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UPDATE: Two other subjects have been detained for questioning in connection to the Club Blu shooting in Fort Myers, Florida early Monday morning.

Fort Myers Police Department Statement Club Blu

Police have detained three people in connection to the shooting at the Club Blu nightclub early Monday morning in Fort Myers, Florida. The deadly shooting killed two people and wounded as many as 17, with injuries ranging from minor to severe. The attack apparently occurred after a teen party, billed as a “Swimsuit Glow Party,” at Club Blu in Fort Myers, according to local media.

Police Captain Jim Mulligan said in a statement that the area is now safe, no longer being an active shooting situation. Four people remained hospitalized with serious injuries and one of the victims was 12 years old, Cherly Garn, a spokeswoman for Lee Memorial Health System, said.

The shooting at the Club Blu nightclub began at about 12:30 a.m. Monday, Captain Mulligan said, with as many as 17 people being shot in two active crime scenes. Several hours later a street in the area remained closed as police investigated.

In a statement, authorities said the Fort Myers police and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office were “actively canvassing the area looking for other persons who may be involved in this incident.”

The names of the victims were not immediately available, but the shooting marks the second at a Florida nightclub in as many months. Roughly 50 people were killed at the Pulse nightclub in an Islamic terror attack targeting gays in Orlando, Florida.

Police have detained three people in connection

Politics

US-POLITICS-DNC-WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FL, speaks at the Democratic National Committee’s Womens Leadership Forum Issues Conference in Washington, DC on September 19, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday she will resign as Democratic National Committee chairwoman amid yet another email scandal. The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 hacked emails exposing the corrupt establishment in the Democratic Party.

In a written statement, the controversial party leader said she was “privileged to serve as the DNC Chair for five and a half years.” The leaked emails, which come from the accounts of seven key figures in the DNC, show how the party worked for Hillary Clinton and actively against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic nomination contest.

“Going forward, the best way for me to accomplish those goals is to step down as Party Chair at the end of this convention,” she said in her statement, adding her first priority is serving the people of her Florida congressional district in addition to helping elect Hillary Clinton.

The political fallout over the leaked emails–which also show extensive media bias and corruption at Politico, the Washington Post and Business Insider–has been a stunning development just hours before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Sen. Sanders, who recently endorsed Mrs. Clinton, is on the record stating he would not have reappointed Wasserman Schultz. He ripped the DNC and Wasserman Schultz in interviews on the Sunday talk shows, demanding her resignation.

“I think [Wasserman Schultz] should resign. Period. And I think we need a new chair who is going the lead us in a very different direction,” Sanders told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

Sanders said “these emails reiterate that reason why she should not be chair.”

Schultz was given the position in exchange for Mrs. Clinton actively campaigning to unite the party and elect Barack Obama in 2008, but has since financially run the national committee into the ground. She recently askedthe Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score a proposal that would redirect funds for children’s disease research to pay for the Democratic National Convention next week in Philadelphia [correction].

Still,both President Obama and Mrs. Clinton issued statements thanking Wasserman Schultz for her service as DNC chair.

“I am grateful to Debbie for getting the Democratic Party to this year’s historic convention in Philadelphia, and I know that this week’s events will be a success thanks to her hard work and leadership,” Mrs. Clinton said, adding that she will serve as “honorary chair of my campaign’s 50-state program to gain ground and elect Democrats in every part of the country” and as an attack surrogate.

The report comes only hours after reports surfaced that the DNC chair was ousted in her role at the convention and a Democratic official told the PPD News Network that she had been “quarantined.” But Schultz now says she would still “open and close the convention” and address delegates “about the stakes involved in this election,” in her role as party chair.

She now will step down at the end of the convention.

Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile, another longtime Clinton ally, is expected to take over as interim chair during the rest of the general election campaign. While the party hopes the move will stop the political fallout and bleeding in the polls, the presumptive nominee has more and perhaps bigger problems. After Donald Trump framed the election as a choice between outsider change and the corrupt status quo, her vice presidential choice is under fire and being challenged by Sanders delegates.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday she will

Politics

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Democratic National Committee

Democratic National Committee chair Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks at a press conference promoting the endorsement of David Wecht, Kevin Dougherty, and Christine Donohue for Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and Heather Arnet for State Senate, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015, in Pittsburgh. (Photo: AP/Keith Srakocic)

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been ousted from her convention role after WikiLeaks released emails exposing an anti-Bernie Sanders bias and media corruption. She will not preside over the convention set to kick off Monday and a Democratic official told the PPD News Network that she had been “quarantined.”

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 hacked emails exposing the corrupt establishment in the Democratic Party. The leaked emails, which come from the accounts of seven key figures in the DNC, show how the party including Wasserman Schultz worked for Hillary Clinton and actively against the Vermont senator during the 2016 Democratic nomination contest.

Sen. Sanders, who recently endorsed Mrs. Clinton, is on the record stating he would not have reappointed Wasserman Schultz. He ripped the DNC and Wasserman Schultz in interviews on the Sunday talk shows, demanding her resignation.

“I think [Wasserman Schultz] should resign. Period. And I think we need a new chair who is going the lead us in a very different direction,” Sanders told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

Sanders said “these emails reiterate that reason why she should not be chair.”

The Vermont independent is himself set to speak on the opening night of the Democratic convention, securing an A-list position after a hard-fought, ideological primary battle with Hillary Clinton.

The current DNC chair was given the position in exchange for Mrs. Clinton actively campaigning to unite the party and elect Barack Obama in 2008, but has since financially run the national committee into the ground. She recently asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score a proposal that would redirect funds for children’s disease research to pay for the Democratic National Convention next week in Philadelphia [correction].

The leaked emails also show numerous “mainstream” media “journalists” essentially colluding with the DNC on propaganda disguised as news. In one email dated May 17, Josh Barro, a Senior Editor at Business Insider and MSNBC contributor, is thanked by the DNC for his hit pieces. Greg Sargent, of the Washington Post, is fed numerous stories that are in some cases already pre-written by the DNC.

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Politics

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton

2016 Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, a socialist senator from Vermont, left, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. (Photos: AP)

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 hacked emails exposing the corrupt establishment in the Democratic Party. The leaked emails, which come from the accounts of seven key figures in the DNC, show how the party worked for Hillary Clinton and actively against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 Democratic nomination contest.

Th communications included Communications Director Luis Miranda (10770 emails), National Finance Director Jordon Kaplan (3797 emails), Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer and several others. The newly released emails cover the period from January 2015 through May 25, 2016. One exemplifying email written on May 5 to Miranda suggests attacking Sen. Sanders on his faith in states where religiosity is still a pander point for the Democratic Party.

“It might may [sic] no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief,” the email from “[email protected]” says. “Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.”

Sen. Sanders, who recently endorsed Mrs. Clinton, is on the record stating he would not have reappointed Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. The current DNC chair was given the position in exchange for Mrs. Clinton actively campaigning to unite the party and elect Barack Obama in 2008, but has since financially run the national committee into the ground. She recently asked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to score a proposal that would redirect funds for children’s disease research to pay for the Democratic National Convention next week in Philadelphia [correction].

In another widely circulated email including the aforementioned officials, they took note enough to “Flag” the story covering Sen. Sanders’ comments on Schultz.

The DNC circulated yet another email with the subject line “Failure of Burlington College is a big problem for Bernie and Jane Sanders” citing reports showing how the school blamed the land deal made by the senator’s wife for “going belly up.”

They also express concern that Sen. Sanders was “doing damage by hitting her on trust, honesty, authenticity, judgment” and were concerned “HRC will go into gen election has vulnerable candidate [sic].” So, what was the plan?

“Super PAC paying young voters to push back online on Sanders supporters,” an April 24 email from Jeremy Brinster reads. “She’s forced to continue to appeal to young liberals as opposed to pivoting back to center.”

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said he was reviewing the documents amid calls from supporters expressing anger and calling on him to revoke his endorsement of the presumptive Democratic nominee.

The leaked emails also show numerous “mainstream” media “journalists” essentially colluding with the DNC on propaganda disguised as news. In one email dated May 17, Josh Barro, a Senior Editor at Business Insider and MSNBC contributor, is thanked by the DNC for his hit pieces. Greg Sargent, of the Washington Post, is fed numerous stories that are in some cases already pre-written by the DNC.

“I think the best reporter to give the news to ahead of time is Greg Sargent at the Washington Post,” the National Press Secretary and Deputy Communications Director for the DNC Mark Paustenbach writes in an email dated May 20. “But, the specific reporter is not as important as getting it to an outlet before the news breaks so we can help control the narrative on the front end. Otherwise this may likely get spun in a not-so-helpful way. We should also get Rep. Cummings on the phone with that reporter.”

The email string subject line is “Getting on same page” pertaining to the media narrative.  Ken Vogel at Politico used the DNC as a proofreader even before he handed his “journalism” into his editor, according to an April 30 email from Mr. Paustenbach.

“Vogel gave me his story ahead of time/before it goes to his editors as long as I didn’t share it,” Mr. Paustenbach wrote. “Let me know if you see anything that’s missing and I’ll push back.”

Wow.

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000

Policy

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Speaks at the Old State House in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, July 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton Speaks at the Old State House in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, July 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The United States is laboring through the weakest economic recovery since the Great Depression. Median household income is stagnant and labor-force participation is dismal.

Sounds awful, right?

Compared to the strong growth of the pro-market Reagan years and pro-market Clinton years, it is awful. But maybe we should count our blessings. Here’s a chart from a presentation. by economists from the European Central Bank, and it shows how much the United States has grown since 1999 compared to Japan and euro nations.

We’ve enjoyed nearly twice as much growth as Europe and almost three times as much growth as Japan. Which is remarkable since those countries aren’t as rich as the United States and they should grow faster according to convergence theory.

So while it’s true that Obamanomics hasn’t been good for the United States, it’s apparently not as bad as Abenomics in Japan and Hollandenomics (andRenzinomics and Tsiprasnomics) in Europe.

Allan Meltzer explains why Europe is lagging in an article for the Hoover Institution.

Europe has become the model for how democratic capitalism can give way to the welfare state. Following a surge of market-driven growth after World War II, there was a rise across the continent in income redistribution and regulations intended to protect workers and consumers, and to achieve “fairness.” From the 1960s onward, high tax rates and heavy regulations slowed economic growth. And many welfare state programs became roadblocks to economic progress by resisting reforms and prolonging the current European recession. …France and Italy are not as far along to disaster as Greece, but their welfare systems are also difficult to reduce to regain competitiveness. …Monetary policy cannot overcome real, structural problems. Spain and Ireland showed that EU members can restore growth most effectively by making…painful real changes… Sluggish growth will continue until EU officials adopt policies that encourage private investment.

It’s depressing to think that some American politicians want to copy European failure.

Some of the candidates in the 2016 presidential race offer more welfare state benefits as a remedy for current voter malaise. The promise is that the way to make everyone better off is by taxing high incomes and distributing more to others. That’s the route that many in Europe took. Instead of the promised happy outcome, much of Europe got slow growth and high unemployment and an ever greater need to restore competitiveness by reducing the expanded welfare state. …Prime Minister Thatcher often said, “The welfare state will end when they run out of YOUR money.” If she was right, the end for Europe is here. And the lesson for the United States is to adopt less costly policies before debt markets force the change. …the lesson for the United States is that we will not escape the problems of the welfare state.

Even the left-wing bureaucrats at the OECD sort of admit Europe is falling behind.

I’ve previously shared data from the OECD showing much higher living standards in the US than in Europe, and here are some excerpts from a recent report on global migration patterns for high-skilled workers.

…migrants to the EU are younger and less well educated than those in other OECD destinations. Of the total pool of highly-educated third-country migrants residing in EU and OECD countries, the EU hosts less than one-third (31%), while more than half (57%) are in North America. …most importantly, many labour migrants are not coming to the EU under programmes for skilled workers. …EU Member States covered by EU legal migration policies received annually less than 80 thousand highly qualified third country labour migrants. By comparison, Canada and Australia have annual admissions under their selective economic migration programmes for highly-qualified workers of 60 thousand each.

In the section on recommendations, you won’t be surprised to learn that the OECD failed to suggest pro-market reforms.

There’s boilerplate language about streamlining the process for high-skill immigrants, but nothing about the stifling tax burdens and expensive welfare states that cause European economies to be so stagnant and unappealing.

One very visible manifestation of inferior living standards in Europe is that people generally have very cramped housing conditions compared to the United States (even Americans in poverty have more living space than the average European).

And to make matters worse, air conditioning is the exception not the rule.

Amusingly, Europeans pretend to feel superior about their summertime misery, as reported by the Washington Post.

Whereas many Americans would probably never consider living or working in buildings without air conditioning, many Germans think that life without climate control is far superior. …many Europeans visiting the U.S. frequently complain about the “freezing cold” temperatures inside buses or hotels. …Europe thinks America’s love of air-conditioning is actually quite daft. …according to the Environmental Protection Agency, …demand for air-conditioning has only  increased over the past decades. …the United States consumes more energy for air conditioning than any other country. …Europeans are generally more used to warmer room temperatures because most of them grew up without any air-conditioning.

As one might expect, the issue is being used by climate alarmists.

Another factor that may explain Europe’s sniffy reaction toward American cooling is the continent’s climate change awareness. According to a 2014 survey, a majority of Europeans would welcome more action to stop global warming. Two thirds of all E.U. citizens said that economies should be transformed in an environmentally-friendly manner. Cooling uses much more energy than heating, which is why many Europeans prefer sweating for a few days… America’s air-conditioning addiction may also have another negative side effect: It will make it harder for the U.S. to ask other countries to continue to abstain from using it to save energy. …”If everyone were to adopt the U.S.’s air-conditioning lifestyle, energy use could rise tenfold by 2050,” Cox added, referring to the 87-percent ratio of households with air-conditioning in the United States.

I’m much more tolerant of heat than the average American, so I probably could survive in a world without air conditioning.

But I hope that day never arrives and I continue to enjoy the full benefits of living in a first-world nation.

Let’s close with a fascinating map showing populations changes in Europe from 2001-2011. It’s in German, but all you need to know is that dark red means a 2-percent-plus increase in population while dark blue means a decline of at least 2 percent.

France and Ireland have population growth, as well as (to a lesser extent) Northern Italy and Poland.

But take a look at Portugal, Northwestern Spain, Eastern Germany, and the non-Polish portions of Eastern Europe. You’ll understand why I fret about demographic crisis in both Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

The U.S. economy has suffered the weakest

Politics

VA-Gov-Terry-McAuliffe

Terry McAuliffe gestures as he talks with members of the House and Senate adjournment committee at the Capitol in Richmond. (Steve Helber/AP)

The Supreme Court of Virginia struck down Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s executive order allowing more than 200,000 felons to vote in November. While the order targeted those who had completed their sentences, the move was designed to hand his political ally Hillary Clinton a victory in the Old Dominion against Donald Trump.

Now, the decision dealt a major blow to the Democratic governor and their plans for the November presidential race in the crucial swing state. In a 4-3 ruling issued Friday, the state’s high court ruled that Gov. McAuliffe overstepped his executive clemency powers under the state constitution by issuing a sweeping order, not on a case-by-case basis, back in April.

The court agreed with state Republicans who challenged Gov. McAuliffe’s order, arguing voting rights should be restored on a case-by-case basis.

“Never before have any of the prior 71 Virginia Governors issued a clemency order of any kind — including pardons, reprieves, commutations, and restoration orders — to a class of unnamed felons without regard for the nature of the crimes or any other individual circumstances relevant to the request,” Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons wrote for the majority. “To be sure, no Governor of this Commonwealth, until now, has even suggested that such a power exists.”

The court ordered the state to cancel the registration of all felons under the order. More than 11,000 felons have registered to vote under the action. To be clear, the court did not strike down felon voting, but simply ruled it should be case-by-case and far beyond the governor’s sole power.

[caption id="attachment_30703" align="aligncenter" width="740"] Terry McAuliffe gestures

Economy

Job seekers navigate through a better labor market but still teetering economy. (Photo: REUTERS)

Job seekers navigate through a better labor market but still teetering economy. (Photo: REUTERS)

Last year, I shared the most depressing PowerPoint slide in Danish history. Back in 2011, I wrote about a depressing picture of tax complexity in America.

Let’s continue with the “depressing” theme today.

James Bessen, from Boston University Law School, has an interesting article in theHarvard Business Review about the source of corporate profits in the 21st century (h/t: James Pethokoukis).

He starts with an observation and a query.

Profits are up. …is it good news for society?

The default answer presumably is yes. Higher profits, after all, generally are a sign of wise investments.

And when labor and capital are allocated wisely, that’s good news for consumers and workers.

But Bessen correctly observes that profits can increase for bad reasons, and that’s the focus of his research.

…the rise in profits might represent a decline in…economic dynamism. …Firms engage in political “rent seeking”—lobbying for regulations that provide them sheltered markets—rather than competing on innovation. If so, then high profits portend diminished productivity growth. …In a new research paper, I tease apart the factors associated with the growth in corporate valuations.

Unfortunately, he finds that cronyist policies account for a depressingly large share of corporate profits.

I find that investments in conventional capital assets like machinery and spending on R&D together account for a substantial part of the rise in valuations and profits, especially during the 1990s. However, since 2000, political activity and regulation account for a surprisingly large share of the increase.

Here’s a very grim chart from his article. At the very least, I’ll call this the most depressing image of 2016.

Ugh, what a dismal observation on the state of our economy. Companies are almost making as much money from manipulating Washington as they earn from serving consumers. Heck, just consider the way politically connected financial institutions tilt the playing field for unearned goodies.

Bessen adds some analysis, including the very important insight that regulation and intervention tends to help big companies relative to small companies and new competitors.

Much of this result is driven by the role of regulation… Lobbying and political campaign spending can result in favorable regulatory changes, and several studies find the returns to these investments can be quite large. For example, one study finds that for each dollar spent lobbying for a tax break, firms received returns in excess of $220. …regulations that impose costs might raise profits indirectly, since costs to incumbents are also entry barriers for prospective entrants. For example, one study found that pollution regulations served to reduce entry of new firms into some manufacturing industries.

It’s also worth noting that he finds that this bad news really started back in 2000, which makes sense given that both Bush and Obama have pushed policies that have expanded the clumsy footprint of government.

This research supports the view that political rent seeking is responsible for a significant portion of the rise in profits. Firms influence the legislative and regulatory process and they engage in a wide range of activity to profit from regulatory changes, with significant success. …while political rent seeking is nothing new, the outsize effect of political rent seeking on profits and firm values is a recent development, largely occurring since 2000. Over the last 15 years, political campaign spending by firm PACs has increased more than thirtyfold and the Regdata index of regulation has increased by nearly 50% for public firms.

What an awful cycle. Government gets bigger and more powerful, which lures companies into viewing Washington as a profit center, which then leads to more policies that expand the size and power of the federal government, which leads to further opportunities for rent-seeking behavior. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Oh, and don’t forget this is one of the reasons why there’s a revolving door of insiders who shift back and forth between the private sector and government, but their real job is always to be working the system to obtain undeserved wealth.

Which is why I periodically explain that there’s a big difference between being pro-market and being pro-business.

P.S. Earlier this year, I shared some data, based on sources of billionaire wealth, that suggested that cronyism wasn’t a major factor in the United States. But Bessen’s new research nonetheless shows we do have a major problem, perhaps because people who get rich honestly then decide to maintain their wealth dishonestly.

P.P.S. If there’s any sort of silver lining to this bad news, it’s this amusing parody commercial about Kronies, which are toys for the children of Washington’s gilded class.

Depressing data show American companies are almost

Elections

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and Hillary Clinton, right, appear at an event together ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, left, and Hillary Clinton, right, appear at an event together ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, widely thought to be Hillary Clinton’s VP pick, is under fire from members of his own party over a letter to banks. Sen. Kaine signed a letter requesting regulators to rethink how banking rules cover regional banks. The letter was addressed to chiefs at the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Now, some liberal groups are furious that Kaine, along with several other Democratic senators, are telling their party’s soon-to-be presidential nominee exactly how they feel.

“Let’s be really clear: It should be disqualifying for any potential Democratic vice presidential candidate to be part of a lobbyist-driven effort to help banks dodge consumer protection standards and regulations designed to prevent banks from destroying our economy,” Democracy for America executive director Charles Chamberlain said in a statement Thursday. “Our presidential ticket cannot beat the billionaire bigot by simply being not-Donald Trump. To win in November, our ticket needs to have an unquestionably strong record in the fight against income inequality, one of the defining issues of the 2016 election.”

Kaine was one of four Senate Democrats to sign on to the letter, to include Virginia Sen. Mark Warner. Sens. Kaine and Warner have strong lobbyist ties to Capital One, the tenth biggest bank in the United States by assets, which is now based in McLean, Virginia (thanks to their party).

The political firestorm and disunity within the party comes as Mrs. Clinton was expected to announce her decision in an effort to blunt Donald Trump and the message coming out of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. The dustup underscores Mr. Trump’s message framing the election as a choice between an outsider bringing real change to maintaining the corrupt status quo of a rigged system.

In a statement, Kaine spokeswoman Amy Dudley argued the Virginian has a strong record on pushing stronger banking regulations.

“Sen. Kaine is a strong supporter of Dodd Frank’s financial protections because certain financial institutions wreaked havoc on the American economy, hurting millions of Americans in the process and believes we need strong rules‎ to stop that chaos from happening again,” Dudley said. “The toughest regulation should be on the biggest and riskiest institutions. Credit unions, community banks and regional banks need to be carefully regulated, but the nature of the regulation can be different to ensure scarce resources are efficiently spent allowing regulators to focus on the bad actors.”

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, widely thought to

Politics

Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena. (Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio at the Quicken Loans Arena. (Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters)

In his highly-anticipated speech at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump lived up to his nickname as a working class billionaire. The 2016 Republican presidential nominee, speaking at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio pledged to “restore law and order” fight everyday to put America first and be the voice of “the forgotten” struggling citizens.

“Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been ignored, neglected and abandoned. … These are people who work hard but no longer have a voice,” Trump said. “I am your voice.”

The New York businessman closed out his historic address by flipping Hillary Clinton’s “I’m with her” campaign slogan on its head.

“I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads, I’m with you,” Trump said.

He praised law and enforcement and his theme was a heavy law-and-order message, declaring from the convention floor in Cleveland, “Safety will be restored” under a Trump presidency.

“America will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced,” Trump vowed, using the words “safe” and “safety” 11 times.

Keeping with trademark lack of tolerance for political correctness, Mr. Trump dissected Mrs. Clinton’s foreign policy record as secretary of state, citing the bloody result of her interventionist foreign policy in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya. He said if you want to hear “the corporate spin, the carefully crafted lies, and the media myths, the Democrats are holding their convention next week — go there. But here, at our convention, there will be no lies.”

Clinton’s legacy is “death, destruction, terrorism and weakness,” he said, but added that “Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy.”

A major theme in his speech was that a big “change in leadership” is needed in order to overcome the nation’s challenges in a “moment of crisis.” He argued that the nation’s problems are created by politicians and only a non-politician can fix it. Who better to fix it, then Donald Trump, he argued.’

“I know the system better than anybody,” he said, “which is why I alone can fix it.”

Mr. Trump also hit on all his major campaign promises and themes, mentioning the word “trade” 14 times and drew big applause for vowing to build “The Wall.” He said he would build a southern border wall and “immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.”

“Anyone who endorses violence and hatred” will not be allowed to entry and the opportunity to threaten American families. “We don’t want them in our country.”

In what was a historic moment, Mr. Trump vowed to protect LGBTQ citizens from terrorism like the radical Islamist attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. In what was truly a powerful moment he showed his gay-rights support by thanking the crowd for cheering.

“It is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just said.”

The speech caps a dramatic four-day convention marked by obvious tension and ending with a powerful display of party unity. On Wednesday night, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz withheld his endorsement during his speech, but became a non-story by Thursday. Mr. Trump’s acceptance speech, the longest speech by a major party’s nominee since at least 1972, drew a stark contrast and framed the election as a choice between “outsider change and the restoration of order” vs. “status quo corruption and increasing chaos.”

In his highly-anticipated speech at the Republican

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