Happy Preekend everybody!

I've been off the computer until now, resting my eyes. I did most of today's posts during Trump's somewhat long speech.

I noticed in his speech, he gets annoyed having to read other people's written lines, so after every line he reads from the teleprompter, he then offers asides and digressions to add his personal flava to it.

Like he read: "From Yorktown, to Antietam, to Midway, brave Americans have joined the roll call of immortal heroes."

And that's obviously not Trump's way of speaking.

Then he turns to the audience and freestyles it: "These heroes, these heroes. So many heroes, so many. We need to cherish them. We need to cherish these heroes. Did you ever notice that? No one says 'cherish these heroes' any longer, no one says that. We need to build statues. Beautiful statues. I love the flag."

Then he goes back to the script for a line.

That's why it was so long -- the script itself was about 45 minutes long, and then his asides were just as long.

Anyway, good speech at the beginning and at the end, a bit soggy in the middle.

ABC's hysterical hyperpartisan Martha Raddatz claimed Trump should have ended his speech after the beginning, when he talked about the assassination. She said he then spoke about nothing but his "grievances."

By "grievances," she means his criticisms of the Democrat Administration. Martha Raddatz thinks that any criticism of Democrats is definitionally just a petty "grievance."

Which is funny, because all Democrat "politics" are are a series of grievances. The feminists are angry that Girlboss isn't a real position in the workforce, and that men continue not automatically deferring to them when they speak "their truth." Leftwing racialists complain that they have "generational trauma" and still feel the oppression their grandparents suffered, somehow. Gays and trans people complain that they haven't been properly embraced and affirmed yet.

But when Trump talks about 13 Americans being killed by Biden's disastrous bug-out, or about inflation reducing everyone's real wealth by 20%, that's just "grievance" politics, according to this wrinkled-ass Skeletor-face twunt.

On to the latest "hmmmm" tidbit about the corrupt and incompetent (and possibly treasonous?) Deep State.

The Deep State will be purged, and it will be glorious.

And after they are purged, they will of course become agents of foreign governments and not bother registering as such, and then we can imprison them.

Amen.

Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg

BREAKING: Senator Josh Hawley says whistleblowers have come forward, alleges the Biden DHS assigned "unprepared and inexperienced personnel" to Trump who weren't even Secret Service.

"Whistleblowers who have direct knowledge of the event have approached my office. According to the allegations, the July 13 rally was considered to be a loose' security event," Hawley said in a letter to Mayorkas.

"For example, detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner. Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas."

"Department personnel did not appropriately police the security buffer around the podium and were also not stationed at regular intervals around the event's security perimeter."

"In addition, whistleblower allegations suggest the majority of DHS officials were not in fact USSS agents but instead drawn from the department's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)."

"This is especially concerning given that HSI agents were unfamiliar with standard protocols typically used at these types of events, according to the allegations."

We. Need. The Purge.

More: It appears more and more likely that the claims Biden was planning to withdraw on Sunday were an entirely fabricated by the Deep State Coup faction that manufactured hoax after hoax to drive Trump out of office.

We need a reckoning.

Aside: Have no noticed no one has a reckoning any longer? Reckonings can be beautiful, so so beautiful. One day America was a land of dreams and reckonings. Beautiful children would ask their grandmas, "Gam-gam, may we have a reckoning today?" Make America Reckon Again. Everyone should drive a truck.

Back to the script:

Jonathan Martin
@jmart

New Biden statement suggests: he stickin'

"I look forward to getting back on the campaign trail next week to continue exposing the threat of Donald Trump's Project 2025 agenda while making the case for my own record and the vision that I have for America: one where we save our democracy, protect our rights and freedoms, and create opportunity for everyone.

"The stakes are high, and the choice is clear. Together, we will win."

Senator Chris Coons is back on Team Ridin' with Biden.

Chris Coons
@ChrisCoonsforDE

I fully support the President. He's told me he's in it to win it. I'm with him 100% because I know he can beat Trump just like he did last time.

And the new CBS "News" poll puts Trump up by 5.

When former President Donald Trump accepts the Republican nomination Thursday night, he'll do so with his largest national lead over President Biden in the campaign thus far.

A slight majority, including some who aren't voting for him, say Trump's words in the days since the assassination attempt have been more unifying than divisive. Voters feel the same way about Mr. Biden's response to the tragic events, too.

54% say he's been more unifying, 46% say more divisive. We know who that 46% are -- the deadenders, the BlueAnon Ear Truthers.

That's not a "slight" majority, CBS "News."

But it is Trump with the growing advantage in the vote. Trump is up five points nationally now, and three across the key battleground states. To put that national lead in context: it's been 20 years since a Republican presidential candidate has won the national popular vote, and over 30 years since a Republican won by more than five.

The race across the battlegrounds moved one point more toward Trump today since we surveyed the battlegrounds last week.

Does anyone smell eighty-five million votes? For real this time?

He leads Biden 52-47 nationally, and 51-48 in the battleground states.

Which doesn't sound right -- usually the Republican leads more in the battleground states than nationally.

For voters, Trump's perceived handling of the assassination attempt is a net-positive reason to consider voting for him, but that effect is limited overall; for two-thirds, it has not changed their consideration calculus either way.

Of the candidates atop the party tickets, Trump is the one more voters feel fights "a lot" for people like them.

37% say Trump fights for people like them, only 28% say that of Biden.

Amid the nomination debate on the Democratic side, Trump also leads Vice President Kamala Harris in a hypothetical matchup. There are at best marginal differences in how she and Mr. Biden currently run among demographic groups, such as younger voters and voters of color.

He leads her nationally 51-48.

..

There is a bipartisan view -- though particularly among Republicans -- that the U.S. Secret Service could have done more to prevent the shooting on Saturday.

No duh. A "slight majority" of 75% think they could have done more, while 25% think they did a good job because the entire "assassination" was staged.

Although I agree that polls are trash in one way -- they have systematically underestimated Republican support, and especially Trump support -- that doesn't mean they're worthless. We can guess that most polls will understate Republican support by 3-5 points, and Trump support by 6-7 points.

So if a poll has Trump up five -- well, you do the math.

Aside: Math is beautiful, beautiful numbers. I remember watching Sesame Street when I was younger, where I learned to be kind to people and that monsters are our friends. Do you ever notice, we're not making monsters anymore in America? All the monster production is in Chy-na. Chy-na's opening huge monster making factories in Mexico. We've got to bring those good-paying monster-making jobs back to America. Make American Monsters Again. Hulk Hogan is a golden-haired angel coated in saintly engine oil.