Obama's First Term, By The Numbers

Former Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) is dropping his bid for Michigan’s open Senate seat, CNN reports. Said Meijer: “The hard reality is the fundamentals of the race have changed since we launched this campaign. After prayerful consideration, today I withdrew my name from the primary ballot. Without a strong pathway to victory, continuing this campaign only increases the likelihood of a divisive primary that would distract from the essential goal – conservative victories in November.”

“The Republican Party sent a letter to the Secret Service on Friday urging the police agency to keep protesters farther away from the venue for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July,” the New York Times reports. “The three-page letter, signed by Todd R. Steggerda, counsel to the Republican National Committee, objected to the placement of an area where protesters would be allowed to demonstrate.

Donald Trump wishes her happy birthday at the courthouse, but Melania Trump could be reliving painful experiences during the hush money trial.

In the early morning, one can hear the birds perched on trees around the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University. Farther off, there are sounds of protest and counterprotest. But inside the camp itself—technically the second camp after the New York Police Department cleared out the first and caused even more national attention to focus on this campus lawn—the resistance is often quieter if steady: a community formed to call for ceasefire, divestment, and the end to war. This is a village built overnight.

A Ukrainian soldier played the national anthem of the United States for the Russian soldiers somewhere on the frontline in eastern Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, the Russians did not care to be serenaded in this fashion and responded with their AK-47s and fired an RPG in the general direction of the offensive tune.

Republicans sure have changed, huh? As if Talking Point USA's Charlie Kirk wasn't bad enough, he somehow decided to bring Curtis Yarvin, an anti-democratic blogger, on as his guest. What could go wrong? Well, I'm glad you asked that. OK, you didn't really ask that. I did. Yarvin wants to give Trump unchecked power in November. Trump's lawyer is currently arguing in the Supreme Court for presidential immunity, which is not even in the Constitution.