The government will try to counter ISIS’ online recruiting, presumably by beefing up its tweets about pea-based guacamole. Joe Sestak trampled several children -- it was the most politically astute thing he’s ever done. And a number of journalists covering Hillary Clinton’s presidential run reported being trapped in the campaign’s rope cage. It was reminiscent of Edward R. Murrow’s World War II dispatches, only braver. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, July 6th, 2015:
OBAMA TALKS TO PRESS AFTER ISIS BRIEFING - We must win their hearts and minds. Barring that, we will bomb their hearts and minds. Jon Schuppe: "America's battle against ISIS, dominated thus far by airstrikes and training opposition forces, must also include a battle against the group's 'twisted thinking,' President Obama said Monday. 'This is not simply a military effort,' Obama said in remarks after getting briefed on the anti-ISIS effort at the Pentagon. 'Ideologies are not defeated by guns. They're defeated with better ideas.' To that end, Obama said the United States was stepping up efforts to counteract ISIS' online recruitment operations, and encourage other countries with large Muslim populations to increase economic opportunities for young people who are exploited by the terror group into joining their violent, radical campaign...The president delivered his remarks after he and his national security advisers received updates about the United States' work to oppose ISIS' growing influence in Iraq, Syria and around the world." [NBC News]
Shaggy must be sent to the Middle East: "[There are] two thing you want to do when you listen to reggae: You get somebody pregnant, or you’re fucking high. High people don’t want to kill nothing; they want to love. They need to bag some Jamaican weed and distribute it amongst ISIS. I guarantee there won’t be any more wars out there." [Miami Times]
SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE GETS IT RIGHT, 150 YEARS LATER - Now if they can just get around to caulking some of the walls in Fort Sumter… Reuters: "South Carolina lawmakers took a major step on Monday toward passing legislation to remove the Confederate battle flag that flies at the state capitol in Columbia and has long been denounced by critics as a symbol of slavery. The bill passed a crucial second reading by a 37-3 vote in the state Senate where it faces one more vote on Tuesday before the bill is taken up by the lower House of Representatives." [Reuters]
RICK PERRY NO LONGER WEARS THAT BROWN JACKET - Sam Stein: "On Sunday, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry waived the white flag on allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, telling ABC’s 'This Week' that 'the horse is out of the barn' on that particular policy. Considering the time that’s lapsed since the end of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' -- and the absence of the moral decay critics predicted would take place -- he’s right. No lawmaker of actual consequence is advocating for the reinstitution of the policy. But Perry’s statement is more than just an acknowledgement of reality. It’s a quiet moderation on his part and, more broadly, an illustration of how social progress can be measured not just by the growing number of people advocating the cause but by the softening tone of its opposition." [HuffPost]
The Washington Department of Football is historically awful, according to an audit by Thomas Boswell.
YOU DON'T SAY, RAND PAUL? - "But if we tax you at 100% then you’ve got zero percent liberty. If we tax you at 50% you are half slave, half free." Hmmm. BuzzFeed's Andrew Kaczynski]
American politicians used to have some pretty sweet names
Haircuts: Travis Waldron (h/t Elise Foley), Igor Bobic (h/t Igor Bobic), Meghan Apfelbaum (h/t Meghan Apfelbaum)
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Federal law still bans felons from getting food stamps, but it lets states go the other way, and Texas has decided to go! "Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 200 -- a sunset law partially consolidating the state’s health and human services system -- which included an amendment making people with felony drug convictions eligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Previously, a drug conviction meant a lifetime ban from food stamps." I am actually not down about this development, I am down with it. [The Texas Tribune's Liz Crampton]
Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to huffposthill@huffingtonpost.com. Follow us on Twitter - @HuffPostHill
CONGRESS STILL SUCKS: REPORT - Free idea: replace all of the Senate's desks with cots. Erica Werner: "Members of Congress return from July Fourth fireworks and parades Tuesday facing a daunting summer workload and an impending deadline to fund the government or risk a shutdown in the fall. The funding fight is shaping up as a major partisan brawl against the backdrop of an intensifying campaign season, with Republicans eager to avoid another Capitol Hill mess as they struggle to hang onto control of Congress and take back the White House next year...The funding deadline does not even arrive until Sept. 30, but lawmakers face more immediate tests, too. Near the top of the list is renewing highway funding before the government loses authority July 31 to send much-needed transportation money to the states right in the middle of summer driving season…the prospects for any major legislative accomplishments arriving on Obama's desk in the remainder of the year look slim, though there's talk of the Senate following the House and moving forward on cybersecurity legislation. That means that even though Obama was so buoyed when Congress sent him a major trade bill last month that he declared 'This is so much fun, we should do it again,' he may not get his wish." [AP]
IRS GIVES UP - Not with you, though. Those dreams of a marble waterfall for your kitchen will have to wait. Eric Lichtblau: "As presidential candidates find new ways to exploit secret donations from tax-exempt groups, hobbled regulators at the Internal Revenue Service appear certain to delay trying to curb widespread abuses at nonprofits until after the 2016 election. In a shift from past elections, at least eight Republican presidential candidates, including leading contenders like Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, have aligned with nonprofit groups set up to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s supporters are considering a similar tactic. Some of these so-called social welfare nonprofit groups are already planning political initiatives, including a $1 million advertising campaign about Iran by a tax-exempt group supporting Mr. Rubio. The groups are able to carry out many of the same political activities as candidates and their affiliated “super PACs” but do not have to disclose where they get their money, allowing total anonymity for donors." [NYT]
This video is exactly why Hill interns should be sent to the mines.
YOU DON'T SAY: BENGHAZI COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS UNHAPPY - We wonder if Elijah Cummings and Darrell Issa argue with each other in the Capitol's hallways now and then, just for old time's sake. Martin Matishak: "The top Democrat on the House panel on Benghazi says someone connected to the panel leaked false information to the media to attack Hillary Clinton. 'Documents released recently by the Benghazi Select Committee demonstrate that a Member of the Committee, a staffer on the Committee, or someone who has been given access to the Committee’s documents inaccurately described to the press email exchanges obtained by the Committee in a way that appeared to further a political attack against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,' Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Monday in a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) Cummings specifically cited a June 18 Politico article where an anonymous source claimed to have read email exchanges among Clinton, her confidant Sidney Blumenthal, Media Matters and the White House about how to tamp down criticism of Clinton’s handling of the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. Cummings noted that the emails, since released to the public, show there was no concerted effort to downplay the tragedy and that several of the descriptions provided by the source were inaccurate." [The Hill]
HILLARY TO GRANT INTERVIEWS TO NATIONAL PRESS - But can she have a family, a career and field questions from Kelly O'Donnell about her paid speeches and have it all? Michael Calderone: "Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri told Fox News on Sunday night that Clinton...will begin interviews in the coming week. Word of a potential thaw in the strained relations between Clinton and the press came just a day after things seemed to reach a new low. On Saturday, journalists covering Clinton at a New Hampshire parade were corralled with rope. On Twitter, humiliating photos showed the campaign’s strong-arm tactics with the media -- on Independence Day, no less. There have been tensions for months between the campaign and reporters, who have leveled complaints about lack of access to Clinton on the trail. Last month, the campaign caused a minor uproar when it barred a designated pool reporter from an event in New Hampshire -- a move that the Clinton traveling press pool, which consists of reporters from 14 major news organizations, later called "unacceptable." The move was never fully explained." [HuffPost]
GOP CANDIDATE TRIES TO DISTINGUISH SELF WITH OUTLANDISH CLAIM - Failing that, candidate will tout his or her pro-business agenda and record of job creation. Dhyana Taylor: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) went after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) Monday, accusing him of making the country 'weaker' on national security. 'In town hall meetings, people are really worried about ISIS, they're really worried about the threat of terrorism,' said Christie during an appearance on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' 'And that’s why what Rand Paul has done to make this country weaker and more vulnerable is a terrible thing. And for him to raise money off of it, is disgraceful.' He added that if the country is ever attacked, Paul should be hauled in front of Congress and made to testify." [HuffPost]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a dog battling air conditioning.
BREITBART BOLSTERING EDITOR'S POLITICAL AMBITIONS - We can't even tell you how many hours of our lives we wasted on Arianna's ANC campaign. Theodoric Meyer: "A Breitbart News headline last month blared: 'Revealed: Darin LaHood’s Crony Capitalist Deals Funnel Millions of Taxpayer Dollars to Campaign Donors.”' Days later, a second headline on the conservative website shouted: 'Illinois Special Election Heats Up as Mike Flynn Challenges LaHood’s Economic Ties.' A third Breitbart story reported that the 'typical Illinois GOP insider dirty trick squad” was mounting “a whisper campaign to damage Flynn’s candidacy.' But what hasn’t always been mentioned in the more than 20 articles Breitbart has run on the race to replace disgraced former Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) is that Flynn is a founding editor of Breitbart who’s now on leave after moving back to Quincy, Ill., to run for Congress." [Politico]
COMFORT FOOD
- Analyzing the Rock's inspirational message to the U.S. Women's World Cup team.
- Misconceptions about the United States.
- An artist who uses coffee stains as his canvas.
TWITTERAMA
@drewmagary: I don't mean to brag but an AMERICAN team has also won the Super Bowl for 49 straight years. WE ARE TITLECOUNTRY.
@NickRiccardi: Returning from vacation is such sweet sorrow.
@AlexCKaufman: What Time Is Greece?
Got something to add? Send tips/quotes/stories/photos/events/fundraisers/job movement/juicy miscellanea to Eliot Nelson (eliot@huffingtonpost.com) or Arthur Delaney (arthur@huffingtonpost.com). Follow us on Twitter @HuffPostHill (twitter.com/HuffPostHill). Sign up here: http://huff.to/an2k2e