Lunchtime reading

Happy August! (Wait, where did April go?)

As I munch on my salad at my desk today, I'm reading these stories:

• New Republic wonders if Charles Koch really thinks mainstream Democrats will embrace his vision. (tl;dr: not bloody likely.)
• Jennifer Rubin takes a look at President Trump's latest rally in Tampa with alarm at his supporters' disconnection from reality.
• The Atlantic outlines how Paul Manafort's trial in Virginia this week exposes the growing kleptocracy in Washington.
• In Chicago, businesses and residents right in my neighborhood are bracing for tomorrow's anti-violence protests. (I will be in a different part of town.)

And finally, a bit of good news out of Half Moon Bay, Calif. The corporate owner of the local paper told them they had to shut down, so a group of townspeople formed a California benefit corporation to buy the paper out.