You Talk Too Mooch  Dear Friends, Welcome to your weekend, which began with the uproar over the "colorful language" used by Anthony Scaramucci, the performing-blue White House communications director and leak-hunter. I'm sure someone has already made "Deep Throat" jokes, but we'll have none of that in our G-rated family-friendly newsletter. What we will have is plenty of suggestions for your conservative reading and listening pleasure, so away we go. . . Editorials This past week, just one editorial graced NRO. It was titled not too subtly: The President Is Treating His Attorney General Shamefully. Here's a slice: The story Trump is telling himself is convenient for creating a scapegoat, but it's also largely untrue. Sessions may not have been legally obligated to recuse himself from the Russia inquiry, but there was a strong political case for his doing so. The more direct cause of the appointment of a special counsel was the unceremonious firing of FBI director James Comey, and the deception surrounding it -- which was a mess largely of Trump's own making. McCarthy on Sessions Many folks (many!) find (rightly!) Andy to be the authoritative voice on the Trump/Sessions contretemps (and a heck of a lot more). He banged out four big, important pieces on the affair starting last Saturday. Here they are (strap on your seat belts): Trump Has Himself, Not Sessions, to Blame for the Limitless Mueller Investigation Sessions, Trump, and the 'Counterintelligence' Confusion How About a Truce in the Sessions Fight Wall Street Journal Editors Miss the Point on Sessions's Recusal Other Suggested NRO Reads My pal Kevin Williamson has taken a lot of incoming over the year by angry right-wingers for his honest take on the state of rural America and jobs. I call it "The Garbutt Thing." So I can't blame him if he had a thrill writing this piece: Trump to Upstate New Yorkers: Move. (The closing line: "If the Trumpkins won't take it from me, then they can take it from Trump.") The Spanish Left is so anti-Catholic, multicultural, and self-hating that they are demanding that the cathedral in Cordoba, once an outpost of the Islamic empire and the site of a mosque (but not for eight centuries), drop Jesus for Allah. NR intern Jeff Cimmino is a talented young reporter who has the story. No one can resist reading a piece called The EPA Still Hasn't Been Held Accountable for the Gold King Mine Blowout. NRO Podcastapalooza In the latest edition of The Liberty Files, David French talks with Paul Coleman about the attack on free speech in the EU. On this week's edition of The Editors, Rich, Charlie, and Ian discuss Donald Trump's ongoing fight with Jeff Sessions, Scaramucci unleashed, Obamacare repeal, and Trump's military transgender ban. Every day Jim Geraghty breaks out the olives for Three Martini Lunch. The most recent episode (about guns, McCain, and Wasserman Schultz) can be heard here. John Miller gets in his Bookmonger groove and interviews Jason Riley about his new book, False Black Power? and then interviews Christoph Irmscher on his new bio, Max Eastman: A Life. Too late for the deadline of this epistle, but I am assured that Charlie and Kevin will have a new episode of Mad Dogs and Englishman ready for your eardrums this weekend. Appearances Matter Jonah Goldberg will not be a panelist on this Sunday's Meet the Press, but he will be appearing on a special segment about the Trump Presidency. Of course, the great Kat Timpf will be doing her Greg Gutfeld Show thing on Saturday night on Fox News Channel. The Buckley Prize Dinner This October 25th, National Review Institute will be sponsoring the Fourth Annual William F. Buckley Jr. Prize Dinner, honoring acclaimed author Tom Wolfe with the Buckley Prize for Leadership in Political Thought, and Bruce and Suzie Kovner with the Buckley Prize for Leadership in Supporting Liberty. The black-tie gala's host committee is in formation, and we would like you to be a member. Back in New York City for the first time since 2014, the Buckley Prize dinner raises significant funds which do so much to support NRI's fellows and programs. This will be a great celebration of conservative heroes, as well as of WFB's legacy, so we encourage you to consider sponsoring a table and being recognized as a member of the host committee. Be assured that this is truly a national event -- as in previous years, NRI expects and counts on sponsors from around the U.S. of A. For more information click here. We're hoping to receive pledges and commitments by August 9th (but ASAP is even better!). Friends and Family Our longtime pal and best-selling historian Craig Shirley has a new book -- Citizen Newt: The Making of a Reagan Conservative -- out at the end of August. While you're waiting, order your copy now at Amazon (just click that link). I can't imagine this will be anything less than a terrific read. Is conservative news fake news? For a lot of politically correct Palo Alto social-media mavens, the answer is yes. There is a great Gatestone Institute piece, Silicon Valley Censorship, by Samuel Westrop, that is a must-read. Ancient Baseball Stuff Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby was one of the greatest ever. His .358 career average is second only to Ty Cobb's .367. His tinkles-and-vinegar demeanor is well-recorded (maybe also second only to Cobb, although, he loved kids!), but when you look at the Rajah's stats, you have to believe his misanthropy was titanic and impossible to exaggerate. Dig this: In 1926 he hits .317 for the St. Louis Cardinals as a player-manager and leads them to the World Series title, but two months later is traded to the Giants, where he hits .361, but so quickly wears out his welcome in New York that he is traded to the Boston Braves, where he leads the NL in hitting (.387) but promptly is traded to the Chicago Cubs. Four years, four teams -- that takes some doing. He ended his baseball life as a coach for the 1962 expansion New York Mets (which lost 120 games). The new issue of National Review is hot off the presses. And that said, I wish you and yours God's graces and blessings. See you next week. Elvis has left the building! Jack Fowler P.S.: The Mooch's XXX outburst reminded me of this great swearin' clip by John Astin (Gomez Adams!) from an oddball 1973 movie, The Brothers O'Toole. Enjoy. | 
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