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On the roster: Pence gets tangled in the flag - Trump to label Biden as ‘extreme’ - Biden vows to debate despite Pelosi’s advice - Teen charged with vigilante murders in Wisconsin - Bawdy beans

PENCE GETS TANGLED IN THE FLAG
So let us get the new rules straight: If you’re not able to get the event space that you want, you’re allowed to commandeer a national patriotic shrine to hold your political rally?

But only if you’re the incumbent.

We can’t know what the old Mike Pence would have said about the Obama administration behaving this way – if after bungling the scheduling of their 2012 convention, it told the Park Service to make ready for a political speech at Ft. McHenry that could have been given from absolutely anywhere.

But we do remember what the now-vice president said in 2010 about the kingly conduct of then-President Obama:

“The president is not our teacher, our tutor, our guide or ruler. He does not command us, we command him. We serve neither him nor his vision. It is not his job or his prerogative to redefine custom, law and beliefs; to appropriate industries; to seize the country, as it were, by the shoulders or by the throat so as to impose by force of theatrical charisma his justice upon 300 million others. It is neither his job nor his prerogative to shift the power of decision away from them, and to him and the acolytes of his choosing.”

We remember because Pence’s speech delivered at Hillsdale College was quite a hit among conservatives – helping inflate brief Pence boomlets in 2012 and again in 2016. George Will and other small-government conservatives thrilled at the defiance of the then-Indiana congressman in the face of Obama’s executive overreach. Circumventing Congress to make a presidential appointment? Heavens to Murgatroyd.

But that was before Pence was the acolyte of another president’s choosing.

Back then, though, Democrats scoffed at the warnings from Pence and other conservatives about how the Obama administration was abusing the presidency for political gain.

Then-Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus demanded a formal investigation into presidential visits to swing states during the 2012 election year. Pointing to one Florida event in particular, Priebus wrote: “This speech was high on class warfare, slogans and divisive campaign-style rhetoric.”

Priebus cautioned against “a pattern of behavior that is worsening” when it comes to the blurring of official and political activities. He had no idea how right he would be.

But Democrats could not comprehend that there might ever be a Republican president again, let alone that there would be one who might turn the White House into the set for a four-day primetime campaign ad.

This was the time when Democrats believed that Republicans well deserved to have the pointy end of presidential power directed their way. “We’re not going to get hot and bothered by ... RNC stunts,” Obama adviser David Axelrod said at the time, dismissing the reasonable concerns that others might have about how the president uses his position.

Now as Democrats watch a presidential administration openly subsumed by a presidential campaign, they’re at a loss for how to respond. So, they scream “Hatch Act!”

The Hatch Act, to belabor an already belabored point, is a federal law intended to prevent government workers from using their time on the job for politics. In the 1930s it was common practice to stash political operatives in government sinecures from which they would do campaign work – double duty patronage.

Unwilling or unable to make an effective moral case against the careless use of public office for political gain, Democrats look to some outside legal authority to say that it’s a crime.

Like Priebus hoping that the Government Accounting Office would rein in Obama, they looked to the Office of Special Counsel. And in both cases, as Al Gore would say, they found “no controlling legal authority” to impede the administration’s goals.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was vibing with Axelrod’s eye rolls when he was asked about the public spaces being used for political rallies: “Nobody outside of the Beltway really cares.”

Oh.

Certainly the ongoing pandemic creates a different set of standards. While Democrats have complained about Trump broadcasting from the White House, it certainly seems reasonable that he would avoid unnecessary travel.

So how does that relate to Pence traveling to Baltimore so he could wrap himself in the “Star Spangled Banner?”

Pence gave a competently delivered, very typical, highly partisan speech for a running mate. He was on the attack against Joe Biden and flung his zingers with enthusiasm. And had it been given from his well-appointed home at the Naval Observatory, any ballroom or event space, it would have been perfectly in keeping with his job as a candidate for re-election.

But why should he get to deliver it from the heart of one of America’s best-loved patriotic shines? Why shouldn’t Kamala Harris have been able to make her speech last week from such an august public facility? The answer seems obvious: Because she’s not in power and Pence is.

So, if Biden wins, does Harris get to take Beyonce to Independence Hall to sing “America the Beautiful” in 2024?

The danger with these petty bipartisan vandalisms of public institutions is that they further erode public trust. Not only do Americans see the party in power taking more and more liberties with their offices, but the abuses cheapen those things that should be held above partisan politics.

That fort, where America began to turn the war that truly won our independence and that flew the flag that inspired our national anthem, belongs to every American. It’s not a place for zinger flinging and political attacks, it is a place for solemn reverence and gratitude.

For those who have never been, we urge you to go. The simple presentation in the humble museum there will make your eyes well and your heart soar. Take your kids and stand on the parapet to imagine the feeling of that lonesome, outnumbered, outgunned garrison and its rag-tag troops against the greatest navy in the world.

A place like that deserves to be insulated from partisanship, not strip-mined for its use in a campaign.

We’ll give the old Mike Pence the last word on that:

"We fought a war so that we do not have to treat even kings like kings, and – if I may remind you –we won that war. Since then, the principle of royalty has, in this country, been inoperative. Who is better suited or more required to exemplify this conviction, in word and deed, than the President of the United States?"

Vice presidents, too.

THE RULEBOOK: IMPRACTICAL FRACTIONAL
“Leave America divided into thirteen or, if you please, into three or four independent governments--what armies could they raise and pay--what fleets could they ever hope to have?” – John Jay, discussing dangers from foreign force and influence, Federalist No. 4

TIME OUT: THE SCIENCE OF SWARMS
Nature: “On top of coronavirus, many countries are dealing with a second dangerous plague. Since the end of 2019, gigantic swarms of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria have been devouring crops across East Africa, the Middle East and southwest Asia. It is the worst locust crisis some regions have seen for 70 years. The upsurge — which has been linked to unusually heavy rains and a tropical cyclone on the Arabian Peninsula — has produced devastating swarms in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen and India, with many more countries under threat. … Swarms typically contain between 4 billion and 8 billion locusts, and can eat in a day the equivalent of what at least 3.5 million people would consume. … But researchers are making progress. They are starting to understand how the insects communicate; some have used data from other outbreaks to design tools to predict when and where the next ones will happen.”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL HEAD-TO-HEAD AVERAGE
Trump: 43 percent
Biden: 51.2 percent
Size of lead: Biden by 8.2 points
Change from one week ago: Biden no change in points, Trump no change in points
[Average includes: CNN: Trump 46% - Biden 50%; ABC News/WaPo: Trump 44% - Biden 54%; NBC News/WSJ: Trump 41% - Biden 50%; Fox News: Trump 42% - Biden 49%; NPR/PBS News/Marist: Trump 42% - Biden 53%.]

BATTLEGROUND POWER RANKINGS
(270 electoral votes needed to win)
Toss-up: (109 electoral votes): Wisconsin (10), Ohio (18), Florida (29), Arizona (11), Pennsylvania (20), North Carolina (15), Iowa (6)
Lean R/Likely R: (180 electoral votes)
Lean D/Likely D: (249 electoral votes)

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE
Average approval: 43 percent
Average disapproval: 54.6 percent
Net Score: -11.6 points
Change from one week ago: no change in points
[Average includes: CNN: 43% approve - 54% disapprove; ABC News/WaPo: 42% approve - 57% disapprove; NBC News/WSJ: 44% approve - 53% disapprove; Fox News: 44% approve - 54% disapprove; Gallup: 42% approve - 55% disapprove.]

GOT A WILD PITCH? READY TO THROW A FASTBALL?
We’ve brought “From the Bleachers” to video on demand thanks to Fox Nation. Each Wednesday and Friday, Producer Brianna McClelland will put Politics Editor Chris Stirewalt to the test with your questions on everything about politics, government and American history – plus whatever else is on your mind. Sign up for the Fox Nation streaming service here and send your best questions to HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM.

TRUMP TO LABEL BIDEN AS ‘EXTREME’
AP: “President Donald Trump plans to tell voters that Democratic rival Joe Biden would pursue the ‘most extreme set of proposals ever put forward by a major party nominee’ when he delivers his acceptance speech Thursday night at the Republican National Convention. Trump has complained that the Democrats’ message was too dark and pessimistic when they held their own scaled-back convention last week. But excerpts of the president’s prepared remarks suggest he, too, will have plenty of negative things to say, excoriating Biden, who ran a centrist campaign for the Democratic nomination. ‘At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies or two agendas,’ Trump is expected to say. … Aides said Trump will also make clear that he plans to unite a country that has increasingly shown fractures in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice.”

Hurricane complicates Trump’s big night - Fox News: “Amid questions over how Hurricane Laura’s devastating impact on the Gulf Coast would affect Thursday night's final session of the Republican National Convention, the Trump campaign tells Fox News that President Trump's acceptance speech ‘will happen as scheduled tonight.’ Packing winds up to 150 miles per hour, the extremely powerful storm slammed into southwestern Louisiana early on Thursday morning. The city of Lake Charles took a direct hit… The White House on Thursday morning said that Trump will visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters and receive a briefing on the response this afternoon. There is some precedent for a national political party convention behind held far from the impact zone of a hurricane being delayed due to the storm. In 2008, the first night of the GOP convention being held in Minnesota was mostly scrapped as Hurricane Gustav made landfall in Louisiana.”

Why Rudy is always on Trump’s roster - Politico: “Very few people have remained constant in President Donald Trump’s orbit amid three years whipsawing between scandals. And then there’s Rudy Giuliani. The former New York City mayor has ties to two indicted Ukrainians, has consorted with a third whom the Trump administration says is a conduit for Russian propaganda and figured in Democrats’ impeachment case against Trump more than 500 times on the Senate floor. The left loathes him and some Republicans have counseled the president to cut him off. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) has even ‘told the president that having him around is bad for the administration and America,’ a spokesman confirmed this week. Yet there he’ll be on Thursday, the final night of the Republican National Convention, making a prime-time case for Trump’s reelection — even as he has come under scrutiny from the feds. To Trump’s defenders, it’s the ultimate display of loyalty to a man who has protected and stuck with him throughout his presidency. But to his fiercest critics, it’s confirmation that the president continues to elevate his own interests above those of the country.”

Ernst goes all in on Trump as lone vulnerable senator at RNC - Roll Call: “Surrounded by bales of hay with a tractor in the background, Sen. Joni Ernst took a turn in the national spotlight Wednesday to make her case for reelecting President Donald Trump. … During her four-minute speech, Ernst praised the president’s response to a recent derecho, or massive wind storm often described as a ‘land hurricane,’ that devastated Iowa. She also referenced her own relationship with Trump… While Ernst is among several of the president’s allies in Congress featured during this week’s convention, she is also the only vulnerable GOP senator to make a prime-time appearance. Several other senators have been featured in a program streamed online before the convention. Her decision to highlight Iowa farmers underscores the importance of rural voters when it comes to winning statewide. And Ernst’s speech provided a sharp contrast to last week’s Democratic convention, where Iowa Rep. Cindy Axne interviewed a farmer struggling under Trump’s trade policies.”

BIDEN VOWS TO DEBATE DESPITE PELOSI’S ADVICE
NYT: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the nation’s top elected Democrat, said on Thursday that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. should not debate President Trump, telling reporters that she believed her party’s nominee ‘shouldn’t dignify that conversation with Donald Trump.’ ‘I wouldn’t legitimize a conversation with him, nor a debate,’ Ms. Pelosi said at her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill. … Mr. Biden said on Thursday that not only would he debate Mr. Trump, he would fact-check him. ‘I’m going to be a fact-checker on the floor while I’m debating him,’ Mr. Biden told MSNBC, adding that the president had a ‘somewhat pathological tendency not to tell the truth.’ Republicans have pushed to add a fourth debate, suggesting that Mr. Biden, who is 77 and prone to gaffes, could embarrass himself in an unscripted format.”

Laces into Trump for inciting racial tensions - Yahoo: “Joe Biden gave a surprise interview to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, just hours before Donald Trump accepts the Republican presidential nomination… In the interview, Biden attacked Trump for viewing the violence in Kenosha through a political lens. … Trump ‘views this as a political benefit to him,’ Biden said. ‘He is rooting for more violence, not less.’ As he did in a video posted on Wednesday, Biden supported peaceful protests but condemned the violence that has erupted during the unrest. ‘The thing that bothers me the most is the idea of just pouring gasoline on the racial flames that are burning now,’ Biden said. ‘That does not justify any of the looting, any of the burning, any of the damage being done by protesters. But people have a right to be angry.’ … Biden told Mitchell that he would be open to visiting Wisconsin if it could be done safely.”

Biden campaign to run ad to counter Trump's speech - The Hill: “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's presidential campaign will counter President Trump's final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday with a new ad campaign targeting major networks as the president prepares for his renomination speech. The former vice president's campaign announced Thursday that a two-minute ad would run on the major broadcast channels as well as Fox News and would then run again through the weekend in a number of key battleground states. ‘When Joe Biden is president, America is just going to have to keep up,’ a narrator says in Biden's ad. ‘We won’t have to wait to deal with COVID-19, he’s already got a plan. Won’t have to wait for a president on the side of working families. He’s from Scranton, no one has to tell him Wall Street didn’t build this country. He knows who did,’ the narrator continues.”

TEEN CHARGED WITH VIGILANTE MURDERS IN WISCONSIN
NYT: “The Justice Department on Wednesday announced a civil rights investigation into the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis., as new details emerged in the case, a white teenager who confronted demonstrators was arrested in connection with two deaths, and protests spread to athletes in three pro sports leagues. Protesters have poured into Kenosha’s streets to decry the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black father who was partially paralyzed after a white officer fired at him in front of his children. The authorities released new details of the case on Wednesday that gave a clearer picture of why police officers confronted Mr. Blake, who they said had a knife. … The violence that broke out came as demonstrators scuffled with a group of men carrying long guns who said they were protecting the area from looting. The authorities were investigating whether the white teenager who was arrested on Wednesday, identified as Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was part of a vigilante group. His social media accounts appeared to show an intense affinity for guns, law enforcement and President Trump.”

Wisconsin Dems worry that unrest will help Trump - Politico: “Downtown buildings set ablaze by arsonists were still smoldering from the night before when Kirk Ingram started to paint an angel on his boarded-up store front. Ingram, a Democrat who runs a massage therapy business, said the war-zone images of his city on TV — armed people running through the streets, burned cars and broken windows — were bolstering President Donald Trump's get-tough message. Maybe a few uplifting murals could start to tell a different story about Kenosha, Ingram said Wednesday. … As this battleground state grapples with social unrest, some Democrats fear that the looting and rioting and clashes are feeding Trump’s argument that this is what life would be like under the so-called radical left. The worry is that especially among suburban swing voters, the more upheaval and violence they witness, the more their sympathy for peaceful Black Lives Matters protesters will wane.”

WHITE HOUSE FRETS AT FISCAL CLIFF NEGOTIATIONS
Roll Call: “Another COVID-19 relief package should be coupled with government funding, which expires Sept. 30 unless extended in a stopgap bill, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said Wednesday. ‘I think that if we do a COVID deal right now, we ought to just do a continuing resolution as part of that solution so that we take a shutdown off the table,’ Meadows said Wednesday at a Politico Playbook event. However, Meadows said he was ‘not optimistic’ that a deal would come together soon. He blamed Democrats for the inaction and said President Donald Trump is looking at further executive actions to fill the legislative void. ‘I think the speaker is going to hold out until the end of September and try to get what she wants in the funding for the government during the CR or whatever funding mechanism happens to come up at the end of September,’ Meadows said.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Roanoke College poll shows Biden ahead by 14 points in Virginia - The Roanoke [Va.] Times

Intelligence, law enforcement officials don’t see foreign efforts to target mail-in ballots - Reuters

Tracking the characteristics of swing states since 2000 - FiveThirtyEight

The Judge’s Ruling: Sell Post Office to highest bidder - Fox News

AUDIBLE: DON’T TELL CONGRESS
“Standing on the side of the street yelling at each other is not productive.” – Gilbert, Ariz. Police Chief Michael Soelberg lamenting the outbreak of violence as pro-police protesters confronted anti-police brutality protesters after weeks of counter-demonstrations at one of the city's intersections.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“The Halftime Report is the only daily political email I read. Overall you and the team do a great job and I am grateful. Then you repeat the left and the media’s (but I repeat myself) lie that ‘Biden goes right back to Trump’s soft soap for the racists of the deadly Charlottesville alt-right gathering every time he is asked why he is running.’ And, ‘One doubts the ‘very fine people’ who were marching for white pride in Charlottesville …’ doubles down on the lie. I challenge you to read the ‘whole story’ plus use some common sense. He was clearly speaking of the promoters and the protestors of the Robert E. Lee statue — the primary players in the event. Even the President’s often wandering responses to reporter’s questions don’t justify the confusion those reporters create in this instance. Within a few words of the ‘nice people’ reference he strongly condemns the white separatists who crashed the event. I count on you to be the moderator you claim to be. Repeating leftist lies betrays bias or sloppiness or the pernicious effects of being in the coastal bubble.” – Robert White, Wheat Ridge, Colo.

[Ed. note: Holy guacamole, Mr. White! I’m sure Democrats would like it if we never considered President Trump’s attacks on Joe Biden unless it was to rebut them. I understand why the president’s supporters bristle at the constant accusations of bigotry against their man. But we were not accusing him of bigotry, but rather talking about how he and his party were effectively working to undermine those accusations. The change in tone from the Bannon-era Trump administration to now is quite remarkable. If Trump followed your line of thinking, he would have ignored those concerns or, worse, argued why he had been taken out of context and was really right. He did not do that, but instead used his television time to try to show voters that he is neither racist nor xenophobic. Trump has serious problems with voters on his handling of racial issues, whether you think that is fair or not. Bubbles, Mr. White, are not limited to the coasts. In fact, they tend to be quite individual. As George Orwell put it in one of my favorite lines: “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” Bubbles have to be popped daily because our strong tendency as humans is to believe that our way of thinking is right and leave it unchallenged. And I can say absolutely that it’s just as true in Washington as it is in West Virginia. No part of this nation has the exclusive rights to myopia. We are grateful for your readership and for your efforts to challenge our thinking.]

“The immigrants who came through Ellis Island to help build this country had either sponsors or the willingness and wherewithal to support themselves without the public dole; otherwise, they didn’t get in. Complete with alleged anonymous rumormongering from Axios used to deflect direct accountability for the thesis, the cynicism of your soliloquy on ‘woke sh*t’ was imagination-based yellow journalism worthy of CNN, not Fox. Go ahead and move that tassel across the mortar board, Mr. Stirewalt: You’ve graduated from closet Democrat to moral arbiter of what can and cannot be campaigned upon. If the chameleon known as Biden wins the White House to implement the rest of Valerie Jarrett’s policies, he has said he’ll start by making citizens out of [at least] 11 million line-cutting illegals already here. You can quote the Aug. 26th Halftime Report proving you deserve that. Unfortunately, America does not.” – Howard Bartlett, Casselberry, Fla.

[Ed. note: First, Mr. Bartlett, I feel such sadness that you are so angry at me. When I read notes like yours – or ones even more wrathful or those that are profane or crude – my heart really does hurt for the sender – and for our country. There is so much rage in the political world, a kind of seething contempt that makes real discourse impossible. We here start with the presumption that leaders in both parties want the best things for our nation. I laughed at the line from former President Barack Obama to the New Yorker “If you look at Joe Biden’s goals and Bernie Sanders’s goals, they’re not that different, from a forty-thousand-foot level. They both want to make sure everybody has health care. They want to make sure everybody can get a job that pays a living wage. They want to make sure every child gets a good education.” From that altitude, you could say that Biden’s goals weren’t that different President Trump’s… or anybody’s. The bold platform of access to health care, good jobs and good education isn’t exactly a radical stance. But different people have different ideas about how to achieve those goals. The system works when enough people gather behind an idea that advances toward those goals in a way that most Americans can live with. It’s a messy business and requires compromise. Compromise, alas, requires goodwill. In the past 20 years we have seen both the left and the right decide that the other side is not acting with good faith. Certainly, we could find lots of examples to prove both sides right. But that does not excuse them for stopping to try. Living in a republic demands that, like Charlie Brown, our leaders keep coming back to the football, not taking their ball and going home. I believe that you are sincerely afraid of a Biden presidency, and inferring from your tone, that you believe Biden would work to harm the United States. But you can’t let your fear and anger stop up your ears. This experiment in self-government requires us forever returning to try to find common cause with those with whom we disagree. The contempt you feel for Democrats is a poison -- but not to them, to you and to our hopes of rebuilding a political system that works. I can’t imagine why a person who so despises me would subscribe to this note, but I can certainly say that I am glad you are here. I hope that sometimes you see goodness here or a feeling of patriotic grace that transcends partisanship. We are Americans first.]

“My solution for riots is pretty simple. Have several Fire Dept pumpers, with a dye in their tanks accompany the police to the protests. When the curfew is violated or some violent behavior occurs, have the police announce that they are to disperse within 15 minutes. Any who are still there after that time are hosed down and anyone found with dye on them are arrested and charged with the appropriate criminal charge. They can be kept in a fenced area with male and female porta potties and stay there while they are being processed and taken to see a judge.” – Tom Winter, Lt. Col. USMC (Ret), Steele, Mo.

[Ed. note: I gotta tell you, Col. Winter, I like where you're going here -- right down to the porta potties. Thanks for sharing.]

“I'm an active duty Soldier, husband, and father of three currently serving in the Middle East. Simply because of how busy we are, I don't have time to keep up with news as I could back home. I don't have any question, I just want to say thank you for giving me one place where I can, for the most part, stay up-to-date on happenings back home. I enjoy what I see as the unbiased nature of the collection and can't tell you how much of a difference it makes for me. It's a connection to home.” – 1st. Lt. John Moran, hometown Philadelphia, N.Y.

[Ed. note: Lieutenant, you can consider our week made. Our aim is to be useful to readers just like you who want broad-spectrum political news but don’t have time to wade through the marshes of information overload to get it. If we can give some kind of a decent overview in the span of 15 minutes or so then we consider our goal achieved. Please stay safe over there and share our glad tidings with your fellow servicemembers. Thank you for your service and willingness to be away from the ones you love for the sake of the land you love. We are in your debt.]

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

BAWDY BEANS
Akron [Ohio] Beacon Journal: “Lamia Singfield of Akron said she had purchased a pack of smoked turkey tails from the grocery store to cook for dinner. But as she was cooking them in beans, she said something didn’t look right. One of the tails looked a lot more like a human penis than any other kind of meat, she said. ‘I’m calling Save A Lot, this ain’t right,’ Singfield said on a Facebook livestream. ‘I know what this is.’ Her receipt says she bought turkey tails, she said. A photo of the label she provided says ‘smoked pork tails.’ … Akron police responded to the home Monday evening to make a report and take the mystery meat to the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office for testing. … On Wednesday morning, an investigator at the Medical Examiner’s Office said they determined the meat was pork, not human. … Singfield declined to comment… referencing the fact that she now has an attorney handling the situation.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“It was said of Sen. Hiram W. Johnson that ‘he found it difficult to serve God and William Randolph Hearst at one and the same time.’ The Democrats’ dilemma is that they find it difficult to serve truth and William Jefferson Clinton at one and the same time.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing about the impeachment trial of President Clinton in the Washington Post on Feb. 2, 1999.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.