Good morning, one and all. If for some reason you endured a media blackout yesterday, consider yourself lucky. Sharing this stuff with you makes me jealous—like when my wife binge watched the first two seasons of “Game of Thrones” after I had already experienced the carnage.

1) Donald Trump kind of says military suicides are a result of “weakness”—and even kind of saying something like that is pretty bad.

Go ahead. Read that again. Let the shock pass through you and go back for seconds so you can take it all in. Remember when Trump said he liked veterans who “didn’t get captured, OK?” Well, apparently, this guy didn’t bother attending Trump University’s “Tact 101” class. Here’s a funny photo of one of two people who could be our next president. Feel free to write your own caption and post it as a comment on this story.

Call it a gaffe. Call it ignorance. But however you choose to characterize it, it won’t change the fact that Trump said veterans with PTSD who commit suicide “can’t handle it.”

From CNN—and, by now, EVERY media outlet on Earth:

Donald Trump suggested Monday that American soldiers and veterans who commit suicide do so because they can’t handle the post-traumatic stress of war.

“When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over and you’re strong and you can handle it but a lot of people can’t handle it.”

Iraq War veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org was, needless to say, a bit upset.

“We’re talking about a person, in Trump, who believes that POWs aren’t real heroes, and that he’s made sacrifices akin to Gold Star Families who lost their loved ones in war. The constant disrespect Donald Trump shows towards our veterans and servicemembers is sickening, and completely and totally disqualifying.”

Yeah. I think I’ll just leave it at that.

2) Hillary Clinton building a lead, pollsters say … and that obscene comment about military suicide hasn’t even factored in yet.

Well, apparently Trump’s sniffling, lying and yelling during the first debate didn’t go over too well with that whole “American public” thing.

From CNN:

Hillary Clinton emerges from the first presidential debate with a five-point lead over Donald Trump in the race for the presidency, having narrowed the enthusiasm gap between her supporters and Trump’s, and holding broad advantages over the Republican nominee as the candidate with the right temperament and preparation for the job, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.

The survey finds Clinton topping Trump 47% to 42% among likely voters with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson at 7% and Green Party nominee Jill Stein at 2%.

Some pundits say Democrats are “finally starting to rally around Hillary.” We would like to think people are simply, at last, realizing that electing a president is not, you know, a joke.

3) Another sporting event pulled from N.C. because of HB 2.

Sure, it’s not the NBA All-Star Game or the NCAA tournament, but it’s a sports championship and, more importantly, another pile of cash flying out our state’s sunroof as we continue this drive toward the economic hell Gov. Pat McCrory and his anti-transgender friends have created for us.

From the N&O:

The National Junior College Athletic Association said Monday it is relocating its 2017 baseball championship from North Carolina because of the state’s controversial House Bill 2.

The division III baseball championship was to be played in Kinston, which is about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh. The NJCAA said it will work to find a replacement site immediately.

In its decision to relocate, the association’s leaders cited part of the school’s mission statement, which emphasizes promoting competitive athletics in an “inclusive environment” for all student-athletes, coaches and administrators of its member institutions.

4) There’s a hurricane a-comin’.

Folks living along the coast are facing a tough go of it, as storm analysts now believe it is likely Hurricane Matthew will reach North Carolina as a Category 2. From WRAL:

The center of Matthew’s circulation on Tuesday morning was barreling over the southwest tip of Haiti as it continued its northward path. Matthew’s current track would put it off the east coast of Florida by Thursday night or early Friday morning and off North Carolina’s coast over the weekend.

5) Triangle television news icon Larry Stogner dies.

For those of up who grew up in these parts, WTVD anchor Larry Stogner was on our televisions daily. Needless to say, he will be missed. Barry Saunders wrote a pretty solid tribute for the N&O. Check it out.
Well, that’s it for today. Bye for now.