NATIONAL

“This will not be quick,” Obama cautioned. “This is a long-term campaign.” – POLITICO

“This is the sort of thing you say when you’re trying to break it to people that victory in the new war won’t come soon, and may not come ever. It’s the foreign policy equivalent of another of Obama’s favorite sayings, the old leftist bromide about being on “the wrong side of history”: The enemy’s backwardness is plain and our moral superiority is obvious, so ultimate triumph is assured even in the teeth of immediate defeat. All I could think of while watching this was those photos you see online sometimes of Afghanistan or Iran circa 1960, with all the women in blouses and skirts, and photos of the same two countries today, with women in head coverings or even full burqas. Better ideas don’t always win. Especially if they’re defended by weak leadership.” – Hot Air

“History remembers how we won World War II. Franklin Roosevelt rolled his wheelchair into Germany and debated Adolph Hitler. At the end of the debate, the Germans smacked themselves upside the head, recognized the error of their ways, and laid down their arms.” – Erick Erickson

“Discussions of racial problems almost invariably bring out the cliché of ‘a legacy of slavery.’ But anyone who is being serious, as distinguished from being political, would surely want to know if whatever he is talking about — whether fatherless children, crime, or whatever — is in fact a legacy of slavery or of some of the many other things that have been done in the century and a half since slavery ended.” – Thomas Sowell/National Review

“The emails show Joseph Goffman, the senior counsel of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, circulating talking points from Center for American Progress climate strategy director Daniel Weiss among EPA colleagues attempting to sell the agency’s controversial power plant regulations to a New York Times reporter.” – Washington Free Beacon

“Both her and her campaign are in trouble,” Zogby says. “The very fact that there was a modest sort of acknowledgement of that really should reflect the fact that it’s a much bigger problem. Not only for her, but for the party at this point and time. She is frankly sinking like a rock.” – Newsmax

“By decree of the great state of Oregon, the owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa must pay $135,000 to the lesbian couple whom they ‘mentally raped’ by refusing to bake their wedding cake. This was expected, but the final judgment, handed down last Thursday, came with another twist. Aaron and Melissa Klein have also been given a ‘cease and desist’ order, which effectively decrees they must refrain from stating their continued intention to abide by their moral beliefs.” – The Federalist

“This is merely one of thousands of similar incidents throughout the United States,” Trump said Monday. “In other words, the worst elements in Mexico are being pushed into the United States by the Mexican government.” – The Hill

“A six-time-deported illegal immigrant is charged in the felony hit-and-run of an Arizona mother and her two young children. The man allegedly admitted to being high on marijuana while causing the severe lacerations to a five-year-old boy. The five-year-old and a two-year-old were both taken to an area hospital.” – Breitbart

“In what could be practically a daily feature, another case of Liberal Ethnic Identity Theft (LEIT-skinned??) has been uncovered.” – Power Line

LOUISIANA

“Republican strategists say that rejection of Mr. Obama’s climate policy at the state level could emerge as a conservative litmus test in the 2016 election. Two of the governors who have said that they might defy the regulations — Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana — are among at least four Republican governors who are expected to vie for the presidential nomination.” – NY Times

“The Louisiana chapter of Americans for Prosperity is spending $60,000 for the advertising statewide, The Associated Press reports. The group is coupling the advertising with door-knocking and phone calls to voters, directing them to a website that shows how lawmakers voted on certain financial bills.” – Baton Rouge Business Report

“Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., organized a letter from seven Republican senators urging President Barack Obama to make human rights a key issue when he meets later this week with Vietnamese Communist Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, one of his nation’s top political officials.” – NOLA.com

“David Vitter has been criss-crossing Louisiana for the past six months, holding public events about the issues at the core of his campaign for governor: transportation, energy, flood insurance, and taxes. He’s done all of that on the federal dime.” – Bloomberg

“St. Mary Parish prosecutors have charged three south Louisiana residents with hundreds of counts of theft, racketeering and money laundering that allegedly netted them $1 million to $2 million in cash over 14 years.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The superintendent of New Orleans police said that he is ‘disgusted and pissed off’ by what he called the lazy police work of an NOPD officer who failed to gather and report evidence and then tried to cover up his misdeeds from the original arrest of a man who several hours later shot and killed an NOPD officer.” – WWL-TV

“A small movement is afoot to persuade Cox Communications to air Sunday’s Miss USA pageant, but cable company representatives say they have no plans to broadcast the competition that NBC and Univision dropped last week.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“If you love a comeback story, then downtown Monroe is for you. Over the past few years, the downtown area has been seeing a huge resurgence with businesses, restaurants, housing and events for everyone.” – Monroe News-Star

“The Baton Rouge Area Foundation and Commercial Properties Realty Trust are moving to the top floor of the new riverfront building in downtown that houses IBM. The move to the larger location – roughly twice the usable space of the current offices is set for November.” – Baton Rouge Advocate

“The problem, in Delacroix’s view, is the rock dam constructed in 2009 across the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Delacroix told the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission Thursday that the dam has reduced the flow of salty water into the lake, and has stifled its attractiveness to harvestable sea life like crabs, shrimp and speckled trout.” – NOLA.com