Russia’s Deputy Chief of General Staff met his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Tuesday to discuss strategic military cooperation. According to TASS: China was represented by Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission Admiral Sun Jianguo, Russia – by Chief of the Main Operations Department of the Russian General Staff Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy.
House Speaker Paul Ryan has begun telling confidants that he wants to end his standoff with Donald Trump according to Bloomberg. Just 3 weeks after "just not being ready" to endorse Trump, and 2 weeks after signalling "unity" having met with The Donald; it seems the speaker's decision, according to two people close to the lawmaker, was driven in part because he’s worried the split has sharpened divisions in the Republican Party.
Just 10 days ago we asked, What is Ryan up to?
ThinkProgress slammed the NRA over the weekend. The gun group supports federal legislation to let felons win their firearm rights back—something that is essentially impossible for those convicted in federal court. (It’s determined state-by-state otherwise.) But the organization’s executive vice president recently criticized moves in Virginia and Maryland to restore felons’ voting rights.
The point is fair, but it cuts both ways. Efforts to restore voting rights typically leave gun rights untouched, too.
A member of the National Rifle Association of America has made a chilling video calling out the Ayatollahs in Iran. In the video a cowboy country singer and NRA representative warns the Iranian spiritual leaders to pray to god that they never have to face the great redneck Satan. The NRA has published a number of videos making statements against the liberal elites, Hollywood celebrities and feckless politicians accusing them of wanting to take away their rights to bear Arms and defend the land of the free.
Contra Brooks, it’s not complicated at all.
1. She still has strong and passionate primary opposition. Her general election opponent no longer does. Her net favorability rating among Democrats dropped from 61% in January to 36% in April, and no doubt has fallen further since then. Just eyeballing, this looks like the primary explanation of her dramatic drop in approval in recent months.