If you are just joining us, we are still getting early reports of what appears to have been another ambush of police officers, this time in Baton Rouge, the city already racked by the police killing of Alton Sterling earlier this month. It is important not that while suspicions as to motive are obvious. There is as yet no evidence as to motive or identity of shooters. Latest reports have three officers dead, more wounded and what initial reports identify as a single assailant with an assault rifle.
More updates shortly.
Late Update: 12:27 PM ET: AP reports a single assailant also dead.
Later Update: 12:31 PM ET: There are conflicting reports on the number of assailants involved in the ambush.
We now have confirmation that three police officers have died as the result of gunshot wounds in this morning’s shooting in Baton Rouge; another three were wounded, in at least one case very seriously.
We are also getting the first eyewitness reports suggesting that the shooting began before at a convenience store before police arrived on the scene. By implication this would suggest that an intentional ambush of police officers – the assumption must have understandably jumped to – may not be correct. Eyewitness reports, particularly in the heat of the moment and in response to incidents involving traumatic violence, are notoriously untrustworthy. However, these new reports emphasize that we do not know precisely what happened in Baton Rouge this morning or why. What we do know is that three police officers are dead and apparently on assailant.
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My look at why a never-ending stream of indignities and humiliations necessarily awaits everyone like Christie and Pence who get on the Trump Train. It goes to the heart of Trump’s dominance politics and the fact that with Trump, you’re either his enemy or his property. There’s no middle ground. Check it out here.
We’re at the start of the first of two national party nominating conventions which will dominate the second half of July. We’re also just coming off Donald Trump’s choice of Mike Pence as his running mate and only days away from Hillary Clinton’s choice. All of which means we’re in a period both of intense media focus on the campaign, a series of key decisions from the nominees and what is often a period of substantial flux and instability in the poll numbers. Conventional wisdom suggests we won’t know how all of this shakes out until the first week or two of August. With that said, it’s a good time to look at the polls and see what they’re telling us.
I’m a pretty healthy guy. But I had a bad sinus headache this afternoon and went to rest in the TPM nap room. I left with boring speakers droning on the platform in Cleveland. I come back and all hell’s broken loose. If you’re just tuning in, anti-Trump delegates seemed to have enough signatures to force a roll call vote on the convention rules. This is miles aways from denying Trump the nomination. But it would be an embarrassing demonstration of anti-Trump strength and the kind of disruption no convention planner ever wants. (You can see video of chanting on the floor which TPM’s Tierney Sneed took on the floor as it was all happening.)
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Rep. Steve King asks: what minority group has contributed more to civilization than white people? Watch.
Here’s your cheat sheet for tonight’s primetime lineup at the GOP convention, which is dedicated to the theme “Make America Safe Again.” Hence, the Scott Baio appearance, of course. You can watch along with us here, and follow Tierney Sneed and Lauren Fox on Twitter as they report from Cleveland. Away we go!
8:14 PM: Main takeaway from Baio’s speech was explaining our no moocher policy to new immigrant voters. Now Perry.
8:16 PM: One thing I’m watching tonight is whether any speaker refers to Trump as “Donald Trump” rather than “Mr Trump.”
8:27 PM: The loss Patricia Smith has suffered is unfathomable. And I would grant her anything to emerge from that grief. But it’s one thing to feel and express what emerges from that grief and anger, quite another for others to orchestrate and milk it for political ends. It’s difficult to fathom the sheer level of exploitation and titillation of the GOP rage organ that is contained in this speech. It’s just the most craven level of exploitation.
I’ve never experienced something like Patricia Smith did. But I did experience the closest person to me in my life die a sudden death from catastrophic physical trauma. I can tell you from experience that you look for some thing or person to blame. It’s the closest thing you can grasp on to, not to give meaning to what happened, but simply something to anchor yourself because there’s nothing more horrifying than the anchor-lessness and untethered pain of that experience. Most of us have people to help us work through the mind-deforming pain. They don’t have an echo chamber confirming us and goading us on in our anger for their own political or monetary purposes. The exploitation is beyond belief.