Democrats spent the last day sitting around to little effect — pretty much a standard day for most of the country. After assaulting a woman and being fired for gross incompetence and unprofessional behavior, Corey Lewandowski landed a TV commentating job — a career path typically reserved for professional athletes. And a tied Supreme Court was unable to set precedent on President Obama’s immigration order while Merrick Garland, one assumes, was off somewhere trying to balance a broom on his palm. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Thursday, June 23rd, 2016:
DEM SIT-IN ENDS, LITTLE CHANGED - Don't worry, there will be ample opportunity to be dragged out of the chamber by Capitol Police during budget negotiations this fall. Sam Stein and Jen Bendery: "Nearly 26 hours after Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) strolled across the House floor and sat down to protest the absence of gun reform from the legislative docket, he and his fellow Democrats called an end to the demonstration...Ultimately, Lewis didn’t get a vote. And even if he had, it wasn’t likely that the bill would have passed. But the sit-in did galvanize the party and the public, with throngs of people flocking to the Capitol grounds Wednesday night to cheer on the congressional disruption." [HuffPost]
RYAN NOT PLEASED - His attempts to conduct business last night were just like his 8th grade "Atlas Shrugged" book presentation all over again. Matt Fuller: "House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) laid into Democrats on Thursday for causing “chaos” in the House, dismissing their sit-in over gun legislation as nothing more than a publicity stunt and fundraising effort. 'Why do I call this a stunt?' Ryan asked Thursday. 'Well, because it is one.' Democrats know that the legislation to prevent people on a terrorist watch list from buying a gun isn’t going anywhere, the Wisconsin Republican said, particularly after it failed in the Senate. He also noted that the proposal failed yesterday in a House Appropriations Committee markup. 'If this is not a political stunt, then why are they trying to raise money off of this, off of a tragedy?' Ryan said, holding up printed-out emails from Democrats soliciting donations." [HuffPost]
Ahhhh gas price squabbling, those were the days: "Several news articles have pointed out that Republicans staged their own sit-in in 2008. But there's a key difference between the 2016 sit-in and the 2008 edition: Republicans were demanding a vote on offshore oil drilling. Democrats are protesting what they see as a lack of action in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shootings, which left 49 people dead. The 2008 sit-in came as gas prices hit historic highs and a long-standing congressional moratorium on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf was about to expire. Republicans were turning up the pressure to open up new areas to drilling. Former Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) declaring he was “not leaving until we call this Congress back into session and vote for energy independence.” Others compared the sit-in to the Boston Tea Party. They concluded their protest by singing 'God Bless America.'" [HuffPost's Kate Sheppard]
Everyone's having a lot of fun hating this awful Scott Adams blog post about how V-neck sweaters humiliate American men. Also, everyone hates this New York Times wedding announcement.
DELANEY DOWNER - Matthew Nussbuam reports that while Democrats staged a sit-in designed to echo the Civil Rights era, Republicans were doing a solid for the confederate flag: "A measure to bar confederate flags from cemeteries run by the Department of Veterans Affairs was removed from legislation passed by the House early Thursday. The flag ban was added to the VA funding bill in May by a vote of 265-159, with most Republicans voting against the ban. But Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) both supported the measure. Ryan was commended for allowing a vote on the controversial measure, but has since limited what amendments can be offered on the floor." [Politico]
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SENATE GUN BILL SURVIVES TEST VOTE - Niels Lesniewski and Bridget Bowman: "A compromise gun proposal that has received bipartisan support survived a key test on the Senate floor Thursday, despite a competing amendment advanced by more conservative lawmakers that threatened to siphoned off needed votes. The bipartisan measure backed by Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, received support from 52 senators, enough to keep it from being tabled indefinitely but not enough to secure its eventual passage...Before Thursday's Senate vote, Majority Whip John Cornyn and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., proposed a more limited measure, putting the burden on the government to stop a gun sale, rather than requiring the potential buyer to appeal a denied sale. Only 31 senators supported advancing the alternative measure." [Roll Call]
SPLIT SUPREME COURT LEAVES IMMIGRATION RULING IN LIMBO - This will all be resolved in a year or two when Trump's solicitor general's case is just, "Sotomayor, what kind of a name is that?" Cristian Farias: "The Supreme Court couldn’t reach a majority for or against President Barack Obama’s plan to defer deportation for millions Thursday, effectively leaving his executive actions on hold and undocumented immigrants in limbo. In a one-sentence ruling, the justices simply said, 'he judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court.' But they didn’t indicate how they voted — a sign that the court was sharply at odds along ideological lines. The split decision means a lower court ruling that effectively blocked the program will stand, and no national precedent will be set as to whether the president acted within the law when he announced it in November 2014. Obama expressed disappointment at the Supreme Court’s “inability to reach a decision” and stressed that its failure to decide was also partly to blame on Senate Republicans’ unwillingness to consider the person he chose to fill the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia." [HuffPost]
Well, it got something done: " In a victory for diversity in higher education, a hamstrung Supreme Court narrowly upheld the affirmative action program at the University of Texas at Austin, effectively allowing the school to keep using race as one of many factors in its admissions process. Justice Anthony Kennedy — joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor — ruled for a 4-3 majority that the university program does not violate the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the laws." [HuffPost's Farias]
NEOCONS? MORE LIKE NEOCAN'TS - Jessica Schulberg: "[S]everal ... conservative-leaning national security experts interviewed by The Huffington Post agree that there’s plenty to criticize about the presumptive Republican nominee, who describes plans to cut off U.S. allies, cozy up to Russia, launch a trade war against China, reinstate torture as an interrogation method, target terrorists’ families in airstrikes, build an expensive wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and ban all Muslims from entering the country. But though they don’t expect Trump to seek their guidance, many won’t rule out working for him in the future. Working in a Trump National Security Council, Pentagon or State Department, they say, would be more about fulfilling a civic duty to their country in a time of desperate need than landing a career-enhancing opportunity." [HuffPost]
EVERYTHING IS BETTER WHEN PEOPLE KNOW WHO YOU ARE - Seriously, just go streaking at the next major sports event you attend. Hadas Gold: "Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is joining CNN as a political commentator, according to a source familiar with the arrangement. It's a salaried position and will make Lewandowski exclusive to CNN, effective immediately Trump fired Lewandowski on Monday, ending the tenure of the fiery operative who faced a steady string of controversies while guiding Trump's skeleton campaign operation to a shocking victory in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. That same afternoon, his first in-studio interview was with CNN's Dana Bash (an NBC News reporter caught up with him outside of Lewandowski's apartment as he headed down to the studio). Following his interview with Bash on Monday, Lewandowski went straight from the set and into a meeting with CNN executives, according to a source who witnessed Lewandowski enter the meeting." [Politico]
Lewandowski probably has signed a non-disparagement agreement with Trump, which is essential for good journalism. Congrats, CNN!
@kenvogel: CNN now paying 2 Trump-backing contributors who know almost nothing about the campaign & 1 who knows everything but can't talk about it.
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a bear walking on its hind legs.
TRUMP CAMPAIGNING IN CRUCIAL SWING STATE OF SCOTLAND - Jenna Johnson and Tom Hamburger report from there: "On Friday, police and antiterrorism agents plan to surround this resort on Scotland’s rugged west coast, where Trump plans to arrive by helicopter with his family and U.S. Secret Service agents, take questions from reporters and cut a ribbon. He will then travel to another golf course he owns along Scotland’s east coast, taking the media and security entourage with him. The country’s top leaders, embroiled in Thursday’s historic Brexit vote, have declined to attend either event. Trump also has not scheduled any private meetings with government officials or any discussion of foreign policy, the activities usually associated with a presidential candidate trip overseas. Instead, Trump will promote Trump. The two-day trip to two courses in the United Kingdom — both of which are losing money — provides yet another example of Trump using his political position to promote his personal brand." [WaPo]
COMFORT FOOD
- A look at pre-history.
- Meet Boston Dynamic's new robot dogs.
- A great tronc send-up.
TWITTERAMA
@emmaroller: the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing us the Dilbert creator is an astute political observer
@MEPFuller: In fairness, I blast my AC at home so that members of Congress won't hold demonstrations in my living room.
It's incredibly effective.
@timothypmruphy: A Brexit vote would be historic because England usually exits Europe on penalty kicks.
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