Elephants in the House: In an unusual event in a highly unusual election year, four notable Republicans endorsed Joe Biden for president during the online Democratic National Convention. 

  Among the Republicans were former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman, and former Congresswoman Susan Molinari of New York. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich said in endorsing Biden, “I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country.” He said, “Many of us can’t imagine four more years going down this path, and that’s why I’m asking you to join with me in choosing a better way forward.”

  The opening night of the convention was an odd event hosted by actress Eva Longoria, who introduced videos and live feeds of speakers including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a woman who lost her father to the coronavirus, and everyday Republicans who said they will vote for Biden.

High and Low: Four years ago former First Lady Michelle Obama said at the Democratic convention, “when they go low, we go high.” Last night she took shots at their knees.

  Mrs. Obama, who has never run for office, is one of the power speakers of the Democratic Party. She said in a recorded speech, “Whenever we look to this White House for leadership or consolation or any semblance of steadiness, what we get is chaos and division and a total lack of empathy.” 

  She went on, “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country.” Normally less direct, Mrs. Obama said, “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job but he is clearly in over his head.”

Bernie Sanders: “Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump Golfs”

Abbynormal: Despite trailing seriously in the polls, President Trump said he can lose this election only if it is rigged. 

  In normal times the opposing parties stay quiet while the other side is having its convention, but we left normal behind four years ago.

  Trump hit the trail in the Midwest yesterday, telling a crowd in Wisconsin that, “We’re in a fight for the survival of our nation and civilization itself.” 

  He said of the Democrats, They’re going to massively increase your regulations. In addition to your taxes, they’re going to confiscate the guns of law abiding Americans. They’re going to take away your Second Amendment. They’re going to make America a sanctuary for criminal aliens.”

  No Democrat has proposed such things. 

Sleepless: Trump Buddy Mike Lindell, the MyPillow pitchman on cable television, is pushing something called oleandrin, an extract of the toxic oleander plant, as a potential cure for Covid-19. Lindell, a supporter of President Trump, met with the President to talk about it.

  Trump said yesterday, “We’ll look at it. We’ll look it. We’re looking at a lot of different things.”

  How seriously Trump takes it remains to be seen, but he grasps at anything that might appear to solve the coronavirus problem before the November election. He even took the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which is considered voodoo medicine for the coronavirus.

  Not that making money has anything to do with it, but Lindell owns a stake in Phoenix Biotechnology, which is developing the oleandrin drug. We should say that Lindell also had to settle a million dollars lawsuit charging that he made unscientific claims about the health benefits of his pillow. 

Viral News: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has moved to online education after 130 cases of the coronavirus were confirmed within the first week of classes. 

  Another 500 Americans died of the virus in the past 24 hours, making the total 170,559. 

Crime Blotter: Two men have been arrested in the 2002 murder of Jam Master Jay of the hip hop trio Run-DMC, one of the most notorious unsolved murders in the music industry. Police say Jam Master, whose real name was Jason Mizell, was killed in a drug deal in a Queens, NY recording studio.  

The Bulletin Board: The Trump administration has made final plans to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling, overturning 60 years of protections for the largest remaining chunk of wilderness in the United States. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a briefing yesterday that he has told 500 jurisdictions in his state that they must reform and reorganize their police departments. Cuomo said, “I’m saying in the letter today, if you don’t have a plan, that is a re-imagined police department, by next April, there will be no state funding for that jurisdiction.” — Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko appears to be on shaky ground after protests have grown following an obviously fixed election. He’s been in power 26 years. Protesters have been met with police brutality. Appearing before formerly loyal workers at a tractor factory, he was met with chants of “Go away! Go away!”

Dead Reckoning: In boats and ships, port is left and starboard is right, except this year when right is Trump.

  On Sunday about 150 boaters on beautiful Lake George in upstate New York staged a roaring “boat parade” festooned with American flags and banners touting “Trump 2020.” It’s the second such parade to churn the waters on Lake George this summer.

  The boat parade has become a Trump phenomenon. Boat parades have been held in New Jersey, Massachusetts, and on Lake Erie. On Saturday, supporters of President Trump attempted to break the Guinness World Record for the largest boat parade during an event in Clearwater, Florida, which may have included more than 1,000 boats.

  Clearly, Trump has a large following among people rich enough to own boats who ignore that the President they love is rolling back the protections that keep clean the waters on which they cruise.

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