Today’s comic by Ruben Bolling is Donald J. Trump is ... The Manchurian Candidate:
• Happy 55th birthday, Mr. President:
He's slow jammed the news with Jimmy Fallon. He's dropped the mic at the White House Correspondents Dinner. He's even gotten coffee with Jerry Seinfeld. But today, President Barack Obama turns 55!
And if one things for sure from looking back at the current Leader of the Free World's two-term presidency, he's got a handle on pop culture. In fact, POTUS became the first sitting president to appear on a late-night talk show with his 2009 visit to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. From that moment on, we knew Obama was far more than just our wanna-be hip dad—his one-liners and zingers actually land (at least most of the time).
• It’s Day 173 of the GOP’s obstinate refusal to hold a hearing on Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland: It’s Thursday, August 4, and Day 173 since Justice Antonin Scalia died and Mitch McConnell decided no SCOTUS nominee would get any Senate attention: No meetings, no hearings, no votes. It's also Day 136 since President Obama named Merrick Garland to be Scalia's replacement. Help turn the Senate blue with your donation and get all branches of government working again.
• Steve LaTourette, former GOP Congressman known for bipartisanship, dies at 62: LaTourette, who died of pancreatic cancer, represented northeast Ohio’s 19th Congressional District and then the 14th Congressional District from 1995 to 2013. He was generally regarded as a moderate.
In May 2015, LaTourette filed a claim against the government over the treatment he received from his Capitol doctors, claiming they failed to pass along critical information about a lesion on his pancreas and the need for follow-up monitoring. The filing was the first step toward a lawsuit.
• Foursquare says Trump’s presidential campaign is crushing Trump’s businesses. Based on its analysis of “foot traffic intelligence,” the company says:
It turns out the data is fairly clear: Since Donald Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015, foot traffic to Trump-branded hotels, casinos and golf courses in the U.S. has been down. Since spring, it’s fallen more. In July, Trump properties’ share of visits fell 14% year over year, for instance.
• Man leaves casino, robs bank, returns to casino: Charleston, West Virginia, police say Kerry Johnson got up from blackjack table, leaving a $25 chip to hold his place, went to a nearby bank, handed the teller a note saying he had a bomb and another weapon, took the cash and … returned to the casino to keep gambling. He was later arrested at his home, where a large amount of currency was found stuffed between sofa cushions. Currency from the robbery was also found at the blackjack table. Johnson told police he had no memory of the robbery.
• One Koch brother hasn’t abandoned Trump: Charles Koch has called claims that he might support Hillary Clinton a “blood libel,” and he and his brother David Koch have declared they will have nothing to do with helping Donald Trump campaign—a major blow considering the financial and organizational resources their political network can mobilize...
not all of the four Koch brothers have sworn off Trump. David's fraternal twin, Bill, who famously spent nearly two decades in a scorched-earth legal battle with his brothers, will be hosting a fundraiser for Trump at his Cape Cod mansion this weekend.
• On today’s Kagro in the Morning show, Greg Dworkin has good polling news: people hate Trump. His nuke threat bombs. GA Trump elector resigns. Was Melania “illegal?” More miserable Trump biz failures. The Donald attempts “voter fraud” on video. Balance: Brazile out, Lewandowski stays.
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