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Trump: The Art of Laziness

Incirlik Air Base in Turkey houses NATO's largest storage of nuclear weapons.

According to Hans M. Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, underground vaults at Incirlik hold about fifty B-61 hydrogen bombs—more than twenty-five per cent of the nuclear weapons in the nato stockpile. The nuclear yield of the B-61 can be adjusted to suit a particular mission. The bomb that destroyed Hiroshima had an explosive force equivalent to about fifteen kilotons of TNT. In comparison, the “dial-a-yield” of the B-61 bombs at Incirlik can be adjusted from 0.3 kilotons to as many as a hundred and seventy kilotons.

In the face of current world problems, the prospect of a Trump presidency becomes almost a nightmare scenario. The New York Times has published the transcript of its interview with Trump on Turkey and NATO. Matt Yglesias at Vox explains why he's so dangerous, starting with his laziness. [More...]

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The Unwatchable RNC

I made it through the last 10 minutes of Eric Trump's speech. I actually thought he did a credible job (I only cringed once, when he followed up a reference to undocumented residents as being illegal.) While waiting for the next speaker, I learned from the CBS crew that Ted Cruz didn't endorse Trump when he spoke and got booed, and that the convention's video monitor system failed so there is no watching the speakers on a big screen if you are in the convention hall tonight.

Earlier I read the Trump campaign released a statement from a campaign worker who admitted being responsible for Melania's copycat speech. She said she offered to resign but Trump said no -- people make mistakes.

Apparently, Marco Rubio addressed the convention by video and didn't endorse Trump. [More..]

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Tuesday Night Open Thread: RNC Alternative TV Watching

Donald Trump is the official nominee of the Republican Party.

More interesting: Last's night 3 hour finale for Senor de Los Cielos. Here is the last hour of the finale with the wedding and huge shootout (instigated by the Mexican marines and police):

Or, you can watch a preview of Michelle Obama who will appear tomorrow night on the Late Late Show with James Corden doing carpool karaoke.

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Trump: Carnival Barkers But no Champions

Queen is complaining that he continues to use "We are the Champions" after being asked not to.

Even musicians supporting Republicans are missing from the appearance list at the convention.

Maybe Republicans don't think they need music when they have Rudy Giuliani to scream like a hyena who didn't get his morning meds.

The New York Times in an editorial trashes Donald Trump and Republicans on the issues.

And Donald Trump's ghostwriter for "The Art of the Deal" tells the New York he's sorry now he put lipstick on the pig to make Trump look good in the book.

“I put lipstick on a pig,” he said. “I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.” He went on, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.”

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Melania Trump Channels Michelle Obama

The speeches speak for themselves:

Melania told Matt Lauer she wrote the speech herself, with as little help as possible.

Republicans say it was no big deal. Really? It was when Joe Biden did it: [More...]

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The Alternate Universe Launches in Prime Time

The Republican convention is here. It's like watching an alternate universe. Who are these people and where did they come from? Who do they think they represent? Certainly not Americans or American values.

Melania Trump makes her debut tonight. The whole thing should be called the Trump family hour. It feels like an episode of the Apprentice except for the annoying pundits and news anchors with nothing to say. Tomorrow night, Trump's daughter with 2nd wife Marla Maples gets to speak. Who could possibly care what she has to say? And of course, we'll hear from Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. Why not let the nannies who raised them speak too? How about George from the Appentice? Maybe Ivana Trump has something to say. [More...]

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Trump Picks Michael Pence as Running Mate

The Republican ticket will be Donald Trump and Indiana Governor Michael Pence.

Although I know next to nothing about Pence, I feel like we dodged a bullet by Trump's bypassing Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie. [More....]

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Trump Postpones VP Announcement

Donald Trump has postponed the announcement of his Vice Presidential running mate. He attributed the postponement to the attacks in Nice. I don't buy it.

The clock is ticking for Mr. Thump. The Republican convention begins Monday in Cleveland. Is anyone else a little unsettled about reports that the finalists are being chosen by Trump's children? What do they know about running a country? I'd feel better if he picked George -- the older guy who advises him on the apprentice. He seems smart and even tempered.

Newt did a have a funny line though: In an interview yesterday, he said he told Thump the choice was between having "two pirates on the ticket or a pirate and a relatively stable, more normal person." Which did Newt think he was?

Trump also told Fox News he would ask Congress for a Declaration of War against ISIS.

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Bernie: What Took You So Long?

The Washington Post lists four reasons Bernie Sanders waited so long to endorse Hillary.

I don't know how others feel, but for me, his refusal to endorse Hillary and get out of the race when she became the presumptive nominee will always leave me with a negative feeling about him.

I think he let his ego get the best of him and he wanted to secure his seat in the front row of history. In other words, it was all about Bernie.

As we get closer to November, I hope he becomes more of a footnote than a lead player.

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NYTimes Suggests Trump May Walk Away If He Wins

The New York Times has the most bizarre Trump speculation I've read to date. He may not want to be President, he may just want to win. And if he does, he may just decline to take the office, and go back to running his businesses, happy with all the media coverage he got, which he thinks would be good for business.

As I was reading it, the soundtrack to Walk Away Renee kept running through my head. [More...]

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Bernie Sanders to Endorse Hillary on Tuesday

Well Hell's bells, or in Steven Tyler's words (on another topic), “Sh*t fire and save matches, f*ck a duck and see what hatches.” Bernie Sanders is going to endorse Hillary on Tuesday.

Nap time. No profanity in comments please. Asterisks are okay.

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Donald Audtions Veep Choices: Just Say No to Newt

Bob Corker has withdrawn his name from consideration as Donald Trump's running mate. Newt Gingrich is up next, appearing with Thump in Ohio today.

Newt: The man who wanted to put a contract on America as speaker of the House in 1995:

The Republican version of a crime bill in 1995 was even worse. It was called the "Take Back Our Streets Act" which was part of Newt Gingrich's Contract on America (he called it "Contract With America.")

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