https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/16/perry-defends-trump-over-feud-gold-star-family/

Former Gov. Rick Perry is defending Donald Trump's war of words with the family of a fallen Muslim soldier, saying the father "struck the first blow" against the Republican presidential nominee and is not above criticism in return.

"In a campaign, if you’re going to go out and think that you can take a shot at somebody and not have incoming coming back at you, shame on you," Perry said in an interview Tuesday on CNN.

The father, Khizr Khan, harshly criticized Trump last month during the Democratic National Convention over the nominee's proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigration. In the following days, Trump fired back by questioning why Khan's wife, who was standing beside him during his speech, did not speak, and arguing Khan did not have a right to attack him the way he did.

The episode brought Trump bipartisan condemnation, and it marked the beginning of a downward slide for his campaign that continues to this day. Perry's successor, Greg Abbott, issued a statement at the time saying the service of families like the Khans "cannot be questioned."

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This probably won't make you cry because you're tough. But it moved me, for sure.

A very short but powerful animated story about a father and son in 1959.

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/409927/dont-sneak-a-fathers-command-to-his-gay-son-in-the-1950s/

So, according to the WA Post, he'll be pivoting away from any attempt at normalcy.

There's too much in this article to do it justice with an excerpt. I suggest you read the whole thing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/08/17/daily-202-what-trump-s-latest-shakeup-says-about-his-flailing-campaign/57b3ba48cd249a2fe363ba23/

Trump plans to re-double his focus on holding big rallies and doing lots of TV hits. He’ll also more aggressively attack Hillary Clinton, to the extent that’s possible, and he’ll re-embrace his role as an outsider, making less of an effort to be nice to GOP greybeards.

During the primaries, when Trump was winning, then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski always said "let Trump be Trump." He now wants to get back to that type of campaign culture. The moves send “a signal, perhaps more clear than ever, that the real-estate mogul intends to finish this race on his own terms, with friends who share his instincts at his side,” Costa writes.

-- This is another proof point that Trump is not trying to run the kind of serious campaign that can actually win the presidency. That’s why it will frighten the GOP establishment, scare off some mainstream donors who have been playing footsie with the billionaire and push congressional leaders like Mitch McConnell a little closer to cutting Trump loose – maybe even before Labor Day. (Bannon’s site single-mindedly went after Paul Ryan in the run-up to his primary.)

-- Both of the newly-elevated advisers are conservative populists who will never discourage Trump from following his id. It’s hard for a 70-year-old man to change his ways, especially this one. Donald’s id demands instant gratification more than most people’s, and he’s long struggled to control his impulsiveness.

Who's going to disagree with him there?

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-bigotry-african-americans-227094

“We reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton which panders to and talks down to communities of color and sees them only as votes — that’s all they care about — not as individual human beings worthy of a better future,” Trump said at a rally in Wisconsin.

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Trump’s rally was in West Bend, Wisconsin, a town that is 95 percent white and less than an hour outside of Milwaukee, where violent police protests have rocked the city in recent days following the shooting of an armed 23-year-old black man by a black police officer.

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“Crime and violence is an attack on the poor and will never be accepted in a Trump administration,” he said at another, as he referred over and over to the plight of inner-city African-Americans.

Clinton, he said, simply represented “more poverty, more crime and basically just more of the same.”
“She doesn’t care at all about the hurting people of this country,” Trump said.

Why should the AP give Phelps more attention for his silver medal than Ledecky got for her gold?


http://www.aol.com/article/2016/08/15/one-headline-about-phelps-and-ledecky-sparks-outrage/21451868/

It's not surprising, seeing this, that Trump's doctor says Trump is much healthier than Obama or any President in history.

Just look at him!

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/280777-trump-tsa-falling-apart-while-obama-golfs

It's not surprising that his personal doc says that he would be the healthiest person to be President in U.S. history.

Just watch (and wonder where he found the time to perfect that golf swing):

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/210549/friends-dont-let-friends-vote-for-jill-stein

This past weekend, Jill Stein was officially nominated by the Green Party as its candidate for president of the United States. Here at Tablet, despite Stein’s Jewish background, we haven’t covered her campaign. In large part, this is because her story was eclipsed by the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, the most successful Jewish presidential candidate in American history. Indeed, unlike the Vermont senator, Stein has proved largely inconsequential to this point.

But at a time when a third of Sanders supporters still haven’t committed to backing Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump in the general election, where every percentage point will matter, Stein’s candidacy looms larger. Many good people are only just discovering her campaign, and wondering if she might be worthy of their vote. Which is why it’s time for responsible political observers to say what has been commonly understood among those who have followed Stein for years: Friends don’t let friends vote for Jill Stein.

To be clear, this post is not meant as a criticism of Stein’s supporters. In my experience, many of these well-meaning individuals imagine they are voting for a bold, progressive changemaker who won’t pander to special interests and who will demonstrate the knowledge and political courage to enact real reform. Even if Stein won’t win, these idealists believe that they are voting their conscience by backing the candidate who best represents their values.

The only problem is, upon closer inspection, Jill Stein bears no resemblance to such a candidate. Let us count the ways.

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Looking at the above, it is striking how many of these criticisms pertain not just to Stein, but to the Republican candidate she claims to oppose: Donald Trump. He too plays on the ignorance and fears of his followers. He too reverses himself on key issues, demonstrating a total lack of fluency. He too has an affinity for Vladimir Putin and other human rights violators. He too spreads conspiracy theories. And he too deploys extreme and irresponsible rhetoric about his rivals.

http://www.factcheck.org/2016/08/fake-clinton-medical-records/

Despite the fact that Hillary Clinton got a clean bill of health from her doctor, fake medical records for Clinton are circulating on some conservative websites, purporting to show that she suffers from seizures and dementia.

Clinton’s longtime physician — whose name appears atop the alleged “leaked” documents — released a statement to FactCheck.org calling the documents “false,” and reiterating her diagnosis that Clinton is “in excellent health and fit to serve as President of the United States.”

The fake records are making the rounds just as some in the conservative media have been baselessly questioning Clinton’s health. Among them was Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who played a tape of Clinton vigorously shaking her head in a manner he deemed “seizure-esque” (although neither of the medical experts on his program agreed).

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Here is the statement to FactCheck.org by Dr. Lisa Bardack, Hillary's personal physician:

(Though whether that includes the 50 million he donated himself isn't clear to me.)

So where is it going?

It's not being paid to Paul Manafort -- he's working for free.

It's not all going to state offices -- he only has a skeletal GOTV system.

And it's not going for TV ads. He hasn't bought any TV time.

He HAS been spending money for rallies . . . but where else has the money been going?