Ooh, but now it's so much better, it's so much better, I'm tabbing out in every way ...
Who instructed this NSA employee to obfuscate CCP election interference and hide it from the President of the United States? pic.twitter.com/TETsSaTRAv
— Ezra A. Cohen (@EzraACohen) July 17, 2026
Ed: Whether or not you believe that the interference from China amounted to enough to change the election results – a position Trump avoided explicitly taking last night, it should be noted – this 'obfuscation' of intel from the elected president at the time is a huge problem in itself. Changes need to be made and more attention given to the politicization within the intel communities. Again.
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John Hinderaker at Power Line: I have started looking at the newly-declassified documents, which don’t appear to be voluminous. They are interesting, to say the least, but I haven’t yet seen any evidence of more voter fraud than we already knew about.
The main point, in my opinion, is that Trump is basically right: our election systems are insecure and need to be upgraded. This shouldn’t even be controversial, and it wouldn’t be if election fraud were not a significant element of Democratic Party strategy. Industrial-scale hacking of our elections may not have happened yet, but does that mean we shouldn’t guard against it? Of course not.
Ed: On this point, Trump was more careful than many predicted. He mainly stayed focused on the "vulnerabilities" going forward rather than making explicit claims of large-scale penetration and changing of votes. The media had prepped its audiences for a return of the "Kraken on steroids" case that fell apart under any kind of close scrutiny nearly six years ago. Trump didn't spend his speech demanding a reversal of the 2020 results, but instead making the case for election-security reforms now for future electoral cycles.
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Sounds like an antitrust violation. https://t.co/6AZSFQU7VN
— @instapundit (@instapundit) July 17, 2026
Ed: If these networks colluded to deny Trump coverage, then that may be enough to trigger both an anti-trust investigation and a review of broadcast licenses. If it turns out to be a coincidence (ie, no discussion between competitors to take a joint market action), then it's not a legal or licensing issue. Hopefully, these networks will suffer a market correction regardless of the circumstances. CNN's call here is more egregious than the alphabet broadcasters; they do nothing but cover news, and all they had on at the time were opinion shows. A presidential speech is news, and CNN treated it as such before and after the speech as well as during it on their social media accounts.
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Time Magazine: But here’s the thing about Trump’s message Thursday night: it might be factually specious but it’s politically resonant. In an Economist/YouGov poll last month, half of Republicans think the 2020 presidential race was “rigged.” Among Republicans who identify with the Trump-led MAGA movement, that rises to two-thirds.
Presented with this new argument and buttressed by hand-picked evidence, that base is only going to further distrust the entire democratic process. Presented as chicanery, it’s tough to convince would-be voters that waiting in line to cast ballots is anything but a sucker’s game. Eroding confidence in the system may work for blaring claims that the Democrats (maybe) stole majorities in the House and Senate, but it’s bad for democracy and, perhaps more germane to Trump’s last two years in office, GOP turnout.
If Trump is going to avoid endless oversight hearings and maybe even a third impeachment, he needs some Republican cover. It’s mighty tough to do that if the Republicans only have a minority of either chamber. Trump may have felt good about his performance Thursday night, but he may end up regretting it the morning after Election Day if his base sits-out the balloting because Trump convinced them that voting is rigged and a waste of time.
Ed: Most of this analysis by Time is not worth the 'time,' so to speak, but this point is worth considering. We saw that happen in Georgia's runoff after the 2020 general election, when Trump's insistence that the election had been corrupted resulted in a lack of GOP voter enthusiasm. We still have Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the Senate thanks to that impact.
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MAJOR BREAKING
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 16, 2026
William Upham has been arrested in Florida and charged for threats against the President after he said Trump must be kiIIed
FAFO time https://t.co/O1LpSQCXTj pic.twitter.com/ei8HFaEbfO
Ed: The USMC clarified that Upham had been discharged from the Marine Corps for medical reasons over a year ago. That means Upham will get tried in federal court rather than get court-martialed for this offense, and Upham should probably be glad of it. The DoJ is not fooling around with these threats, not after three assassination attempts on Trump and the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It's FAFO time indeed.
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The Spectator: The aim of Chinese disinformation operations that have been exposed was not so much to promote Biden or Trump, as to undermine the broader credibility of American democracy and inflame divisions in American society. A campaign called Dragonbridge, first identified by cyber security investigators in 2019, was described as the world’s largest online disinformation operation. It employed a vast network of hundreds of thousands of fake social media accounts spanning Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. It initially concentrated on deflecting blame for Covid-19 – including false claims that the true origin of the virus was a US Army research facility.
The pandemic was a turning point. Until then, Chinese propaganda had been largely defensive – and quite clunky. It concentrated on issues where China perceived its interests were under threat, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang. For example, it countered well-documented evidence of repression in Xinjiang with videos of happy, dancing Uyghurs praising the benevolence of the Chinese Communist party.
From around 2020 onwards, Chinese bots began to insert themselves more aggressively into the most divisive issues in US society. By 2021, investigators were describing how Dragonbridge’s army of fake accounts – now encompassing 30 social media platforms and 40 other websites and forums – were urging Asian Americans to “fight back” against racial injustice.
The aim of Soviet (and then Russian) “active measures” was to sow discord and dissatisfaction. There is much debate about the effectiveness of these measures, but China has embraced them with relish.
Ed: It's a fair point, and as Ian Williams points out, a parallel to Russia's Merry Pranksterism in 2016 (and pretty much every electoral cycle). The Internet makes it a lot easier to carry out these operations to undermine confidence in elections, but that actually strengthens Trump's point. We need to bolster election security not just to prevent penetrations but also to bolster confidence in the efficacy and accuracy of the election process.
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John Fetterman: "I'm always going to vote for whatever Israel needs, whether it's military, financial, or intelligence."
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) July 17, 2026
"It's a miracle and a paragon of democracy, and it embodies the kind of values we live by here in our nation." https://t.co/M0NRyEsP6k pic.twitter.com/0revtHSr2B
Ed: Can Fetterman make this any clearer? Actually ...
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Axios: Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said he'd leave the Democratic Party if it becomes the "anti-Israel party," though he signaled he had no plans to imminently depart the caucus.
Why it matters: Republicans currently hold a narrow Senate majority, but with midterm elections looming, Fetterman's comments could be a blow to Democrats should they flip four seats in November and regain control.
Fetterman acknowledged the Democrats' difficult Senate math when speaking Wednesday at The Hill Nation Summit: "And if we flip those four seats, then I would be 51, and ... watch what I do."
He continued, "I'm the guy that would be there that 51 as the committed Democrat."
Ed: NBC News picked this up as well, but they didn't catch the escalation Fetterman offered here. He warned Democrats that he would leave the party and caucus with the GOP if they keep pushing an anti-Israel agenda, even if that means handing control of the Senate to John Thune. It's a long shot for Democrats to even get into that position, but Fetterman seems prepared to lower the boom if and when that moment arrives.
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The New York legal system continues to make a parody of itself. Cynthia Nixon, who played a lawyer on HBO’s Sex and the City, has been appointed by New York Chief Judge Rowan Wilson to screen and recommend candidates to serve on the state of New York’s highest court.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 17, 2026
Ed: And just like that, New York got even dumber. You can't make this up. Unfortunately.
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Free Beacon: Left-wing Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed has railed against doctors who don't accept Medicaid, arguing that they "discriminate" against "black communities" and perpetuate "long-held deep racism and structural racism." That criticism would apply to his wife, a psychiatrist who operates a private practice that does not accept Medicaid, Medicare, or any other insurance.
In a June campaign video captioned "Clinics and hospitals can discriminate against you based on your health insurance coverage," El-Sayed lamented what he called America's "multi-class healthcare system."
"Too often in urban communities, because of structural racism, because of the circumstances of segregation, you end up having situations where you may have health insurance through Medicaid, but you don't have health care because you can't get your Medicaid accepted where you need to get care," El-Sayed said.
Ed: So El-Sayed agrees his wife is a racist and an exploiter of the masses? Good to know! Of course, that's often the case in the kind of Islamist systems for which El-Sayed's father-in-law fronts.
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#BREAKING: U.S. Central Command says American forces destroyed the Chah Bahar Shahid Kalantari Port surveillance tower used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to track and target commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/1I8YX1mOiY
— Salem News Channel (@WatchSalemNews) July 17, 2026
Ed: One has to wonder why it got missed before now. It's a good step forward, but even better would be the structural collapse of the IRGC's entire infrastructure in Iran. Let's finish that job this time.
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Politico: Newly minted Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) is considering running for her late brother’s old seat in the South Carolina special election, according to one person granted anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Graham was sworn in earlier this week to replace Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who passed away on Saturday. Her appointment, backed by President Donald Trump, was widely seen as a move to fill the seat with a caretaker who would leave Washington at the end of the term in January. ...
The filing window for candidates in the August 11 primary opens on Tuesday. The field of candidates could include Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette; Reps. Russell Fry, Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman; businessman Mark Lynch; and former Gov. Mark Sanford, among others.
On Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) hinted that Graham could join their ranks. “Darline has so far been off to a remarkable start,” Scott, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CBS News. “Why not her?”
Ed: So much for Henry McMaster's wise plan, eh? I don't have anything against Darline Graham running for the seat, but appointing her to fill out her brother's term was supposed to free up the special primary from the potential of using the appointment as a head start to the nomination. It will be interesting to see how this works out.
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I’m not opposed to Lindsey Graham’s sister being the nominee. Maybe she’s the right choice in an otherwise weak field.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) July 17, 2026
But shouldn’t we…at least know something about her views first?
Ed: Well, that's what the special primary will require. It doesn't sound as though she or Scott is asking for the GOP to short-circuit the competition, just that she's considering entering it. As long as it doesn't turn into an anointing, let her compete with everyone else.
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Trump says he's asked Sen. Darline Graham to run for the full 6-year term and has his "complete and total endorsement" pic.twitter.com/wCWzhtU52k
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) July 17, 2026
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DSA member Linda Sarsour calls for replacing the Declaration of Independence.
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) July 17, 2026
“Do we have the audacity to…build a document that is our values?”
This is an attack on everything America stands for. pic.twitter.com/6TAxXnlziu
Ed: The door's right over there, Linda. See ya.
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Last night's lyric: "Love Is In The Air" by John Paul Young.
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