Yesterday the New York Times issued a lengthy report on the five draft deferments Donald Trump received during the Vietnam War. As is always the case with Trump’s memory and the facts, the story is rife with contradictions. From the Times: For many years, Mr. Trump, 70, has also asserted that it was “ultimately” the luck of a high draft …

Talking Points Memo reports: Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) on Tuesday became the first Republican member of the House to openly say that he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November. Hanna, who is not running for re-election this year, told Syracuse.com in an interview published Tuesday that Donald Trump is “unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this …

Politico reports: Paul Ryan’s office has released a series of “must-see photos” featuring a shot of the House speaker holding up the Constitution. “Speaker Ryan holds up a pocket Constitution as a reminder that Congress’ first responsibility is to support and defend the Constitution,” the caption reads. Although Ryan has been pictured holding up copies of the Constitution in the …

“You look at The New York Times, I mean, the fail — I call it ‘The Failing New York Times’ because it won’t be in business for another, probably more than a few years unless somebody goes in and buys it and wants to lose a lot of money. But The New York Times is so unfair. I mean they …

The Lafayette Journal-Courier reports: Twenty-three years after Lafayette adopted anti-discrimination protections for gays and lesbians, city council members Monday night unanimously said they were ready to defend the transgender population with similar protections based on gender identity. Dressed largely in green, the color of the transgender movement, supporters of an amended Human Relations Ordinance overcame concerns by several pastors, who …

ABC News reports: Mike Pence just can’t escape the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s critical remarks about the parents of fallen soldier Capt. Humayun Khan. Taking questions from the audience at a rally in Carson City, Nev., the Indiana governor was asked how he could “tolerate” Trump disrespecting military families. “Time and time again Trump has disrespected our nation’s armed forces …

But it’s not a complete win. Reuters reports: A high court judge ruled on Tuesday that an HIV pill to prevent infection can be funded by the state health service in England, in a victory for AIDS campaigners who have been calling for its widespread use. So-called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV, using Gilead Sciences’ medicine Truvada, can cut the …

Via press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights: Today, Seattle City Council unanimously voted to protect LGBTQ youth in the city from conversion therapy, making Seattle the 10th jurisdiction—along with California, New Jersey, Oregon, Illinois, New York, Vermont, Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, and Miami Beach, FL—to protect youth from this dangerous practice. Today’s 9-0 vote protects LGBTQ youth from …

The Hill reports: Hillary Clinton leads rival Donald Trump by 8 points following the Democratic National Convention, according to the latest NBC News/SurveyMonkey poll. Clinton has 50 percent support to Trump’s 42 percent in the poll released early Tuesday. Clinton’s support has grown while Trump’s has decreased since last month’s poll, which had her ahead by 1 point, 46 to …

ABC News reports: Vice President Joe Biden officiated his first wedding ever — and it was for a same sex couple. Biden officiated over the wedding of two longtime White House staffers, Brian Mosteller and Joe Mahshie, at the Naval Observatory on Monday, his office said. Posting a photo of the ceremony on Twitter, Biden wrote, “Proud to marry Brian …

Todd Starnes, of ALL people, is over Trump’s lies. He writes: My readers have a question for Donald Trump: does he really want to win the White House? It’s a legitimate question. Truth be told, the Trump campaign seems to be doing their best to drive people away from their cause. Let’s start with the recent front pages of the …

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed: Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant had asked U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves to issue a stay of his preliminary injunction order during the appeal. If granted, the state would have allowed the state to enforce the law during its appeal of the ruling against the law. In dismissing the state’s argument for why a stay …

Remember the nutcase who sued Apple in 2013 because his computer didn’t block him from accessing the porn which ruined his marriage? And then in 2014 when he attempted to intervene in one of Florida’s same-sex marriage cases so that he could marry that porn-filled laptop? And then in April of this year when he tried the same thing in …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday cast doubt on the legitimacy of the November general election, expanding on his long-running theme that the political process is stacked against him. “I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest,” Mr. Trump told a rally in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Trump spent …

From the Daily Beast: A day after his team praised the nude photos of his wife that the New York Post published, Donald Trump promised to be tough on internet pornography. The mogul signed a document called the Children’s Internet Safety Presidential Pledge, bemoaning “unfettered internet access by youth.” In signing the pledge, Trump also promised to “give serious consideration …

Two weeks ago the Family Research Council abruptly withdrew its support for the so-called First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) because of new language that also legalizes discrimination against married straight couples on the basis of “religious belief or moral conviction.” Last week the Liberty Counsel did the same. Today the American Family Association becomes the third anti-LGBT hate group to …

Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: A federal judge expressed skepticism on Monday that North Carolina lawmakers were solving a legitimate safety problem when they passed a law in spring that bans many transgender people from restrooms in government facilities that match their gender identity. US District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder also seemed flummoxed at one point by how the …

Talking Points Memo reports: As Donald Trump continued to hurl attacks on the family of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan, President Barack Obama praised the sacrifice of American armed services members and their families Monday at the Disabled American Veterans convention. “As Commander-in-Chief, I’m pretty tired of some folks trash-talking America’s military and troops,” Obama said in a thinly-veiled rebuke …

Politico reports: In the wake of the Republican and Democratic national conventions, voters are more likely to support Hillary Clinton than Donald Trump, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. While 36 percent of adults are more likely to support Trump coming out of the GOP’s four-day event, 51 percent are less likely to vote for the real estate mogul …

IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW. Earlier….. Entertainment Weekly reports: Orlando’s Pulse nightclub will reopen as a memorial for the 49 people killed at the venue in the June 12 mass shooting, its owners announced via Facebook Sunday night. The news was shared on the onePULSE foundation page, a nonprofit established in the aftermath of the attack to “provide financial assistance to the …