Did You Throw An Egg In San Jose

I've been away so long
I may go wrong and lose my way
Do you know the way to San José?
I'm going back to find
Some peace of mind in San José.

Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in downtown San Jose spun out of control Thursday night when some demonstrators attacked the candidate’s supporters. 

Protesters jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, snatched signs and stole “Make America Great” hats off supporters’ heads before burning the hats and snapping selfies with the charred remains. 

Several people were caught on camera punching Trump supporters. At least one attacker was arrested, according to CNN, although police did not release much information. 

“The San Jose Police Department made a few arrests tonight after the Donald Trump Rally,” police said in a statement. “As of this time, we do not have specific information on the arrests made. There has been no significant property damage reported. One officer was assaulted.” 

In one video circulating widely on social media, two protesters tried to protect a Trump supporter as other protesters attacked him and called him names. 

Another video captured a female Trump supporter taunting protesters before being surrounded and struck in the face with an egg and water balloons. 

Police eventually cleared the protest, which they called an “unlawful assembly.”

I'd say political violence is always wrong, except history is replete with examples of it being used to great effect, written by the winners who used it.  The GOP is threatening to deport tens of millions by force, folks, and that's not making people happy.  Governments use violence all the time, and when a government uses violence, it is by definition political.  Trump hopes to seize control of that violence and use it for political means.

On the other hand, if you thought Trumpies were playing the aggrieved victims before, you have no idea what's coming now.  This will get a lot worse, and soon.

Zombie-Eyed Trump Voters

GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan is fully endorsing Donald Trump, and with Ryan falling in line the Republicans are now totally the party of white supremacy in 2016. Yay!

Back in early May, Ryan became perhaps the highest profile Trump resister who's currently holding elected office when he went on CNN to proclaim that he wasn't "ready" to endorse Trump. Ryan emphasized that, to "bring all wings of the Republican Party together," he thought Trump would have to do two things: embrace conservative values and use rhetoric that would "appeal to all Americans."

But, as Matt Yglesias wrote at the time, this always appeared to be a bluff. Ryan simply didn't have much leverage on the guy who had already won the GOP nomination. Furthermore, Ryan himself needs the party to unify, to better help his House majority win reelection. And reports from a mid-May meeting between Ryan and Trump seemed to signal that the speaker wouldn't hold out too much longer.

So now Ryan has caved. And his rationale, essentially, is to argue that it's he and his House Republicans, not Trump, who would really be setting the policy agenda. Here's Ryan in the op-ed:

Oh, this should be good.

"Donald Trump and I have talked at great length about things such as the proper role of the executive and fundamental principles such as the protection of life. The list of potential Supreme Court nominees he released after our first meeting was very encouraging.

But the House policy agenda has been the main focus of our dialogue. We’ve talked about the common ground this agenda can represent. We’ve discussed how the House can be a driver of policy ideas. We’ve talked about how important these reforms are to saving our country. And we’ve talked about how, by focusing on issues that unite Republicans, we can work together to heal the fissures developed through the primary.

Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve people’s lives. That’s why I’ll be voting for him this fall.

It’s no secret that he and I have our differences. I won’t pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, I’ll continue to speak my mind. But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement."

Gosh, does the GOP House agenda include building a giant wall and deporting tens of millions?

It does now, Paul. And you just signed on for all of it.

StupidiNews!

• Continued flooding in Texas has claimed the lives of five US Army soldiers from Fort Hood when their vehicle flipped over, four more soldiers are still missing.
• A rare stamp stolen in 1955 has finally been recovered and returned to the Philadelphia research library that owns it after being stolen from a display in Virginia sixty years ago.
• German officials say they are investigating some 180 terror suspects with links to ISIS in Syria after three suspects were arrested for allegedly planning a major terror attack in Dusseldorf.
• Wal-Mart will take on grocery delivery services offered by Amazon and other competitors by partnering up with rideshare giants Uber and Lyft.
• The FDA is calling for voluntary guidelines in reduction of sodium in food, drawing praise from some food companies, and sharp criticism from grocery store and industry groups.