NATIONAL

“They thought she’d changed. They thought maybe she’d picked up a little bit from them about how people respond to awkward secret arrangements and contrived ways of not telling the full story. This has been a surprising two weeks for aides in President Barack Obama’s orbit as they’ve watched Hillary Clinton’s email mess unfold.” – POLITICO

“I said it last week and I will say it again: this story still has legs in the MSM only because higher-ups in the Democratic Party want it to have legs. It’s also quite likely that those higher-ups work for the president of the United States.” – Stephen Kruiser/PJ Media

“This wasn’t the work of a national, high-grade political response team, it was the thrown-together mess of someone who knew she was guilty of self-serving actions, who didn’t herself believe what she was saying, who didn’t think the press would swallow it, and who didn’t appear to care. She didn’t look hungry for the battle, she looked tired of the battle.” – Peggy Noonan/WSJ

“Fox News reported that Hillary Clinton may have had several different private email addresses she used that were all on her private email server. They got this information on the multiple email addresses from a professional hacker that used a tool to comb through public information found in major search engines.” – Walid Shoebat/DC Clothesline

“She burned the tapes. Had Richard Nixon burned his tapes, he would have survived Watergate. Sure, there would have been a major firestorm, but no smoking gun. Hillary Rodham was a young staffer on the House Judiciary Committee investigating Nixon. She saw. She learned.” – Charles Krauthammer/National Review

“I’ve written many times about the Islamic State’s ingenious use of social media – or, as they’ve brilliantly transformed it, anti-social media. These guys really are on – what’s the phrase? – the cutting edge. By contrast, the 12-year-old zeitgeist-surfers running communications at the Obama Administration are clumsy, cack-handed, and worse than useless. Even though it’s a mere droplet in the bottomless sinkhole that is the US federal budget, I deeply resent having to pay for the halfwit embarrassments of ‘Think Again Turn Away’ – the State Department’s social-media outreach strategy for countering ‘violent extremism.'” – Mark Steyn

“The war against the Islamic State has killed thousands of fighters and even some mid-level battlefield commanders, but the organization’s senior leadership and nerve center remain largely untouched, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.” – Bloomberg

“There have not yet been any arrests, or description of suspects, in this week’s shootings of two Ferguson, Missouri police officers, but one black activist says he has a hunch who is responsible. Martin Davis, an author and activist, appeared on Tim Constantine’s D.C.-based radio show Thursday and said he suspects the shooter was part of some type of white militia trying to cause chaos.” – Daily Caller

“Most voters are likely to agree with the open letter to Iran’s mullahs signed by 47 Republican senators. Critics blast it as a political stunt, or worse, but it aligns its signers with a popular majority skeptical of President Obama’s nuke talks with Tehran.” – Washington Examiner

“Where’s Putin? It was the question preoccupying Moscow and much of Russia on Friday, as speculation mounted about why President Vladimir V. Putin had not been seen in public since last week.” – NY Times

LOUISIANA

“The statement did not address the specific acts of sexual harassment that the woman, Cynthia Sloan, alleged in the court filings, including groping her at a dinner meeting, texting her with inappropriate messages and making other sexual advances.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Gov. Bobby Jindal said his skin color won’t matter at all in a Republican presidential primary during an interview in Breaux Bridge with CNBC. ‘I don’t think it matters at all. The only colors that should matter are red, white and blue. It shouldn’t matter what the color of anybody’s skin is. Nobody should vote for or against the president because of the color of their skin,’ said Jindal, when asked about whether his ethnicity would be a factor with GOP primary voters.” – NOLA.com

“Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne is an announced candidate for governor of Louisiana in this fall’s election. Dardenne says that he is running on his record.  I took him at his word and began responding to his Twitter posts by pointing out portions of his record.  A couple of days ago, Dardenne blocked me from access to his Twitter account.” – Forgotston

“Even after Jamie D. Croom was released from federal prison in April 2013, the New Roads man wasn’t really free. Fresh off five years in a federal penitentiary for carrying a gun in a drug trafficking crime, Croom, 31, was supposed to stay clean for another five years — a form of probation called supervised release.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The Army said it has recovered the bodies of two of the four soldiers from the Louisiana Army National Guard helicopter. The remains of the two other soldiers remain trapped in the chopper wreckage, the National Guard said.” – NOLA.com

“Less than a week after that SAE video from the University of Oklahoma surfaced, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at Louisiana Tech is being investigated for racist allegations.” – KSLA

“Tyrann Mathieu’s mom, Sheila Mathieu, was among the 20 people charged in a 26-count conspiracy indictment announced Thursday by federal prosecutors in New Orleans.” – NOLA.com

“The area around the old LSU Earl K. Long Medical Center already has plenty of liquor stores, payday loan shops and strip malls, so they don’t want anymore built, neighbors of the closed facility told political leaders Thursday night. What’s needed is a good grocery store that sells healthy foods.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“Gov. Bobby Jindal is targeting gambling revenue as a financing source to keep sexual assault victims from having to pay for their own medical exams.” – Lake Charles American Press

“The Tigers (22-9) make their 2015 SEC Tournament debut at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Auburn (14-19), a surprising two-game winner on the first two days of the event at Bridgestone Arena. LSU will apparently be at or close to full strength, with All-SEC sophomore forward Jordan Mickey expected to be back in action after he sat out the regular-season finale at Arkansas with a shoulder injury.” – NOLA.com