Gator Snatches Boy, Obama Attacks Trump

Vacation Horror: Searchers spent the night looking for a two-year-old boy who was dragged into a lagoon at a Disney resort hotel outside Orlando. The boy’s father tried to fight off the alligator, but it disappeared under the water. Searchers are not hopeful.

Orlando: Investigators are following several lines of investigation in the Orlando gay nightclub massacre, including that the shooter himself was gay, that his wife knew of an impending attack, and that he may also have scouted Disney World as a possible target.

The FBI is investigating reports that Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub, had been to the club multiple times. One regular patron told the Orlando Sentinel, “Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent.” Another Pulse regular told the LA Times that Mateen had messaged him on a gay chat app for about a year.

The FBI also says that Mateen’s current wife, Noor Zahi Salman, may have known her husband was planning an attack and that she was with him at some stages of preparation, including buying ammunition.

Counterstrike: In a speech about fighting the Islamic State, a frustrated President Obama went after Republican politicians and Donald Trump for fostering a “dangerous mindset” about Muslims and the war on terrorism. Trump has attacked Obama for refusing to use the term “radical Islam,” and not fighting all out war. Obama asked, “What exactly would using this label accomplish?  What exactly would it change?  Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans?  Would it bring in more allies?  Is there a military strategy that is served by this?”

Taking a swipe at “politicians who tweet,” Obama said, “So if someone seriously thinks that we don’t know who we’re fighting, if there’s anyone out there who thinks we’re confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we’ve taken off the battlefield.”

In a direct jab at Trump, Obama said, “We now have proposals from the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States to bar all Muslims from emigrating to America.  We hear language that singles out immigrants and suggests that entire religious communities are complicit in violence.  Where does this stop?  The Orlando killer, one of the San Bernardino killers, the Fort Hood killer — they were all U.S. citizens.”

Hours later Donald Trump said, “I watched President Obama today and he was more angry at me than he was at the shooter.”

Oppo: Two groups of hackers working for Russian intelligence agencies penetrated the Democratic National Committee computers and gained access to the party’s opposition research on Donald Trump, according to the DNC. Opposition research is the dirt file on an opposing candidate. What they might want with the information is somewhat of a mystery, but Donald Trump is always interesting, even to spies.

Trail’s End: Hillary Clinton won the final Democratic primary in the District of Columbia yesterday and had a meeting with Bernie Sanders about cooperating in the general election. It’s Bernie’s move now.

Internet Ruling: In a legal case involving what’s called “net neutrality,” a federal court in Washington ruled that the internet is really a utility subject to regulation that protects its users. The DC Court of Appeals upheld the concept of net neutrality, forbidding internet providers from blocking some content or accepting payment to grant faster service for others. Net neutrality prevents the internet from being dominated by the highest bidder, like American politics.

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: HBO announced that Larry David’s acerbic sitcom “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” will return after a hiatus that began in 2011. David said in a statement, “In the immortal words of Julius Caesar, ‘I left, I did nothing, I returned.’”

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Monday, May 6, 2024

Page Two

The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

Sunday, February 26, 2023

Page Two: Do the Right Thing

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Page Two: Sound Recall

Monday, September 13, 2021

Page Two: Cuomo Must Go

Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

The Wright Stuff

Saturday, February 29, 2020

It's Been Said

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate, and I should have, no excuses."

-Andrew Cuomo, resigning as governor of New York after accusations of sexual harassment

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