He Started It: Responding like a schoolyard boy, Donald Trump defended his attack on a Muslim couple that lost their Army captain son to a car bomb in Iraq. Trump tweeted, “I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond?”

Last Thursday at the Democratic convention, with his wife at his side, Khizr Khan asked whether Trump had ever read the constitution and said, “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

In response, Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, “I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”

Trump keeps searching for the third rail of politics without getting his foot on it. Having called Mexican immigrants rapists, insulting women, and calling for a ban on Muslim immigrants and visitors, this time he has offended Muslims once again and the parents of a dead soldier.

Russia, With Love: Also in his interview with Stephanopoulos, Trump appeared addled on the matter of Ukraine, promising that if he were president, Vladimir Putin would never send troops into the former Soviet republic.

“He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand,” Trump said. “He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.”

Stephanopoulos took it to the truth. “Well, he’s already there, isn’t he?” Putin sent troops into Ukraine two years ago.

Nation: Floodwaters roared through historic downtown Ellicott City, Md. west of Baltimore after six inches of rain fell. Two people died as shops were ripped apart, sidewalks torn out, and cars pushed for blocks. Bystanders formed a human chain holding hands to rescue one woman from her car.

Blame it on Rio: Gold medal tennis doubles partners Bob and Mike Bryan have pulled out of the Rio Olympics, citing health concerns. They didn’t mention fear of the Zika virus, but they said on a Facebook posting that they are both married with children.ott Md

Zika isn’t the only threat. Athletes competing on Rio’s repulsively polluted Guanabara Bay have been advised to keep their mouths closed in the water. That includes the swimmers. Guanabara will be used by sailors, windsurfers, and swimmers in both the 10,000-meter marathon and the triathlon. A local pediatrician told the NY Times, “Foreign athletes will literally be swimming in human crap.”

The bay is Rio’s liquid dump for sewage as well as industrial chemical and hospital waste. Efforts to cut pollution have reduced the sewage by only about half. A municipal engineer said, “They can try to block big items like sofas and dead bodies, but these rivers are pure sludge, so the bacteria and viruses are going to just pass through.”

50 Years: The University of Texas at Austin today is dedicating a red granite memorial to the victims of a mass shooting that may have marked the dawn of the age of shooting rampages in America,

On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, a 25-year-old former Marine, killed his mother and grandmother at home before going to the top of the campus clock tower and opening fire. Whitman killed 14 people and wounded 31. One of his victims died of his wounds 35 years later.

For many years the name Charles Whitman and “The Texas Tower” were synonymous with mass shooting, but Whitman’s day has been surpassed by others; The Pulse Nightclub, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Luby’s Cafeteria.

Today, also, the University of Texas will begin to obey the state’s new law allowing people to carry concealed guns on college campuses.

Naked News: The NY Post has followed up its nude photos of Melania Trump with new photos of her nude, snuggling with another woman. A reporter for the Daily Beast tweeted, “A NY tabloid ran nudes of the republican presidential nominee’s wife and it’s only the third biggest story of the day.”

-30-