How One Retired Judge Made A World Of Difference August 14, 2024August 14, 2024 Yesterday I said: Superman was, of course, American. Dana Dlott: “Superman was an illegal immigrant.” George Mokray: “An undocumented alien, really, truly alien.” I stand corrected. The Harris Honeymoon Is Far From Over. Yes! The money and support keep pouring in! Rothkopf’s criticism of the press strikes me as overbroad — but there’s still a lot to it. This interview with Republican-appointed conservative judge Michael Luttig is “must view.” But because you likely don’t have an hour, I’d suggest increasing the playback speed (click the “settings” button) . . . and then only to watch as follows: > Start at the 7-minute mark. Luttig recalls being called before dawn January 6th, with not the slightest notion he would set in motion the events that prevented Trump from seizing power (or even how to tweet). It is a very human story. > Then watch (21:25-23:59) as he expounds on putting country ahead of party. > And (38:58-45:00) as he explains how the Constitution prevents Trump from ever again holding office — and the shame the Supreme Court should feel for finding otherwise. My guess is that if you listen to those three snippets, you may wind up watching to the end, as I did.
Of Books And Numbers August 12, 2024 MAUREEN DOWD: TRUMP BY THE NUMBERS. She recalls first interviewing him 25 years ago. This is really becoming fun! The money and support keep pouring in! Are you old enough to remember Superman’s motto? “Truth, Justice and the American Way“? (Superman was, of course, American.) Well, he’s turning out to be a woman named Kamala Harris, and — not to jinx it or to minimize the challenge — it’s looking as though this episode, like them all, just might have a happy ending. MORE NUMBERS 162 lies and distortions in 90 minutes — nearly two a minute. BOOKS Looking for a great one? I again suggest What This Comedian Said Will Shock You. In my view, Bill Maher is right about practically everything. I also just listened to 2034: A Novel of the Next World War. Not bad. (Dr. Strangelove, by contrast, is genius — and only 95 minutes.) But the 30-minute Audible bonus after the epilog — an interview with co-author Admiral James Stavridis — has me hoping President Harris will name him Secretary of Defense.
Shame On The Mainstream Media August 10, 2024 Lawrence O’Donnell excoriates the press. Watch. He’s so right! (On a related note, Robert Reich asks: Why isn’t the media reporting on Trump’s increasing dementia?) What it’s like after a strongman loses an election by a landslide but claims to have won: Venezuela in the grip of a strongman. Could something like this ever happen here? Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election. And if he wins? “Vengeance” and “retribution.” Or we could have a president and V.P. who embody hope and joy, motivated by a determination to make life better for ordinary Americans — very much including our friends who vote the other way. Toward that end, the money and support keep pouring in. BONUS Why he’s not the Brits’ cup of tea (as it were). Not entirely fair — but fun.
The Press Conference August 8, 2024 Frank Bruni: Donald Trump is the Prince of Self-Pity. And dangerous! Project 2025 is his blueprint for turning our pluralistic democracy, beacon to the world, into a white Christian nationalist autocracy, replacing competence with sycophantic loyalty. He says it’s not his 920-page roadmap — he doesn’t even know Kevin Roberts, the guy behind it. But it so is — and he so does! Trump Busted Cozying Up to Extremist Leader He Claims to Not Know “Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts compared abortion access to slave auctions, lynchings, and the Holocaust,” reports Media Matters. And guess who wrote the foreword to Kevin Roberts’ forthcoming book? I’ll give you a hint: JD Vance. Vance, of course, is well known for having called Trump “America’s Hitler.” But lately I’ve been wondering whether he meant that (or Trump took it) as a compliment. After all, Hitler “did a lot of good things.” Not like the “vermin” Trump promises to “root out” once he and JD take office. (As noted Wednesday, Vance Just Blurbed a Book Arguing That Progressives Are Subhuman.) AND NOW — THE PRESS CONFERENCE I didn’t watch it, but the Harris campaign did — and have some quibbles: But first, an important reminder on the question Donald didn’t answer: how he will vote on the Florida abortion referendum. (He has been ducking this question since April.) We worked to pin down reality so Donald Trump, bless his heart, doesn’t have to. Here are the facts: We had 12,000 and 15,000 people in Wisconsin and Michigan yesterday, respectively (Not 2,000.) The ABC debate is September 10th. Not the 25th. People have spoken to bigger crowds than Donald Trump. (Obama, Clinton, literally anyone at Lollapalooza, Coachella, the World Cup…) January 6th was decidedly nothing like MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. And Trump did not get a bigger crowd than Martin Luther King Jr. on that historic day. There was famously not a “peaceful transfer” of power after the 2020 election, which Donald Trump fought to overturn. Five police officers died because of January 6th. Donald Trump said he was off the trail this week because of the Democratic convention. (That convention is not happening this week.) Trump said they have commercials at a level no one else does. (He is being drastically outspent on the airwaves.) Governor Josh Shapiro is actually a great guy. Project 2025 author Tom Homan, the “father” of Trump’s cruel child separation policy, is not a person to praise. Jewish people should not “have their head examined” for not supporting him. (That’s actually antisemitic.) Trump said he was not complaining. He in fact very much was. Trump does not know the difference between asylum seekers and an insane asylum. Donald Trump does not “cherish” the Constitution. Abortion is not “less of an issue” for voters. It is not “subdued.” It is not a “small issue” for voters, despite how much Donald Trump wants it to be. Donald Trump did not answer the abortion question “very well in the debate.” Everybody did not want Roe v. Wade overturned. The American people do not support states banning abortion. After-birth abortion does not exist. Minnesota and Virginia are not the same. Donald Trump doesn’t know what progressive means. Kamala Harris does not want to take away everyone’s guns. Tim Walz is a gun owner. Vice President Harris does not support an arms embargo on Israel. Donald Trump could not remember Tim Walz’s name. Donald Trump’s tax cuts are not the biggest in history. We don’t know what “the transgender became such a big thing” is supposed to mean. Donald Trump will cut Social Security – just like he proposed every year he was in office. Government was not weaponized against Trump and Steve Bannon. Mail ballots are secure. We agree – Elon IS a different kind of guy. There are no polls that say Donald Trump is going to win in a landslide. The MAGA base is not 75% of the country ### Paid for by Harris for President Have a great weekend. The money and support keep pouring in.
Why Walz Matters and a Must-Read Book Review August 7, 2024 How a self-described “old white guy” can help many Americans reimagine themselves. Walz is an unusual figure on a Democratic Party ticket: the first non-lawyer on a Democratic presidential ticket since Jimmy Carter, the son of a farm family, a public school graduate with a fancy-school-free résumé, a longtime teacher and coach, an Army reserve soldier — all in all, a truly working-class, regular-guy, non-coastal-elite vice presidential nominee that Republicans simply cannot dismiss as the Other . . . The far right often tries to tarnish Democrats as a bunch of effete coastal folk trying to ruin sports, take away your guns, unravel traditional understandings of gender, replace white people, usher in communism, and more. It is vital that everyone stand up to this bullshit. But there can be special power in an old white guy saying: This is bullshit. A guy who hunts and keeps guns. A guy who coached football. A guy who fought in the military. A guy who did all the supposed “guy” things and emerged with a belief in equality and dignity for all of us . . . To compete with those who are offering fascist solutions to men despairing about their place in the future, Democrats need to have not just a message but also a messenger. And Walz is well equipped to call in those who feel like they haven’t had a home in the Democratic Party for a long time . . . Worth reading in full. [Yesterday’s story about how he taught the Holocaust to his high school students is equally telling.] GREAT QUESTION Glenn Hudson: “Why aren’t we hearing more about Senate Republicans blocking the child tax credit?” “Senate Republicans love to talk about how they are the party of family and business. So it’s very odd to see them come out so aggressively against expanding the child tax credit and rewarding business with the [research and development] tax credit,” Schumer said on the floor of the chamber. R.I.P., BILLY My baseball heroes were Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, and Pee Wee Reese. Then the Dodgers left Brooklyn and it would be four decades before I found another: Billy Bean. In his warmth, modesty, decency, and commitment to a better world, Billy hit it out of the ballpark. MUST READ: JD Vance Just Blurbed a Book Arguing That Progressives Are Subhuman
A Tim Walz Story — And The Rally August 6, 2024August 6, 2024 I really like this story. And in case you missed it: yesterday’s kick-off rally in Philadelphia. Hope, joy, and excitement. Loving it.
Three Quick Videos August 6, 2024August 5, 2024 Hope not hate. “We’re not going back.” May The Force Be With You. (Under 3 minutes.) Why this good ole’ boy’s voting for Kamala. (Under 2 minutes.) The money and support keep pouring in. We’re gonna win. BONUS Proud to know him. What competence looks like. (Under 1.)
But Not All Conservatives August 5, 2024 A Black Girl Won the 1908 Spelling Bee. But not all conservatives. Not Liz Cheney. Not Adam Kinzinger. “As a proud conservative, I never thought I’d be endorsing a Democrat for President,” Kinzinger said in a statement. “But I know Vice President Harris will defend our democracy and ensure Donald Trump never returns to the White House.” — Republicans for Harris! Not Trump’s own former press secretary Stephanie Grisham. “I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham said in a statement. . . . Not Geoff Duncan, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor. As a lifelong conservative Republican, it was not an easy decision for me to endorse Vice President Harris, but I know that she fights for all Americans, right, left, or center, and will stand up for the Constitution. — Press Release Take a minute to watch what he has to say and share with your Republican friends. The money and support keep pouring in. We’re gonna win.
What’s YOUR Guess? August 4, 2024 Did Trump shut this investigation down because he DIDN’T take $10 million in cash from Egypt’s Sisi? Two hundred pounds of $100 bills. Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary by 3 million votes and to Joe by 7 million. He knows he will probably lose to Kamala by more than 10 million. Rachel says this is why he isn’t campaigning much — he plans to gum up the election and have it thrown to the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote. So Idaho and Wyoming, which Trump will win, count for as much as California and New York, which he will not. NANNY GATE Doug Emhoff — who is not running for president — cheated on his first wife, who seems entirely to have forgiven him. (“He is a great father to our kids, continues to be a great friend to me and I am really proud of the warm and supportive blended family Doug, Kamala, and I have built together.”) Trump, an adjudicated rapist alleged to have had sex with a porn star — and who is running for president — brags that he grabs women by the pussy and has been accused of sexual harassment by 19 women, none of whom has forgiven him. “It’s totally true,” I can imagine the Second Gentleman saying. “I’m human. I did have an affair. People who are troubled by such things should compare the moral rectitude of my wife with the depravity of her opponent.” Case closed. Trump is running scared. We’re gonna win. The money and support keep pouring in. BONUS 1,169 continuous years of quadrennial Olympics No biting or eye-gouging allowed, same as now. But no skateboarding competition or golf, either.
The Tide Is Turning August 2, 2024August 1, 2024 Trump is falling apart. This video gets pretty rough — but c’mon. After all the damage he’s done to the dignity of the presidency, and to so much else, is it so wrong to mock him as the dreadful man he is? Kamala, by contrast, is on fire. The optimism! The excitement! The joy! The sense of possibility! She is so good . . . so stable . . . so morally centered. And the team behind her is so good and competent and morally centered — namely, the 4,000 Biden appointees who have helped build the remarkable Biden/Harris record. Electing the Harris team will disappoint Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un . . . disappoint Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon, David Duke and Michael Flynn . . . even disappoint folks who save said horrible things about him in the past like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Tucker Carlson, and JD Vance (a “con man,” “America’s Hitler,” a “pathological liar” “who destroys everything he touches”). But for most voters it will mean the brighter future that they, like everyone else, deserve. And the freedom to pursue happiness as they see fit. VENEZUELA Following up on Wednesday’s post: U.S. says Maduro lost Venezuelan election, calls for talks, transition. “Maduro claims that he won the vote Sunday, despite exit polling and, the opposition says, the government’s own records, which indicate that Edmundo González won twice as many as votes.” Trump — who claims he won the last election by a landslide and plotted to hold onto power even though he lost — is our Maduro. GYMNASTICS Glenn Sonnenberg: “Watching the men’s gymnastics team reminds me of what often is forgotten about this great country of ours. Most national teams are homogeneous (or nearly so). But America’s team is extraordinarily diverse. The men’s gymnastics team includes Black, Asian, and white men, some recent immigrants, cheering each other on. It’s enough to make one proud. We are a nation of diversity and a nation of immigrants.” Have a great weekend.