The Radical Speaks: Former Vice President Joe Biden blistered President Trump yesterday in his first campaign appearance since the Democratic convention.

  In the bizarre atmosphere of the coronavirus pandemic, Biden spoke without an audience at a converted steel mill in Pittsburgh.

  “Does anyone believe there will be less violence in America if Donald Trump is re-elected?” Biden asked. “We need justice in America. We need safety in America. We’re facing multiple crises — crises that, under Donald Trump, have kept multiplying.”

  President Trump has repeatedly accused Biden of being a radical socialist who will destroy American life as we know it. But Biden said, “Ask yourself: Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?” The 77-year-old Biden said, “Really? I want a safe America. Safe from Covid, safe from crime and looting, safe from racially motivated violence, safe from bad cops. Let me be crystal clear: safe from four more years of Donald Trump.”

  Biden said, “This president, long ago, forfeited any moral leadership in this country. He can’t stop the violence because for years he’s fomented it. He may believe mouthing the words law and order makes him strong. But his failure to call on his own supporters to stop acting as an armed militia in this country shows how weak he is.”

Shotgun News: President Trump says he’s going to visit troubled Kenosha, Wisconsin, even though local officials have asked him to stay away. Trump is bringing his law and order campaign to the city where police shot a black man in the back and a young right-wing militia member killed two men.

  When asked whether his visit might aggravate the situation, Trump said, “Well, it could also increase enthusiasm and it could increase love and respect for our country. And that’s why I’m going.”

  Trump spoke in defense yesterday of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse from Illinois who killed two men and wounded a third at a demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

  Rittenhouse was with an armed militia group and carrying an assault rifle when he shot the three men. “It is something that we’re looking at right now, it is under investigation,” Trump said. “I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would have been killed. But it is under investigation.”

Viral News: Wade Davis from the University of British Columbia writes that the coronavirus pandemic is one of those events that may have as much impact on history as the Black Death, the 1914 assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the stock market crash of 1929, and the 1933 rise of Adolf Hitler.

  Wade writes: “All peoples in all places at all times are always dancing with new possibilities for life. As companies eliminate or downsize central offices, employees work from home, restaurants close, shopping malls shutter, streaming brings entertainment and sporting events into the home, and airline travel becomes ever more problematic and miserable, people will adapt, as we’ve always done. Fluidity of memory and a capacity to forget is perhaps the most haunting trait of our species. As history confirms, it allows us to come to terms with any degree of social, moral, or environmental degradation.”

  This morning, the US has crossed the mark of six million cases of the coronavirus with 183,602 deaths.

The Flynn Man: A federal appeals court has declined allow the dismissal of the criminal case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who lied about his contacts with the Russian ambassador in the waning days of the Obama administration. 

  Instead, the court ruled that a lower court judge can hear arguments about why Attorney Gen. William Barr wants to drop the case, even though Flynn twice pleaded guilty. The court also refused to remove US District Judge Emmet Sullivan, who has been overseeing the case.

  Flynn had talked to Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak about the sanctions placed on Russia by President Obama. Flynn, essentially, was illegally conducting foreign policy before Donald Trump became president.

Hotel Rwanda: Paul Rusesabagina, the innkeeper who protected people from slaughter during the 1994 Rwandan genocide and was made famous by the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” was arrested and charged with terrorism, arson, kidnapping, and murder, according to the state-run Rwanda Investigation Bureau.

  Rusesabagina was a hotel manager, who sheltered hundreds of people during the ethnic  massacres in which nearly a million people were killed. 

  Since the film was in theaters, Rusesabagina became more vocal in his criticism of Paul Kagame, the former commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which ended the genocide before Kagame became a dictator who has stepped on the press and political opposition.

The Obit Page: John Thompson, the first black coach to win an NCAA basketball championship, has died at age 78. Thompson led Georgetown to the top in 1984. 

  Thompson played two seasons in the NBA before becoming a coach. He said of being hired at Georgetown  in 1980, “I had a talk with the president. All that Father Henle said about basketball was that he hoped I could take a team to the NIT every now and then. I thought to myself that I’d eat my hat if I couldn’t do better than that. But I didn’t say anything except,  ‘Yes, sir, I’ll try,’ because you don’t want to set yourself up.”

Crime Against Sex: Porn star Ron Jeremy, who was already in trouble, is being charged with an additional 20 counts of forcible rape, sexual battery, sodomy, and more, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

  The only thing he’s not charged with is being repulsive. 

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