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"Green on Blue Attack: Quincy Institute Trashes Keynote Speaker David Petraeus," by WFB’s Brent Scher: After inviting retired four-star General David Petraeus to keynote their forum in Washington, D.C., the Koch and Soros-funded Quincy Institute trashed the retired military official on social media during and after his appearance for his "lack of vision for a new direction in U.S. foreign policy" …
Sarah Leah Whitson, the institute's managing director for research and policy, derided Petraeus for delivering "stale outdated talking points" on the war in Iraq, where the general commanded U.S. armed forces, and killing 500,000 people. Whitson on Tuesday night argued that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein deserved credit for advances in education and literacy during his reign.
SCALPING THE DEAD … "More than 200 Native Americans urge Elizabeth Warren to fully retract ancestry claims," via AXIOS: Warren sent a 12-page response to the predominately Cherokee authors on Tuesday night to both apologize and detail her plan to protect tribal lands and support Native Americans if elected president. "I am not a person of color; I am a white woman, and that is how I identify."
BEST COVERAGE MONEY CAN BUY … "Bloomberg TV Segment Rips Entire Dem Presidential Field, Including Michael Bloomberg," by WFB’s Paul Crookston: "I didn't see anybody who had a good debate performance last night. How could you see anybody?" [Larry] Sabato told Bloomberg News anchor David Westin on Wednesday …
Sabato singled out Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News's parent company, for two consecutive "mediocre to bad" performances that haven't built upon the billionaire's historic ad buys.
VET DOESN’T DO VETTING … "Amy McGrath Continues to Exploit Coal Miners Suffering From Black Lung," by WFB’s Collin Anderson: Two of the miners, Randy Robbins and Albrow Hall, said they were unaware that the footage taken of them was for a political attack ad. They criticized McGrath for treating "miners suffering from black lung disease as political pawns without their permission" …
The McGrath ad accuses Senate Majority Leader McConnell of meeting with coal miners for "all of one minute" during their trip to Washington, D.C. However, Robbins and Hall labeled the meeting a "success" in a cease and desist letter sent to McGrath in September.
WHEN WILL KAMALA ENDORSE? … "Klobuchar Ramped Up Prosecutions, Except in Cases Against Police," via NYT: Civil rights leaders in Minneapolis say the [Myon] Burrell case was just one example of how [Amy] Klobuchar’s office focused disproportionately on prosecuting African Americans while declining to bring charges in more than two dozen shootings and other civilian fatalities that occurred during encounters with police officers.
NO OBJECTION … "Iran cleric urges people to visit Qom religious site despite coronavirus fears," via AL ARABIYA: The representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the city of Qom called on Iranians to visit the city’s main religious site, calling it a "place of healing," despite the coronavirus outbreak in the city.
"We consider this holy shrine to be a place of healing. That means people should come here to heal from spiritual and physical diseases," said cleric Mohammad Saeedi.
AND THE OSCAR FOR BEST ANTI-SEMITIC DOC … "Al Jazeera Spied on American Jews to Make an Anti-Israel Film. Congress Just Got Invited to the Premiere," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: Multiple congressional offices have received an invitation to the screening of a never-before-seen anti-Israel documentary produced by Al Jazeera that relies heavily on footage obtained by an undercover Qatari spy …
Other panelists include Phyllis Bennis, co-founder of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, a virulently anti-Israel group; Eli Clifton, co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank closely aligned with the historically anti-Semitic isolationist movement; and Ben Freeman, a member of CIP, which is sponsoring the event.
BE SMART, GET RICH … "Axios Running Bloomberg Ads," by WFB’s Alex Griswold: Axios is running ads from Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg disguised as reported news stories, part of a controversial practice known as "native advertising" …
While labeled "a message from Mike Bloomberg," the ads are mocked up to resemble actual Axios stories and appear in the same scroll.
PIVOT TO THE GENERAL … "MSNBC Benches Contributor Who Smeared Bernie Sanders Staffers," via DAILY BEAST: Following MSNBC contributor Dr. Jason Johnson’s inflammatory remarks about supporters and campaign staffers of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), the academic has been temporarily benched by the network, sources confirmed to the Daily Beast …
During an interview last week on SiriusXM’s the Karen Hunter Show, Johnson claimed "racist white liberals" support Sanders and that the senator has done "nothing for intersectionality."
WORKING TITLE: THREE’S A CROWD … "Katie Hill, Who Quit Congress Amid Ethics Inquiry, Will Publish Memoir," via NYT: [During] a farewell speech on the House floor, she delivered a passionate indictment of revenge porn and what she called a "double standard" when it comes to women’s sexual behavior …
Hill will expand on that message in "She Will Rise," a book that is part memoir, part gender-equity battle plan, which Grand Central Publishing plans to publish on Aug. 18.
STRONGER TOGETHER … "In Reversal, Hillary Clinton (Sort of) Pledges to Support Bitter Rival Bernie Sanders Against Trump," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: "I'll wait and see who we nominate, and I will support the nominee," said Clinton. "And I think it is imperative that we retire the incumbent."
It's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Sanders, though subtle position-shifting has always been a staple of Hillary's underwhelming career in politics … Unless, of course, she still doesn't think Sanders will win the nomination—perhaps because she intends to challenge and defeat him at the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.
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