memeorandum: Impeachment summer? August town halls may decide next steps (Associated Press)

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Michael Avenatti is mulling a run for president again after declaring he would not seek nomination — KEY POINTS — Michael Avenatti, who in the past represented porn star Stormy Daniels against the likes of President Donald Trump and his then fixer Michael Cohen, told CNBC late on Friday …

Discussion: Political Wire and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

Trump Fuels Racial Disharmony. Will It Motivate or Discourage Black Voters? — DETROIT — Mark Greer is a black Detroiter so outraged by President Trump's regular stream of invective toward people of color that he does his best to avoid exposure to him. — So when he clicked on a YouTube link …

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump prepares a push to woo black voters — President Donald Trump is looking to woo black voters — if he can make them forget about his tweets. — The Trump 2020 campaign has been quietly reaching out to prominent African Americans about joining its latest coalition, intended to boost Republican support in the black community.

Discussion: Mediaite

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Baltimore Sun Torches Donald Trump: ‘Dancing On Graves’ Of City's Dead — “This is the behavior of a jerk, a clod, a dolt, a schmuck.” — The Baltimore Sun's editorial board on Friday published yet another blistering opinion piece about President Donald Trump, in which it took him to task …

Discussion: The Crime Report, Washington Post and New York Times

Baltimore Sun:
The pitiful day a U.S. president used a political rally to mock Baltimore's homicide rate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Daily News, Breitbart and USA Today

Eli Stokols / Los Angeles Times:
It's not just Baltimore; Trump is running against America's cities

Discussion: The Guardian, Baltimore Sun and NPR

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Nikki Haley hits Trump's ‘unnecessary’ response to Cummings break-in

Discussion: Big League Politics, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, IJR, USA Today and No More Mister Nice Blog

Isaac Chotiner / New Yorker:

The Reverend Bill Owens Stands Behind Trump — During the past several weeks, President Trump has been ramping up his racist and inflammatory attacks on nonwhite lawmakers and activists. After telling four lawmakers of color to “go back” to where they came from, he targeted Representative Elijah Cummings …

Discussion: Althouse

Discussion: Fox News

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

Deprived of Power, House Republicans Head for the Exits — WASHINGTON — Imagine being swept out of power in Congress and relegated to the role of spectator and naysayer as your political opponents dictate the terms of legislative debate. Add in the specter of a painful slog to re-election …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Daily Kos

Dan Balz / Washington Post: For Democrats, and for Republicans, a summer of discontent

The Hill:
Hurd retirement leaves GOP gloomy on 2020

Discussion: The Root

Washington Post:

GOP senator held up Trump nominee, demanding to see border wall contracts after Army Corps panned construction firm he prefers — A Republican senator held up the confirmation of a White House budget official this week in an attempt to obtain sensitive information about border wall contracts he's …

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:

John Ratcliffe (R-Loser) Gets the Full Trump Treatment — The resume-padding backbencher raved at Mueller on camera and found himself at the peak of Trump's regard. But like a gram of pure coke, there are consequences when the fun stops. — By RICK WILSON8.2.19 8:31 PM ET

Discussion: ThinkProgress

The Daily Beast:

Whistleblower Allegations Surfaced Just Before DNI Pick John Ratcliffe Withdrew — Trump blamed the media for his nominee's withdrawal, but it may have to do with his proximity to a company accused of being instrumental in reprisal against a whistleblower. — An email disclosing …

Discussion: Axios, Slate, Daily Kos, Associated Press, The Last Refuge, Spectator USA and New York Times

CNN:

Elizabeth Warren is running a brilliant campaign — David Axelrod, a senior CNN political commentator and host of “The Axe Files,” was senior adviser to President Barack Obama and chief strategist for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

Discussion: Viking Pundit

Annie Linskey / Washington Post: Warren makes inroads into Sanders's world, one backer at a time

Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
Why can't Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren be as realistic as the guy who promised to slow the rise of the oceans?

Discussion: Fox News

Christopher Caldwell / New York Times:

The Problem With Greta Thunberg's Climate Activism — Her radical approach is at odds with democracy. — Mr. Caldwell is the author of “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West.” — Climate activists in Western Europe had already been radicalizing …

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Fox News Host: 'I Don't Know Where To Begin' Debunking Donald Trump's Latest Lie — Neil Cavuto fact-checked Trump's latest false claims about U.S. tariffs on products imported from China. — Fox News' Neil Cavuto wasted no time in fact-checking President Donald Trump's latest claims …

Bret Stephens / New York Times:

Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Excellence — A former dean of the Yale Law School sounds a warning. — Anyone who has followed the news from college campuses over the past few years knows they are experiencing forms of unrest unseen since the late 1960s. — Now, as then, campuses have become an arena for political combat.

Laurence H. Tribe / NBC News:

Should the age of sexual consent be lowered? — Consent laws exist for a reason. But that hasn't stopped lawyers and pundits from making demonstrably flawed arguments as “devil's advocates.” — The devil is a notoriously misleading advocate. Lawyers and pundits who revel in advancing arguments …

Discussion: The Sun

Anna Kusmer / wgbh.org:

Artist Cages ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ Statue To Protest Child Detention Centers — Early Friday morning, local artist Karyn Alzayer went to work at the Boston public gardens. She put chicken wire cages around the iconic “Make Way for Ducklings” statue, separating the baby ducklings …

Discussion: Boston Globe and ImmigrationProf Blog

Hannah Natanson / Washington Post:

An elite D.C. girls' school thought its founding nuns taught slaves to read. Instead, they sold them off for as much as they could. — The cash-strapped nuns were desperate to sell their slaves. — It was the 1820s, and debt was piling up for Mother Agnes Brent, superior of the Georgetown Visitation Convent in Washington.

Discussion: New York Times

The Economist:

The Amazon is approaching an irreversible tipping point — The results would be disastrous, for Brazil and for the world — The amazon basin, most of which sits within the borders of Brazil, contains 40% of the world's tropical forests and accounts for 10-15% of the biodiversity of Earth's continents.

Mensah M. Dean / Inquirer.com:

‘It was terrifying’: Black Chadds Ford couple left shaken by white Pa. trooper's alleged misconduct — Rodney and Angela Gillespie were excited when they returned July 1 to the United States, to the home they'd built in 2007 on a 2.7-acre parcel in a leafy section of upscale Chadds Ford.

Washington Post:

Ohio's Hamilton County may test whether Trump's divisiveness will help or hurt him in 2020 — CINCINNATI — When President Trump railed against Baltimore and other diverse American cities as dangerous and “broken” during a campaign rally here this week, supporters cheered Trump's assessment.

Discussion: Politico

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

Exclusive — Kevin McCarthy Details GOP Plan to Retake House Majority: 31 Democrats Sit in Districts Donald Trump Won — Republicans only need to net win back 20 seats from Democrats to retake their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy broke …

Robin Wright / New Yorker:

Iran's Foreign Minister Was Invited to Meet Trump in the Oval Office — Last month, amid a rapid-fire escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, received an unexpected invitation—to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Discussion: Fox News, Reuters, The Week and The National Interest

Evan A. Davis / The Hill:

An impeachment inquiry has begun — Those eager for the start of an official inquiry by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee into the possible impeachment of President Trump need wait no longer. — A memorandum, submitted by the committee on July 26 to the U.S. District Court for the District …

Discussion: National Review

Will Weissert / Associated Press:

O'Rourke to visit inmates inside California's San Quentin — WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke is planning to visit San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco on Monday to meet with inmates and have them lead him on a tour of the facility — a rare peek behind bars for a White House hopeful.

Xinhua News Agency:

China urges Western nations not to intervene in Hong Kong affairs — China on Friday urged the United States and some other Western countries to honor their commitment and stop supporting violent activities and intervening in Hong Kong affairs in any form. — Foreign Ministry Spokesperson …