and Exchange Commission by voice vote. Trump nominated them in June. Read more from Andrew Ramonas.

Peters Solicits Americans Postal Delay Complaints: Americans who have had critical mail such as election ballots or medicine delayed or go missing should report it to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the top Senate Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Peters is investigating the reported service delays following recent changes, Shaun Courtney reports. Ive heard firsthand from constituents, postal workers and local officials in Michigan who have encountered problems with the timely and dependable service they count on to conduct business, get prescription medications and critical supplies, and even exercise their right to vote, Peters said in a press release.

Hagerty Wins Tennessee GOP Primary for Alexanders Seat: Bill Hagerty won the Tennessee Republican primary for the seat held by retiring Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), AP reports. Trump endorsed Hagerty, his former ambassador to Japan, in a 15-way Republican race. Hagerty, a former private equity executive who was Tennessees economic and community development commissioner, faced competition from Manny Sethi, an orthopedic trauma surgeon and son of Indian immigrants.

Commission Turns Down Request for Fourth Debate: The Commission on Presidential Debates yesterday rejected the Trump campaigns request for an additional debate against Democrat Joe Biden in early September as well as its push to pick moderators for the three scheduled debates. Read more from Jennifer Epstein.

Trump Campaign Sees Jump After Virus Briefings: Trumps new campaign manager credited the revival of the presidents daily briefings with narrowing the gap between him and Biden, saying that when the president speaks its a needle mover. Bill Stepien took over as the presidents campaign manager in July. Since Stepien stepped in, Trump has changed his public approach to the pandemic. Mario Parker has more.

Trump Says Biden Is Against God: Trump said Biden was opposed to God and religion, turning to cultural issues during a speech on the economy. Hes going to do things that nobody ever would ever think would be possible because hes following the radical left agenda, Trump said during an Ohio event. Take away your guns, destroy your Second Amendment, no religion, no anything. Hurt the Bible, hurt God. Hes against God, hes against guns.

Biden slammed Trumps comments, calling the president an insecure bully. For President Trump to attack my faith is shameful. Its beneath the office he holds and its beneath the dignity the American people so rightly expect and deserve from their leaders, Biden said in a statement. Ryan Teague Beckwith has more.

Biden Apologizes For Comments on Racial Diversity: Biden apologized late yesterday for comments he made earlier in the day that suggested that the African-American community was not diverse. In no way did I mean to suggest the African-American community is a monolith not by identity, not on issues, not at all, Biden said in an series of tweets. In an interview with Black and Latino journalists published early yesterday, Biden said that unlike the African-American community, with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community with incredibly diverse attitudes about different things. Read more from Jennifer Epstein.

Kanye West Plays Spoiler: Rapper Kanye West all but confirmed he is running a spoiler campaign for the presidency to draw votes from Biden, amid reports that GOP operatives are helping him get on the ballot. Im not going to argue with you. Jesus is King, West told a Forbes reporter after the reporter pointed out the artist cannot win since he wont be on enough ballots to garner the necessary 270 electoral votes. Read more from Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Virginia Drops Absentee Ballot Witness Requirement: Virginia has agreed to extend its suspension of its witness requirement for absentee ballots for the November general election due to the continued presence of Covid-19 in the state, according to a recent filing in federal court. Election officials and the League of Women Voters of Virginia agree that enforcing the requirement during the coronavirus pandemic would impose a serious burden on the right to vote, the parties told the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia Wednesday. Read more from Porter Wells.

Trump Widens China Tech Attack: Trump signed a pair of executive orders yesterday prohibiting U.S. residents from doing business with the Chinese-owned TikTok and WeChat apps beginning in 45 days, citing the national security risk of leaving Americans personal data exposed. The bans mark a significant escalation by Trump in his confrontation with Beijing as the U.S. seeks to curb Chinas power in global technology.

The move coincides with Trumps push for the sale of TikTok, the popular video app owned by ByteDance, to an American company. It threatens penalties on any U.S. resident or company that conducts transactions with TikTok, WeChat or their owners after the orders take effect. To protect our Nation, I took action to address the threat posed by one mobile application, TikTok. Further action is needed to address a similar threat posed by another mobile application, WeChat, Trump said in the order against WeChat, released minutes after the TikTok measure. Read more from Saleha Mohsin, Shelly Banjo, Nick Wadhams and Justin Sink.

U.S. Seeks Tighter Disclosures for China Listings: A high-powered U.S. panel recommended tightening the disclosure requirements for Chinese companies listed on American exchanges, following mounting concerns about the possible exposure of investors to fraud. The Working Group on Financial Markets said it will recommend the Securities and Exchange Commission bolster requirements governing the submission of audit papers from Chinese listingsboth new and existingto the main American accounting-standards agency. Read more from Saleha Mohsin and Jenny Leonard.

Trump to Reimpose Some Tariffs on Canada: The Trump administration will reimpose tariffs on some Canadian aluminum imports, striking a crucial trade partner only weeks after the presidents landmark North American trade deal went into effect. Trump announced that he was removing Canadas exemption from 10% tariffs, effective Aug. 16. Read more from Joe Deaux, Josh Wingrove, Jenny Leonard, and Jennifer Jacobs.

U.S., India Plan Meetings: The U.S. and India will hold ministerial meetings and discussions later this year, according to a State Department read out issued after Secretary of State Michael Pompeos phone call with Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Archana Chaudhary reports.

Roberts Court Draws Partisan Fire: Pretty much no one is happy with U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts. And that may suit him just fine. Vice President Mike Pence joined a chorus of right-wing criticisms of the Supreme Courts leader, telling CBN News on Wednesday that the Republican-appointed Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives. Those attacks come even as liberals say the real problem is Robertss larger body of work and steady effort to bolster conservative legal causes.

Together, the dueling critiques are bolstering an image Roberts has long sought to foster that of a court that decides cases independently, not based on ideological leanings or party preference. Read more from Greg Stohr.

Main Street Program Attracts Handful of Borrowers: The Federal Reserves Main Street Lending Program had attracted just eight borrowers as of July 27, according to a report released yesterday by the central bank. Borrowers took out $10 million through the New Loan Facility and $70.9 million through the Priority Loan Facility, which provides potentially larger amounts to more leveraged companies. Read more from Catarina Saraiva.

DeWine Says Positive Test for Covid-19 Was False: Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has aggressively pushed public-health measures for Ohio, said last night that an initial positive test for Covid-19 was apparently a false result. DeWine took an antigen test early in the day. But then the governor said later that a second test using the PCR or nucleic acid method came back negative, as did tests for his wife and staff members. Stephen Merelman has more.

Safety Agency Moves Ahead with Quorum of One: The new chairwoman of a federal agency that investigates major industrial accidents has an unusual problem: shes the only person on its five-member board, and Trump wants it shut down. Katherine Lemos said she plans to continue the U.S. Chemical Safety Boards work after securing a legal opinion that she can operate as a quorum of one. In her first interview since taking office, Lemos vowed to get the roughly 35-person agency with a checkered-past off the problem child list, while promising to be tough on chemical and petroleum industries it oversees. Read more from Ari Natter and Alan Levin.

EPA Finalizing Second Term Trump Agenda Plans: The EPA is wrapping up its agenda for a second Trump administration term, as it gears up to release key air and water regulations including the rewrite of methane standards and revisions to the lead rule, Administrator Andrew Wheeler said yesterday. We are, at this point, putting our final touches on our agenda for the second term, he said. Amena H. Saiyid has more.

CandyPAC Lead Onboarded from Lodging Association: The National Confectioners Association has hired Alyssa Clevenger away from the American Hotel & Lodging Association to oversee the groups political action committee, the CandyPAC. The CandyPAC has donated about $420,000 to political committees since January 2019, Megan R. Wilson reports.

Trump Fails to Stall Rape Accusers Lawsuit: Trump cant stall a defamation lawsuit filed by a New York advice columnist who claims he raped her two decades ago, a judge ruled, allowing the two sides to start digging for evidence. E. Jean Carroll, who went public with her claims last year and sued Trump after he called her a liar, will now seek to depose the president as well as get a DNA test from him to compare with a sample on a dress the author said she wore at the time of the alleged attack. Read more from Erik Larson.

With assistance from Emily Wilkins, Megan R. Wilson, and Shaun Courtney

To contact the reporters on this story: Zachary Sherwood in Washington at zsherwood@bgov.com; Brandon Lee in Washington at blee@bgov.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giuseppe Macri at gmacri@bgov.com; Loren Duggan at lduggan@bgov.com; Michaela Ross at mross@bgov.com

Continued here:

What to Know in Washington: Stimulus Talks Near Edge of Collapse - Bloomberg Government

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- President Trump has nicknamed Joe Biden Sleepy Joe, portrayed him as feeble, challenged him to a cognitive test, said hes anti-God, but mispronounced Thailand after also mispronouncing Yosemite, all while Biden was seen vigorously riding a mountain bike.

At a campaign stop at the Whirlpool factory in Clyde, Ohio Thursday, Trump mispronounced Thailand, saying THIGH-land. Tuesday at a bill signing event, Trump had also mispronounced Yosemite twice. Trump pronounced it Yo-SEMIGHTS then Yo-se-min-NIGHT before giving up on pronouncing it Yo-sem-i-tee. You would have thought the President of the United States would have heard Thailand and Yosemite National Park before, or at least Yosemite Sam, the cartoon character.

Trump having THIGH-land on his mind is really not a surprise given his infidelities, comments about women physically or if youve seen the size of his thighs in golf attire.

During his Whirlpool speech, Trump also said the devout Catholic Biden was against God.

Take away your guns,destroy your Second Amendment. No religion, no anything. Hurt the Bible, hurt God. Hes against God, hes against guns, hes against energy, our kind of energy.

The last time Trump was seen at a church was when he had protesters cleared from Lafayette Square next to The White House so he could have a brief photo-op in front of St. Peters church holding a Bible upside down.

In between mispronouncing Yosemite and Thailand, Trump tweeted a challenge for Biden to take the simple cognitive test he bragged about acing.

He cannot pass the test I ACED. He should give it a try.

All the time this was going on, footage was released of Biden driving his 1967 Corvette Stingray and vigorously riding a mountain bike while wearing a mask and cracking a joke.

Biden was driving his vintage vette for an ad. He had previously been seen driving it on a segment of Jay Lenos Garage in 2016. The classic car was a wedding gift to Biden from his father, who worked at a Chevy dealership.

When have you ever seen Trump driving anything besides a golf cart, let alone riding a bike?

At 77, Bidens not Sleepy Joe hes Spry Joe.

Read more here:

Trump calls Biden Sleepy but cant say Yosemite, Thailand: Darcy cartoon - cleveland.com

The county commissioners and Sheriff Duane Burgess stopped short of declaring Johnson County a Second Amendment sanctuary, but declared that county resources would not be used to enforce laws that infringe on gun rights.

Burgess was asked by residents to clarify his stance on the issue, so he put his thoughts to paper in a legal document as a promise to county residents, he said.

The people have rights and must be protected, and people must know where their elected sheriff and officials stand," Burgess said. "People have the right to protect themselves and their property. They have the right to keep and bear arms.

Locally, the ordinance declares, Johnson County shall be a county in which the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms is deeply honored and protected against unlawful infringement; and that the Johnson County Commissioners and Johnson County Sheriff hereby declare their opposition to any law or regulation that unlawfully infringes upon the right to keep and bear arms, and it shall, therefore, be the policy of the Johnson County commissioners and the Johnson County sheriff not to utilize county resources in a manner that unlawfully infringes upon the right to keep and bear arms.

The 2013 ordinance did not include a pledge from the sheriff to not enforce laws that infringe on gun rights such as a mass gun seizure, instead saying the commissioners would oppose rights infringements they believe are contrary to the constitution. The new resolution cements the countys commitment further, with Burgesss declaration that any such laws would not be enforced.

Burgess and Johnson County commissioner Brian Baird said county officials are of the opinion that additional gun rights should not be taken away, but existing gun laws will continue to be enforced. For example, Baird said the sheriffs office would respond to and take action against individuals who possess illegal guns such as automatic weapons or those who carry a gun in public without a license.

The most likely way this resolution could be put into action is some type of mass guns seizure, Burgess said. He and Baird said the county feels strongly that any weapon seizure should not be undertaken without modifying the constitution.

As sheriff, Burgess knows that many gun laws are necessary, for example, the Jake Laird Law, also known as the Red Flag Law, which allows law enforcement to take guns from someone who is mentally unstable or poses a potential threat to society. For him, the distinction between laws such as this and a mass seizure is that the latter would impact law-abiding citizens. Rather than any specific potential legislation, the resolution is meant to protect law-abiding citizens from having guns taken from them unconstitutionally, Burgess said.

Legal experts doubt the validity of local resolutions promising to not enforce gun laws, given that municipalities are superseded by state and federal laws. Under the state constitution, counties operate exclusively on the powers that are endowed to the units of government by the General Assembly, according to a guide on county government from the Indiana Association of Counties. Experts say, because laws would either come via the executive or legislative branch, county government would be beholden to uphold the law.

However, is not clear what consequences there would be if a state or federal law passed and Burgess refused to enforce it, Baird said.

Until something would come up, you dont know what is going to happen; everybody knows that. I hope this is never tested, Baird said. I swore an oath to protect the constitution and I will do that until my last breath.

In 2013, Johnson County became one of the first in the state to pass a Second Amendment protection ordinance. Since the first of this year, Burgess, Baird and Greg Ileko, a Bargersville man involved with the countys Second Amendment protection group, have been working with legal counsel to update the ordinance and clarify the countys stance.

Baird and Burgess have been discussing this new resolution, which the Johnson County Board of Commissioners passed unanimously, since Burgess took office last year, Baird said.

Passing the resolution moved up the priority list when the Second Amendment sanctuary movement ignited across the country after controversial gun laws were passed in Virginia, said Ilko.

Indianas Second Amendment sanctuary movement is led by a group called Indiana 2a United. The groups members have convinced 25 counties to pass some type of 2a protection measure, according to pro-2a sanctuary website, sanctuarycounties.com. As many as 959 counties across the country have passed similar measures with encouragement from local gun rights activists, the website says.

Not all counties that have had Second Amendment protection measures proposed have passed legislation. For example, Bartholomew County commissioners and the Columbus mayor declined to pass proposed sanctuary legislation in January.

Bartholomew County officials saw sanctuary legislation as an attempt to bypass the court system, according to a statement they provided to the Columbus Republic.

The question of whether the Constitution has been followed is within the sole province of the Courts to determine. It appears that the intent and purpose of this proposed Ordinance is to attempt to usurp or supersede the authority of the Courts, the statement read.

For activists like Ilko, a commitment from the county government to protect gun rights means a lot at a time when many fear further infringement, he said. Though a resolution has a less powerful statement than an ordinance, Ilko said the gesture is important to local gun owners. An ordinance is a piece of legislation that carries more weight, whereas a resolution is a formally expressed opinion that is agreed upon with a vote.

It is the opportunity for the silent majority to not be silent anymore. There is a big push and an anti-2a facet out there, Ilko said. Having our sheriff and public officials stand up takes some moxy and I appreciate it.

On gun rights or any issue, Burgess said his door is always open when residents have concerns about law enforcement issues.

As the sheriff of Johnson County, I feel that it is important to be proactive and look at all sides when making a decision, Burgess said. We all may not agree on certain things or issues, but at the end of the day, you have to be willing to accept that persons view and continue to work toward a solution.

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Sheriff declares he will not enforce laws that infringe on Second Amendment - Daily Journal

SEDALIA, Mo. Seven weeks had passed, and still there were no answers. So once again, a small cluster of friends and family gathered in the leafy courthouse square and marched for Hannah Fizer, an unarmed woman shot and killed by a rural Missouri sheriffs deputy during a traffic stop.

Say her name! Hannah!

Prosecute the police!

Their chants echoed protests over police killings in Minneapolis, Louisville, Atlanta and beyond. But this was no George Floyd moment for rural America.

Though people in rural areas are killed in police shootings at about the same rate as in cities, victims families and activists say they have struggled to get justice or even make themselves heard. They say extracting changes can be especially tough in small, conservative towns where residents and officials have abiding support for law enforcement and are leery of new calls to defund the police.

Its like pulling teeth, Ms. Fizers mother, Amy, said.

The deputy who shot Ms. Fizer has not been charged or disciplined, and Ms. Fizers parents say they have not received any updates about the investigation into her June 13 death. They said that investigators never interviewed them, and that the sheriff declined to tell them the name of the deputy who shot her.

Over the weeks, the rallies for Ms. Fizer tapered from a hundred protesters to a couple dozen. Every Saturday morning, they wave signs and ask passing cars to honk in support of the 25-year-old woman with a big grin and flower tattoo, who loved swimming and Chinese takeout and dreamed of having children, and of a larger life beyond her night-shift job at a gas station. Her family and friends have become her movement.

Were just doing it all on our own, Amy Fizer said.

There are hundreds of stories of law enforcement killings in small towns and rural areas, but scant research into how and why they happen. One analysis by FiveThirtyEight found that between 2013 and 2019 there was a slight rise in shootings by officers in rural and suburban areas and a decline in big cities. Experts say rural shootings may be tied to higher rates of gun ownership, a lack of mental health services, or insufficient training for officers responding to people in crisis.

Ms. Fizers parents said they know only the barest facts about what happened the night she died.

She spent the last day of her life splashing around in a kiddie pool with her best friend, Taylor Browder, and Ms. Browders young children, talking about life and her future in Sedalia, an old railroad town of 21,000 people that is home to the Missouri State Fair. Ms. Fizer had attended the Sedalia Police Departments citizens academy in 2016 but quickly decided she did not want to become a cop. She sometimes talked about working as a parole officer.

Ms. Browder said that Ms. Fizer headed home to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend to take a nap and shower before her overnight shift at the Eagle Stop gas station on the western edge of town.

At about 10 that night, a Pettis County sheriffs deputy pulled her over for speeding. In an interview, Sheriff Kevin Bond said that the deputy met with verbal resistance when he walked up to Ms. Fizers car and that he told investigators she claimed she had a gun and threatened to kill him.

Ms. Fizers friends and family have a hard time believing that. Ms. Fizers boyfriend owned a gun, they said, but in a conservative county where the Second Amendment is sacrosanct, Ms. Fizer did not like guns or carry one.

Investigators later found five shell casings by the drivers side door of her Hyundai, but no gun in her car.

David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, said the prevalence of guns may explain why cities and rural areas have nearly equal rates of law enforcement killings even though murders and violent crime rates tend to be higher in cities.

More than half of the people fatally shot by rural officers were reported to have a gun, according to a seven-year tally by Mapping Police Violence. Ms. Fizer was among the roughly 10 percent who were unarmed.

Ms. Fizer and the deputy who shot her were both white, a common dynamic in shootings that occur in overwhelmingly white, rural parts of the country. Black and Hispanic people are killed at higher rates than white people in rural areas, but the demographics of rural America mean that about 60 to 70 percent of people killed by law enforcement there are white, according to an analysis by Harvard researchers.

Unlike in other cases that have galvanized efforts to change policing, there is no body camera footage of the shooting. The sheriffs office stopped using body cameras after software problems and a crash on the hard drive that recorded the data. Fixing it was just cost prohibitive for a rural sheriffs office where money is tight and starting pay for deputies is $26,000, Sheriff Bond said.

Sheriff Bond said there had been no prior use-of-force complaints against the deputy who shot Ms. Fizer. The deputy, who has not been named, was put on paid leave, and the sheriff said he immediately called in the Missouri State Highway Patrol to handle the scene and investigate the shooting.

The Highway Patrol finished its investigation last week and handed over a report to the Pettis County prosecuting attorney, who had a special prosecutor appointed. Ms. Fizers family said they have not been told about the results of the report, and have been following developments through the news.

If this wouldve happened in the city, something would have been done by now, said Haley Richardson, a friend who said Ms. Fizer was kindhearted and stood up for vulnerable people. Were going to stay out here. We just want answers.

Ms. Fizers relatives said that a divide in money and class between them and authorities in Pettis County had made them feel like second-rung citizens. Ms. Fizer was not rich, and members of her family had been in and out of prison and struggled with drug addictions.

If youre on the outer fringes of society youd know, Amy Fizer said. They pull you over. They do what they want, when they want.

Some of Ms. Fizers friends and relatives said they had already been outraged by Mr. Floyds killing in Minneapolis police custody, which happened about three weeks before Ms. Fizer was shot. They joined Black Lives Matter rallies as the movement spread throughout small towns across America.

But they also emphasized that they did not want to abolish the police. They supported law enforcement. Just not this deputy, or this sheriff. The aftermath of the shooting led to calls for Sheriff Bond to resign and prompted a police sergeant in suburban Kansas City to challenge the sheriff in Novembers election.

You have law enforcement running around without any body cameras, dash cameras, the minimal equipment, said the challenger, Brad Anders, who lives in Sedalia. The investigation, whatever it may reveal, is never going to be enough. There are questions that will never be answered.

The anger over Ms. Fizers death exploded on local Facebook groups. Sheriff Bond said people had threatened to publish his home address and harassed and threatened a deputy and his family, and he warned that instigators were using Ms. Fizers death to sow social chaos.

When a statue of a World War I doughboy infantryman honoring veterans was vandalized in July in the town square an incident unrelated to the protests for Ms. Fizer his officers opened an investigation and arrested an 18-year-old on vandalism charges.

Do you want this to continue and cause irrevocable harm to our community? the sheriff wrote. Are you willing to allow Pettis County to become the test project for some social justice experiment for rural America?

Ms. Fizers father, John, had complicated feelings about the upwelling of nationwide anger at the police. He was angry. He wanted justice for his daughter. But he counted himself as a conservative Republican and worried that the protests in Sedalia could be co-opted by left-wing outsiders a pervasive, but largely unfounded fear in small towns after Mr. Floyds killing.

In a Facebook post, Mr. Fizer wrote that he did not want Antifa-type outrage here in our quiet hometown.

I love my law enforcement, he said. Id hate to think where wed be without them.

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A Family Cries Justice for Hannah. Will Its Rural Town Listen? - The New York Times