Out d’Coup | RIP John McCain; Huge Progressive Win in FL; O’Rouke Shreds Cruz; Puerto Rico Death Toll 2,975; Dems Fast Track Trump Judges; Week in Wagner; Space News, Free Will Can Releases; More!

RIP Sen. John McCain. While the week was dominated by accolades for McCain, let’s remember that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can respect his contributions to the country AND remember that his presidential campaign set the table for Trump and the Tea Party dominance of the Republican Party.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum pulled out a huge upset in the Florida Democratic Gubernatorial Primary,  despite being outspent by the Democratic Party favorite by 43 to 1. Gillum’s GOP opponent, Ron DeSantis, went on Fox News the following morning and said that Florida shouldn’t “monkey this up.”   

Paul Manafort tried to take a page out of the Art of the Deal with Robert Muller, but that fell apart. Beto O’Rouke is in a dead tie with Ted Cruz, so the Texas GOP attacks Beto for his skateboarding skills and his history in a punk rock band on Twitter.  It backfires spectacularly.

The death toll in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria has been revised to 2,975 people. That makes the death toll significantly higher than Katrina. According to a new report, the Living Planet Index 2018, the world is on track to lose two-thirds of its wild animals by 2020.

Democrats in DC gave the green light to fast-track the confirmation of 15 Trump appointed federal judges so they could go home. Trump has now appointed more Circuit Court justices than any president in history at this point in their term. The State of Kansas let residents to two Wichita-area neighborhoods drink water contaminated with dry cleaning chemicals for more than 6 years. And, Trump tries to start Google conspiracy theory.

In our PA focus, the latest Franklin and Marshall poll shows Scott Wagner and Lou Barletta getting smoked in the general election. Scott Wagner bombs at the ever so swanky and insiders Pennsylvania Press Club Luncheon. Wagner started by attacking Wolf on education, claiming that he is the only candidate that is right on education.  He said he wants to increase education spending by $1,000,000,000 by cutting property taxes and cutting welfare programs and other departments. He then called out the media, and specifically attacked John Baer, for reporting on his jokes on Russia and other mishaps rather than reporting on the actual issues in this race. As if that wasn’t enough, Wagner then blew off the media and escaped the press club luncheon as if he was finishing an Ocean’s Eleven heist.

Are Penn Waste employees underpaid?  Well, Scottie dodged that question as well. Scott Wagner’s Eagle Disposal went two whole calendar years without properly filling out injury reports and this happened when an employee was killed on the worksite.

In today’s Last Call, NASA wants “lots of people in space” according to Trump appointed NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine. In particular, he wants people back on the moon and to establish moon “Gateways” to the rest of the solar system. The global dust storm on Mars begins to subside. NASA hoping the Opportunity Rover will wake up once the sun begins to charge its batteries. Opportunity was only supposed to last 90 days...it’s been on the surface of Mars for 15 years and logged more than 28 miles. The International Space Station sprung a leak. Could space junk be the culprit? [spacenews]

It’s a double can release this week at Free Will Brewing. Scarecrow Autumn Spiced Ale was released on Thursday.  Cloudy with a Change of Pepperoni, a New England-style IPA, will be released Saturday. Kevin gives an update on Bitter Buddha and Sean throws down the gauntlet when it comes to Philly’s best sandwiches. He’s coming home this weekend for Labor Day!