As you may know by now, Director Comey stated [Tuesday] morning that the FBI was recommending that Hillary Clinton face no charges for her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state. That is no doubt a big relief to Mrs. Clinton.

While she dodged a legal bullet, Director Comey said that Clinton and her colleagues were “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.” He also stated that it was possible hostile actors gained access to some of that information because Clinton used multiple mobile devices even while traveling “in the territory of sophisticated adversaries.”

Director Comey also made it clear that her conduct would usually result in “administrative sanctions” for most people working in the intelligence community. Such sanctions might involve the loss of one’s security clearance, effectively ending their careers.

Trump’s Short List Narrows

By most accounts, Donald Trump’s short list for vice presidential running mates appears to focus on four individuals. For months, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich have been rumored to be in the running. But two new faces appear to be getting an audition: Iowa Senator Joni Ernst and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. There are strong arguments to be made for each person.

There are rumors Trump might make his running mate selection known before the convention, perhaps in order to minimize potential disruptions at the convention by delegates who remain unsettled by his nomination.

[…]

In other campaign news, the latest USA Today poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by six points — 46% to 40%. That is down from 11 points two months ago. When third party candidates are factored into the mix, Clinton’s lead shrinks to just four points.

Never Great?

Welcome back from your Independence Day weekend. Millions of American celebrated our freedom as we do every year. In various patriotic observances across the country, many Americans reflected on their good fortune to be citizens of this great nation.

But on the left, many chose to celebrate by bashing the country. For a time [Monday], #AmericaWasNeverGreat was trending on Twitter. There you could find a lot of the sentiments expressed by left-wing politicians and folks in Hollywood. You’d also find a lot of things in the textbooks that your kids are learning from.

All the way back in 1985, I was alarmed by what I saw then. In my position as under Secretary of Education, I addressed a textbook publishers’ association and berated them for the narrative they were presenting then about the Cold War being a conflict between two equal sides. In fact, the Soviet Union was an evil empire and America represented liberty.

I was roundly condemned for that speech. Left-wing members of Congress dragged me up to Capitol Hill demanding to know why I was interfering with textbooks. Here we are now decades later and we’re seeing the results. Millions of Americans have been infected with this anti-American narrative.

According to the latest Gallup survey, the percentage of adults who say they are “extremely proud” to be Americans has plummeted to a 16-year low. Just 52% of adults say they are “extremely proud” to be Americans.

The decline in patriotism was most pronounced in two groups — Millennials, those between the ages of 18 and 29, and self-identified liberals. Among Millennials, an age group exposed to heavy doses of left-wing indoctrination in the schools, just 34% were extremely proud to be Americans, while only 36% of liberals said the same.

Now think about that for a moment. The left has the president it wants. It has won virtually every cultural battle in recent memory. It has taken over our health care system. Yet none of that apparently matters.

Goodbye To A Great Man

The world lost a great man over the holiday weekend. Elie Wiesel, who survived internment in Nazi death camps as teenager, died Saturday at the age of 87. From his experiences in the Holocaust, as a survivor of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, he wrote Night — a raw, yet extraordinary story of the human spirit.

Over the years, Wiesel spoke out against other genocides and was a staunch defender of Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remembered him, saying, “Elie personified the triumph of the human spirit over the most unimaginable evil. Out of the darkness of the Holocaust, Elie became a powerful force for light, truth and dignity. His life and work were a great blessing to the Jewish people, the Jewish state and to all humanity.”