Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has drawn a last-minute primary challenger as tensions remain high between him and former House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Aaron Dimmock filed to challenge Gaetz on Friday — the last day to do so in Florida — according to records from the Florida Department of State. No other fellow Republicans filed against Gaetz in his deep-red Panhandle district.


Dimmock is a retired Navy officer who serves as director for leadership programs at the University of West Florida’s Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz Center for Leadership, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
Gaetz has long feuded with McCarthy and led the successful effort to oust him from the speakership last year. Allies of McCarthy have been working to recruit challengers to Gaetz and the seven other Republicans who joined Democrats to boot McCarthy from his post.
Dimmock did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his candidacy.
In a fundraising email, Gaetz bashed Dimmock as McCarthy’s “handpicked RINO candidate.” While the Florida primary is not until Aug. 20, Gaetz has already aired TV ads touting his warm relationship with former president Donald Trump.

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Whitmer, Shapiro, Newsome and probably Harris would beat Trump. Somehow that doesn’t matter to the President.

USA Today released a list of the top 10 gas stations for food in America. Did yours make the list?

1. Royal Farms: The chain also sells a wide variety of packaged snacks and fountain and bottled beverages.
2. Casey's: Casey's stores have sandwiches, wings, and breakfast items along with prepackaged fare, but they're known for their pizza.
3. Kwik Trip: People come to Kwik Trip for the gas, but they come inside for the bakery which serves bread, muffins, cookies, bagels, and doughnuts. They also offer burritos, pizza, salads, soups, and fried chicken.
4. Rutter's: Their food service counter is open 24/7 and includes seafood, burgers, pizza and subs, plus a full breakfast menu and a kid's menu.
5. TravelCenters of America: Hard to argue with this one, and at least there are some in Florida. TravelCenters truck stops include complete full-service restaurants in their locations, and some are partnered with a variety of fast food places such as Popeyes and Taco Bell.
6. Maverik: Inside a Maverik store you'll find BonFire Foods, an eatery making fresh pizzas, wraps, salads, sandwiches, and burritos every day.
7. QuickChek: The more than 150 stores in New Jersey and New York are popular for their soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, seasonal dishes and bakery goods such as their signature cookies.
8. Weigel's: If you haven't driven through Tennessee you might not be familiar with Weigel's, which has about a hundred gas stations all over the eastern side of the state. But locals like the doughnuts, cookies, and muffins coming from the bakery, as well as the store's pizzas, sandwiches, fried chicken, and breakfast foods.
9. QuikTrip: QT Kitchen counters serve up frozen treat concoctions, specialty drinks, breakfast biscuits, macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, pizza, and tacos made fresh to order every day.
10. Buc-ee's: And then there's Buc-ee's. With locations larger than some grocery stores, Buc-ee's is famed for its bewilderingly large array of food, both freshly made (BBQ sandwiches, certified Angus beef brisket, pulled pork, sausages, turkey, kolaches, roasted cinnamon nuts, pastries, fudge, even potato chips) and packaged under the Buc-ee's name such as chips, candy, popcorn, hot sauces, candied jalapeños, the highly addictive Beaver Nuggets, and an entire wall of homemade jerky.

For those traveling, what are your plans? Driving? Flying? Where are you staying? How are you getting tickets?

We are waiting until the result of semifinal, but booked a hotel today. Do you think we should buy tickets now or wait?

You'll remember Akhil as the legal scholar who, while being pro choice himself, nevertheless had the willingness and ability to scrutinize the weaker points of Roe V Wade.

An opinion worth considering.


Jurists who preach fidelity to the Constitution are making decisions that flatly contradict our founding document’s text and ideals.
By Akhil Reed Amar


Forget Donald Trump. Forget Joe Biden. Think instead about the Constitution. What does this document, the supreme law of our land, actually say about lawsuits against ex-presidents?

Nothing remotely resembling what Chief Justice John Roberts and five associate justices declared in yesterday’s disappointing Trump v. United States decision. The Court’s curious and convoluted majority opinion turns the Constitution’s text and structure inside out and upside down, saying things that are flatly contradicted by the document’s unambiguous letter and obvious spirit.


Imagine a simple hypothetical designed to highlight the key constitutional clauses that should have been the Court’s starting point: In the year 2050, when Trump and Biden are presumably long gone, David Dealer commits serious drug crimes and then bribes President Jane Jones to pardon him.

Adam Serwer: The Supreme Court puts Trump above the law

Is Jones acting as president, in her official capacity, when she pardons Dealer? Of course. She is pardoning qua president. No one else can issue such a pardon. The Constitution expressly vests this power in the president: “The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States.”

But the Constitution also contains express language that a president who takes a bribe can be impeached for bribery and then booted from office: “The President … shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors.” And once our hypothetical President Jones has been thus removed and is now ex-President Jones, the Constitution’s plain text says that she is subject to ordinary criminal prosecution, just like anyone else: “In cases of Impeachment … the Party convicted shall … be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.”

Obviously, in Jones’s impeachment trial in the Senate, all sorts of evidence is admissible to prove not just that she issued the pardon but also why she did this—to prove that she had an unconstitutional motive, to prove that she pardoned Dealer because she was bribed to do so. Just as obviously, in the ensuing criminal case, all of this evidence surely must be allowed to come in.

But the Trump majority opinion, written by Roberts, says otherwise, proclaiming that “courts may not inquire into the President’s motives.” In a later footnote all about bribery, the Roberts opinion says that criminal-trial courts are not allowed to “admit testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing the official act itself. Allowing that sort of evidence would invite the jury to inspect the President’s motivations for his official actions and to second-guess their propriety.”

But such an inspection is exactly what the Constitution itself plainly calls for. An impeachment court and, later, a criminal court would have to determine whether Jones pardoned Dealer because she thought he was innocent, or because she thought he had already suffered enough, or because he put money in her pocket for the very purpose of procuring the pardon. The smoking gun may well be in Jones’s diary—her “private records”—or in a recorded Oval Office conversation with Jones’s “advisers,” as was the case in the Watergate scandal. Essentially, the Court in Trump v. United States is declaring the Constitution itself unconstitutional. Instead of properly starting with the Constitution’s text and structure, the Court has ended up repealing them.


In a quid-pro-quo bribery case—money for a pardon—Roberts apparently would allow evidence of the quid (the money transfer) and evidence of the quo (the fact of a later pardon) but not evidence of the pro: evidence that the pardon was given because of the money, that the pardon was motivated by the money. This is absurd.

In the oral argument this past April, one of the Court’s best jurists posed the issue well: “Giving somebody money isn’t bribery unless you get something in exchange, and if what you get in exchange is [an] official act … how does [the case] go forward?” The answer, of course, is by allowing evidence of all three legs of the bribery stool—the quid (the money), the quo (the official act), and the pro (the unconstitutional and vicious motive). Yet Roberts’s majority opinion entirely misses the thrust of this oral-argument episode.

This is astonishing, because the impressive jurist who shone in this oral exchange was none other than the chief justice himself. John Roberts, meet John Roberts.

And please meet the John Roberts who has long believed that the judiciary shouldn’t be partisan. Over the course of his career, Roberts has repeatedly said that there are no Republican justices or Democratic justices, no Trump justices or Obama justices or Biden justices—there are just justices, period. Yet the Court in Trump v. United States split along sharply partisan lines—six Republican appointees, three of whom were named to the Court by Trump himself, versus three Democratic appointees. Roberts failed to pull these sides together.

This is precisely the opposite of what happened in the celebrated decision United States v. Nixon, also known as the Nixon-tapes case, in which the Court—including three justices appointed by Richard Nixon himself—issued a unanimous no-man-is-above-the-law ruling against the president. (A fourth Nixon appointee—William Rehnquist, for whom a young Roberts later clerked—recused himself.) The opinion also made clear that presidential conversations with top aides are indeed admissible when part of a criminal conspiracy.


Yesterday’s liberal dissenters came much closer to the constitutional mark, but they, too, made mistakes. Their biggest blunder in Trump was relying on a 1982 case, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, that simply invented out of whole cloth broad immunity for ex-presidents in civil cases. If liberal precedents lacking strong roots in the Constitution, such as Roe v. Wade, are fair game for conservatives, then mistaken conservative precedents ought to be fair game for liberals. Fitzgerald made stuff up, and the liberals should have said so.

No one is above the law—or, at least, no one should be. Not presidents, not ex-presidents, and not justices either. Because the Constitution itself is our highest law, jurists across the spectrum must prioritize that document’s letter and spirit above all else. In Trump v. United States, the Court failed to do this and also failed to live up to America’s highest ideals: nonpartisan justice and the rule of law.

This is a show I've enjoyed for years. I like the reruns that constantly air. So tonight I am watching one of the new reboot episodes on USA. What do ya know? Everyone they are dealing with is an illegal and they are making a political point about ICE, illegals, and the current administration in DC.

What a disgrace that even a good show has become this.

I feel like there are a few obvious ones, but after that it's up in the air.

Nile Kinnick and Caitlin Clark are obvious choices.

Who else? Spencer Lee? Luka Garza? There has to be a tight end in there too, right?

*(Bear with me, I'm only 28 -- I may not be on the same page as y'all with stuff like this)

**This doesn't include coaches. If it did, you'd have to consider Dan Gable, Hayden Fry, KF, Lisa Bluder, etc.

One of the primary things I wanted to learn more about today: How Drew Thelwell and Brock Harding are sharing the backcourt this coming year.

Here's a look at how they're meshing so far on and off the court, how each has grown and is continuing to grow this offseason, what teammates have seen from them in practice and more.

STORY:

Iowa: Rides Bar & Grill
Fort Dodge
When in doubt, try a biker bar. Rides Bar & Grill has burgers named after motorcycles and classic cars, like the Triumph double cheeseburger. A rentable party room often hosts live music.

Kansas: Grandstand Burgers
Overland Park
Grandstand Burgers is a grand name for a tiny place: four stools at a counter and a handful of picnic tables outside. It gets crowded in a building that's mostly kitchen, so expect a line out the door at lunch. Grab a Kelly burger, which has two thick beef patties, bacon, cheese, ham, and a couple of onion rings.

Illinois: Illinois Bar & Grill
Chicago
At Illinois Bar & Grill, they don't fool around: The Famous Chicago burger weighs in at 13 ounces of beef, and the patty goes on a scale each time. It comes with two slices of cheese and condiments, but you might as well gild the lily and get the blanket of bacon as well. A burger that big fits right in with the dive bar décor.

Georgia: Johnny V's
Macon
The hamburger and the cheeseburger are both under $3 at this retro eatery, but you may want to upgrade to a V burger to get fries and a drink. Fans rave about the friendly service and the tasty breakfasts, too.

Florida: El Mago De Las Fritas
Miami
Miami's contribution to the burger world is the fritas, a Cuban-inspired burger topped with a mound of crispy fried shredded potatoes. El Mago de las Fritas is a little one-counter diner with one of the best fritas in the city. The squishy hamburger bun is grilled lightly on both sides, and the potato strings are crispy and not too greasy. Try it with cheese and a fried egg on top.

Colorado: Crown Burgers
Denver
Crown Burgers has been around for 29 years, though the retro interior's bright yellow molded booths suggests longer. Don't skip the Royal burger topped with a pile of thinly-sliced pastrami and whatever fixings you want. Steak fries and fat onion rings are musts on the side.

Alaska: Burger Bus
Kenai
Never has there been a truer restaurant name than Burger Bus. It's just an old school bus, permanently parked and with a lean-to-like shack built onto the side offering shelter while you order. Eat your Kenai Killer burger with cheese, bacon, green chiles, and jalapeños at the one picnic table, or in your car. All the burgers come with fries.

Minnesota: Lions Tap
Eden Prairie
The Lions Tap is what you'd expect a bar in Minnesota to look like: wood paneling, mounted fish, and a fireplace for six-month winters. It's a no-frills bar with equally simple burgers with thick patties, fresh toppings, and gooey American cheese. You won't be able to fit your mouth around a double, but get one anyway. They're served on small paper plates, but they're branded with the bar's name — talk about fancy.

Missouri: Squeeze Inn
Stockton
Head to southwest Missouri to find unique cheeseburgers at Squeeze Inn. They make their cheeseburgers — called Squeezeburgers — by piling shredded cheddar atop the patty on the griddle. It melts and forms a crispy, lacy cheese skirt that hangs out of the bun. You'll enjoy it much more than the garden gnomes staring at you in the homey dining room.

Nebraska: Bob’s Bar & Grill
Martinsburg
Like 2K's Kafe in Montana, Bob's has a burger with a thick beef patty about double the diameter of the hamburger bun, overhanging the edges by inches and making two hands a must. Don't be put off by the shaggy-looking building in desperate need of a paint job — the big red "Welcome to Bob's Bar" sign greeting you inside will make you feel instantly at home.

Oklahoma: Sid’s Diner
El Reno
Oklahomans have their own preferred style of burger called the onion burger, which has shaved onions piled on top. When it's flipped, the onions fry on the griddle and are scooped into the bun with the beef. Sid's Diner serves up a favorite version in a small, old-fashioned diner, caramelizing the onions deeply to give the burger a nice char and sweetness. Order online for pickup.

Wisconsin: Wedl’s
Jefferson
Wedl's takes "hole in the wall" to new levels — it's a seasonal, sidewalk shack that's been around for more than a century, cooking thin, smashed slider-style burgers on a griddle with lard and onions.

One of the primary things I wanted to learn more about today: How Drew Thelwell and Brock Harding are sharing the backcourt this coming year.

Here's a look at how they're meshing so far on and off the court, how each has grown and is continuing to grow this offseason, what teammates have seen from them in practice and more.

STORY:

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How ya think the 'investigation' is going?😂😂😂😂😂 It's been dropped you say? No way man. Just no suspects I guess.

Gun violence is down across America this year but it peaks every summer and Chicago’s Fourth of July weekend bore the data out, with 109 people shot, including 19 fatally, police said in a Monday news conference.

All of the victims were boys and men ranging in age from 16 to 36 years old, according to police records.

As of June 24, Chicago had seen 1,105 shooting incidents so far this year. The city had seen 271 gun deaths as of June 24, according to data from the Chicago Police Department.

Last year over the long holiday weekend, 57 people were shot and eight were killed between Friday, June 30 at 6 p.m. and Tuesday, July 4 at 11:59 p.m., according to Chicago police.

“When we look at what happened this weekend, we always like to say that it’s a police issue,” Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said at the news conference. “This is a societal issue. The police cannot be in everybody’s backyard. They cannot be in everyone’s home. They cannot invade every single gathering where there’s a possibility that someone may show up with a gun.”

“Everyone needs to be involved in this, this cannot just be the police department alone,” he added.

On Friday, after dozens of people had already been shot in Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson released a statement addressing the violence.

“We are devastated by the recent violence that has left our city in a state of grief and we extend our heartfelt condolences to the families and communities impacted by these recent events,” Johnson said in the statement. “The City of Chicago is committed to ensuring the safety of all residents and visitors.”

The city had canceled time off for police officers to “maximize presence and ensure prompt incident response,” activated an emergency services assistance center to provide support to people in the community and would hold a community rally Friday afternoon to “promote bonding, support, and healing,” according to Johnson.

But the efforts did not end the shootings.

Snelling urged public cooperation and tips to lead detectives to suspects, especially those who “make the choice” to shoot women and children.

“Those people have to be taken off the street,” Snelling implored. “They have to be put away. If we’re not doing that, then we’re failing other families. We’re failing people in our city.”

One of those killed over the weekend was an 8-year-old-boy who was shot alongside two other boys, ages 5 and 8, according to the Chicago Police Department’s online records.

Several 15- to 16-year-olds were also among those shot over the weekend, police say.

In another instance, eight people between the ages of 18 and 74 suffered gunshot wounds and in a separate incident, seven people aged 15 to 40 years old were shot. The 40-year-old died, according to the police department.

Officers are training for the upcoming Democratic National Convention next month to be better prepared for potential protests or civil unrest, Snelling said.

Then again the dummies eat the fear mongering

So pretty much the entire north-central peninsula is getting pounded with thunderstorms right now, Volusia County is having none of it. It's pretty cool to watch on the accuweather radar.

CR is getting the one and only Uncle Jesse aka John Stamos to appear with The Beach Boys. QC can't compete with that!

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I saw Rubio had a similar video about Cubans getting SS. Is this actually real?

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Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter become the subject of public ridicule for her blindside flagrant foul on Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark.
Carter took to social media to face the backlash. In the process, she issued a ruthless criticism of Clark's game.

"Beside three point shooting what does she bring to the table man ?," Carter wrote.

Ten years from now Chennedy's only claim to WNBA fame may be she shares her initials with a Hall of Famer!