Idiocracy

CBS News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, is urging President Trump to safeguard the U.S. election process ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, telling the president to “lead this nation to make sure the 2018 election is protected.” Graham, a frequent Trump ally, said that the president often gets the issue of Russian interference “confused” with the accusations of …

US Weekly reports: Bristol Palin will be making the big bucks for Teen Mom OG. Palin, 27, who confirmed she’d be joining the cast on Friday, July 20, will be earning $250,000 for the first season with an option for a second and third year, a source exclusively tells Us Weekly. She will also receive an additional $50,000 for each …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Spicer is having a book party on Tuesday in Washington’s newly fashionable Wharf district. If you pay $1,000 for “Press Secretary” access, you get four tickets, personalized books and access to a V.I.P. reception. At the “Deputy Press Secretary” level ($500), you get two tickets to the party and V.I.P. reception, plus signed books. …

After a week of the most relentlessly negative press since he declined to denounce Nazis, Glorious Leader this afternoon tried to throw a lifeline to himself and his base with yet another attack on black NFL players, who he now says should be suspended for the season without pay if they dare to protest against police brutality during the national …

The Washington Post reports: Inside the White House, Trump’s advisers were in an uproar over [Director of National Intelligence Dan] Coats’s interview in Aspen, Colo. They said the optics were especially damaging, noting that at moments Coats appeared to be laughing at the president, playing to his audience of the intellectual elite in a manner that was sure to infuriate …

The Washington Post reports: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has weighed in on who could be President Donald Trump’s toughest challenger in 2020 – and it’s not Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren or any of the other scores of Democratic politicians positioning themselves for potential bids. The biggest foe, Bannon says, would be Oprah Winfrey. “I think …

Mediaite reports: Speaker Paul Ryan had a bit too rollicking of a time when he heard this joke. Speaking with the National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg at the American Enterprise Institute, Ryan laughed a bit too hard (read: way too hard) at a joke comparing President Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler – and it was favorable to Hitler. “As I keep …

The New York Times reports: President Trump plans to invite President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to Washington for another meeting in the fall, officials said Thursday, even as Mr. Trump’s top advisers groped for details of what the two leaders discussed in their last meeting in Helsinki, Finland. Mr. Trump’s director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, acknowledged frustration at …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump, who has been under fire for not aggressively confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin over election interference, said Russia is no longer targeting the United States. “Thank you very much, no,” Trump said in response to a question about whether Russia is still targeting the United States. Last week, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats …

Roll Call reports: For the second consecutive day since he broke with America’s spy agencies over Russia’s election meddling, President Donald Trump on Wednesday will not get an intelligence briefing. The daily presidential guidance email sent out each evening by the White House initially featured only one item, an 11:30 a.m. Cabinet meeting. Trump’s public schedule typically begins with a …

The Hill reports: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said Wednesday that he “doesn’t care” if President Trump misspeaks — including about Russia. “He’s doing things that are a direct affront to Russia. I don’t care if he misspeaks or if he says the wrong thing,” Hunter said on “Fox & Friends.” “He has a different technique, that’s why I voted for …

Axios reports: Yes, almost every elected Republican we talk to privately thinks President Trump’s warm embrace of Vladimir Putin was unexplainable, unacceptable and un-American. Yes, they wish they could say this publicly. No, they won’t — not now, and probably never. The cold, hard reason: They see no upside in speaking out — and fear political suicide if they do, …

The Metro reports: Donald Trump has accused critics who condemned his disastrous meeting with Vladimir Putin of having ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ The president went on the defensive less than 24 hours after he was forced into the most humiliating climbdown since he took office over the Putin summit. Trump claimed he had accidentally misspoken when saying he believed Putin’s denial …

Raw Story reports: “Katy, you asked if [Trump] had consumed the media coverage,” NBC News Pentagon correspondent Hans Nichols said. “He did not make his way to the West Wing until well after noon today, that gave him plenty of time to digest the media and perhaps watch a little cable TV. “And what’s interesting is that he had an …

According to the White House, Glorious Leader will deliver comments about the Helsinki summit at 2PM. If his earlier “fake news” screech is any indication, there will be no backtracking or apology. Instead, expect to hear about Hillary Clinton, witch hunts, 13 angry Democrats, missing servers, and how everybody in the world who doesn’t love him is a total loser. …

CNN reports: House Speaker Paul Ryan, answering questions at the House GOP’s weekly press conference, said that while he did not believe President Trump’s actions alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin arose to treason as alleged by former CIA chief John Brennan (“I do not,” he said), said he clearly believes “Russia did meddle with our elections.” “Russia is trying to …

Over the last 24 hours we’ve seen nearly universal condemnation of Trump’s public surrender to Vladimir Putin, even from major conservative outlets, even from state television hosts, even from reliable Trump ballwashers such as Newt Gingrich. But somehow all those verbatim quotes and horrified cable news appearances are fake news, according to our demented Glorious Leader. And, no doubt, to …

“Well, I guess that settles it. There you go. If you’re wondering whether or not Vladimir Putin has an incriminating video of Donald Trump, we now know beyond a treasonable doubt he does. This wasn’t a good day for Donald Trump. We haven’t seen an American so owned by a Russian since Rocky IV. Putin’s just having fun with this …

From the New York Daily News editorial board: Before the entire world Monday, the self-styled tough-guy, America-First President revealed himself to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s poodle. Putin flatly denied what every U.S. intelligence agency has concluded, what new indictments by Special Counsel Robert Mueller now underline: That agents of the GRU, the intelligence agency Putin used to work for …

Mediaite reports: Showtime issued a statement on Monday denying that comedian Sacha Baron Cohen pretended to be a disabled veteran to dupe Sarah Palin, despite her claims. Palin revealed last week she was one of Cohen’s victims, and claimed he impersonated a disabled veteran to dupe her — causing some outrage over the stunt. “There has been widespread misinformation over …