Donald Trump swept all other candidates for the Sitting Duck Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The award is given each year for an easy subject to write about on a slow news day.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has a campaign autobiography that is, shall we say, a bit different from other Republican presidential candidates. A segment of his book reveals that during his time as a Supreme Court clerk he once watched hardcore porn with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who muttered, "Oh, my."

How Your Taxes Are Spent
How much did it cost for the White House to be lit up in rainbow colors to mark the Supreme Court ruling declaring same sex marriage a right and for the Education Department to use the multi-colored symbol in altering its logo on Facebook?

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (a potential Republican candidate for president) isn't a real Indian, say white liberals -- according to the Washington Post. These are probably some of the same liberals that defended Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren's claim to be an American Indian.

Paul Begala helped get Bill Clinton elected president. He's not sounding much like a Hillary Clinton supporter. He told CNN host Chris Cuomo the former first lady "absolutely" has to answer for her history concerning the Confederate flag. Begala said that 22 years ago both Clintons proudly stood by the Arkansas flag, which "is said to borrow from the Cnfederate symbology."

"I am the greatest job creator God ever made." - Newly announced GOP candidate for president Donald Trump. Is he suggesting we just call him "J.C."?

California is fast becoming a dry land, but President Obama found enough green turf to play several rounds of golf during a fundraising visit to the vote-rich state. While environmentalists burned, Charleston residents mourned and the first lady enjoyed a tax-paid excursion in Europe with the two Obama daughters and her mother, Obama golfed and dined with movie moguls.

Is Republican strategist Karl Rove calling for abolishing the constitutional right for citizens to bear arms? No, but he did say that "the only way to guarantee that we will dramatically reduce acts of violence involving guns is to basically remove guns from society, and until somebody gets 'oomph' to repeal the Second Amendment, that's not going to happen."

TV hosts hurled insinuations at Republican presidential candidates on the Sunday talk shows. NBC's Chuck Todd pointedly asked former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, "Are you comfortable displaying the Confederate battle flag in public?" (He said he didn't display the flag anywhere.) When former Sen. Rick Santorum told Martha Raddatz of ABC the flag issue should be left up to the state of South Carolina, she snapped, "Do you not have a position on this at all?"

Transgenders are welcomed by the Obama administration but transfats are banned.
In his economic stimulus program, President Obama promised "shovel-ready" jobs.


On a trip to Europe, First Lady Michelle Obama told students her husband "shovels" his food. The two Obama daughters accompanied her on a taxpayer-financed summer vacation.



Within hours of the killing of nine people in a Charleston, S.C. by a deranged young man, President Obama made another demand for gun control and made the incredible statement that "this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries."

April 13, 2015 - Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., announcing for president: "Just yesterday, a leader from yesterday began a campaign for president by promising to take us back to yesterday (referring to Hillary Clinton). But yesterday is over, and we are never going back."
June 13, 2015 - Hillary Clinton, announcing for president: "There may be some new voices in the presidential Republican choir, but they're singing the same old song - a song called 'Yesterday.' They believe in yesterday."
Could be an indication that Hillary's team has no new ideas.

"When you see her on stage or when she comes into a room full of people, she's smiling with her mouth, but her eyes are saying 'where's my latte?'" - Mitt Romney, 2012 GOP presidential nominee.

On the day after his wife kicked off her campaign for president with a snide attack on Republican candidates, former president Bill Clinton gave them a flattering description. He told CNN's Jake Tapper: "They're impressive. They've got a lot of youth, they've got a lot of energy, they've got some significant diversity and they're no dummies."

Snippets from the debate on President Obama's Pacific trade proposal:
"The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam." - U.S. State Department.
"I'm a little bit puzzled by that. I don't really know." - Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn.
"We definitely should form a trade agreement with Vietnam." - Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

President Obama is said to be sensitive to criticism, but maybe he's not so thin-skinned after all. He said in an interview that he spends time responding to angry emails he gets. "...some of them are saying you're an idiot," he said.

How Your Taxes Are Spent
The Export-Import Bank of the United States made $65 million in loans to finance a wind farm deal in Peru that had already been finalized a year earlier.

Mixed signals about good health practices are coming out of the White House. While First Lady Michelle Obama dictates food choices for America's schoolchildren, her husband reveals he's still addicted to smoking. President Obama appeared to be holding a pack of cigarettes in a photo of him with the Italian prime minister at the G7 summit.

There was a time when Robert Gibbs would have been flacking Michelle's tasteless school lunch menus, but not since he entered the private sector. McDonald's Corp. has hired the former White House spokesman to be its new top public relations official. Promoting fast food is bound to be easier - and pay better - than selling unpopular Obama policies.

In a series of attack articles which began with shaming Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio for getting four traffic tickets in 17 years, the New York Times subsequently blasted him for buying a $80,000 speedboat, then scolded him for not being rich enough to run for president. Well, everybody can't have Hillary Clinton's millions.

Every living former president has higher approval ratings than President Obama -- even his predecessor -- according to a recent poll. The ratings: George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, both 84% favorability; Jimmy Carter 56%; George W. Bush 52%; Obama 45% approve, 52% disapprove.

What, me worry? Former State Department flack Marie Harf, promoted but still giving briefings, says her strategic communications team is "totally perplexed" about a New York Times report of a 20% increase in Iranian nuclear stockpiles and calls the concern "absurd."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., indicates he's really serious about running for president. He wants every vote he can get. Graham told a CNN reporter: "If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be safe and have a prosperous economy, vote for me. I haven't walked in her shoes," he continued, adding, "if Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party."

Rick Perry had joined the pack of Republicans running for president less than 24 hours before a pundit was analyzing his ... eyeglasses. Scott Greer of the Daily Caller pontificated on the fact that the former Texas governor "now wears glasses ... all the time." Greer speculates Perry is trying to transform himself into a "knowledgeable policy wonk."

Ex-Republican Lincoln Chafee, who turned independent as governor of Rhode Island, became enamored with the metric system while living in Canada and thinks the U.S. should adopt it. Now he's running for president as a Democrat. Maybe he's hoping the votes will be counted in Roman numerals.

Hark! There's a sign of progress in the Obama administration. The White House announced a new inspector general has been named for the Department of Interior. The watchdog post has gone vacant for 2,291 days.

When the story of the 2016 presidential campaign is written, candidates from both major parties will be remembered by some off-the-wall things they said.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul, in a speech in the Senate, said some opponents of his efforts to force expiration of the Patriot Act "secretly want" a terror attack on the U.S. so they can blame him for it.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, seeking the Democratic nomination, is on record as saying that men fantasize about abusing women and women have fantasies about being gang raped.

Freshly declared Democratic candidate Martin O'Malley is making news by railing against Hillary Clinton, perhaps hoping to distract voters from his record. For one thing, while he was governor of Maryland, O'Malley raised taxes and fees 83 times, to the tune of $8 billion.

The IRS isn't the only federal agency using taxpayer funds to put conservatives under the microscope. The Department of Justice has awarded a $585,719 grant for a study of social media use which includes research concentrating on "far-right" groups. A congressional inquiry seems to be in order.