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Marie: I don't know why this video came up on my YouTube recommendations, but it did. I watched it on a large-ish teevee, and I found it fascinating. ~~~
Hubris. One would think that a married man smart enough to start up and operate his own tech company was also smart enough to know that you don't take your girlfriend to a public concert where the equipment includes a jumbotron -- unless you want to get caught on the big camera with your arms around said girlfriend. Ah, but for Andy Bryon, CEO of A company called Astronomer, and also maybe his wife, Wednesday was a night that will live in infamy. New York Times link. ~~~
Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:
~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.
CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~
~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play.
New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~
~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.
Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts.
New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL ishttps://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
⭐The Biggest, Lyingest Buffoon in American History. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump came [to the border near Montezuma Pass, Arizona,] on Thursday to heap praise on the structure standing to his right -- 'the Rolls-Royce of walls,' he called it -- and lament the unused segments lying to his left. Joining him there, Border Patrol union leader Paul A. Perez called the standing fence 'Trump wall' and [the unused pieces] 'Kamala wall.'... Those labels were inaccurate. This section of 20-foot steel slats was actually built during the administration of President Barack Obama. Trump added the unfinished extension up the hillside, an engineering challenge that cost at least $35 million a mile. The unused panels of 30-foot beams were procured during the Trump administration and never erected."
Marie: You may recall Gail Collins' concerns about Mitt Romney's putting the family dog in a carrier on the roof of the car for a 12-hour drive to their vacation cottage on Lake Huron. The poor setter was so distraught, it got diarrhea, first detected when the kids noticed, ah, something, dribbling down the vehicle's back window. Collins mentioned the dog-on-the-roof-of-the-car at least 70 times during the 2008 & 2012 election cycles. Well, RAShas found a similar but BETTER! election-season story. Suddenly, you begin to appreciate Romney as the most "normal/not weird" GOP presidential candidate of the century.
Presidential Race
Marie: No one can credibly say that there is a problem with the Democratic nominee or her running mate. Therefore, the problem is with every voter who even thinks, "Maybe Donald Trump would be a better president* than Kamala Harris." This election should not be close.
Man Who Ushered in President* Trump Endorses Harris. Tara Suter of the Hill: "Former FBI Director James Comeyis backing Vice PresidentHarris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), in the 2024 presidential race, he said Friday morning. 'Kamala Harris made me feel like it's finally morning in America,' Comey wrote in a post on the social platform X.... ' Comey endorsed Biden during the 2020 Democratic primary. However, Biden's campaign pushed back against the endorsement. 'Yes, customer service? I just received a package that I very much did not order,' Andrew Bates, director of rapid response for Biden's campaign at the time, said when responding to Comey's endorsement. 'How can I return it, free of charge?'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Trump Can't Handle ... the Campaign. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: Trump "has fixated on [President] Biden's withdrawal: 'It feels like he's lost his mojo.'... [During the Democratic convention,] most of his allies offered little defense of his character. There was no rapid response operation to respond to Democratic criticism that he inspired a riot at the U.S. Capitol, paid hush money to an adult film actress or was found liable for sexual abuse."
Michael Bender & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Despite a carefully scripted week of campaign events aimed at counterprogramming the Democratic National Convention, [Donald] Trumpundercut much of his messaging with a series of off-the-cuff remarks, rants and blunders that threatened to stoke the kind of Republican anxiety he has spent much of the past month trying to tamp down. On Monday in Pennsylvania, he struggled to clarify a previous comment that he believed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which honors civilians, was 'much better' than the Medal of Honor given to military members. On Tuesday in Michigan, he claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris had won the Democratic nomination after a 'vicious, violent overthrow of a president' and called Chicago, which hosted the Democratic convention, 'a war zone that's worse than Afghanistan.' He openly rejected advice from allies to limit his personal attacks on Ms. Harris and other Democrats during a speech on Wednesday in North Carolina. He called the nation's first Black vice president 'lazy' during a stop in Arizona on Thursday afternoon and, that night, rambled during a 10-minute phone call with Fox News. The anchors ultimately cut him off and ended the interview, but Mr. Trump picked up where he had left off by quickly phoning into Newsmax. And on Friday, Mr. Trump concluded his week by embracing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in exchange for his endorsement, a move with an uncertain impact on tilting the race in his favor." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Victim. Kipp Jones of Mediaite: :... Donald Trump said this week he will decline to participate in routine intelligence briefings for presidential candidates because he said he believes Democrats will try to accuse him of leaking classified information."
JayDee, Too, Will Say Anything, Do Anything. Alexandra Marquez of NBC News: "Ohio Sen. JD Vance ... on Saturday said Trump would veto a federal abortion ban if a bill were to be passed by Congress. Asked on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' about GOP lawmakers like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham who would want to see Trump advocate for and pass an abortion ban, Vance told moderator Kristen Welker that Trump has 'explicitly' said he would veto a ban. 'I mean, if you're not supporting it, as the president of the United States, you fundamentally have to veto it,' Vance argued. The latest position from the Trump campaign comes as the former president has changed his position on abortion policy over the years." The article doesn't address whether or not JayDee said what he would do about an abortion ban bill if he took over the presidency, a not-unlikely possibility.
Melinda Newman of Billboard: "Donald Trump ... played the Foo Fighters' 1997 anthem 'My Hero to welcome [Bobby Kennedy, Jr.,] to the stage at a rally Friday (Aug. 23) in Glendale, Arizona.... [but] 'Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,' a spokesperson tells Billboard of the unauthorized usage. Furthermore, 'appropriate actions are being taken' against the campaign, the spokesperson continues, and any royalties received as a result of this usage will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign." (Also linked yesterday.)
In Saturday's episode, Maureen Dowd of the New York Timesmocks Daffy Donald and his new sidekick Bobby Junior. (And of course she had to knock Kamala Harris a little bit, too, because equal opportunity.)(Also linked yesterday.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Santul Nerkar of the New York Times: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to suspend his presidential campaign and endorse ... Donald J. Trump was -- depending on where on the political spectrum the coverage came from -- treated with either outright glee -- or derision. Conservative sites primarily focused on the potential electoral boon to Mr. Trump, while liberal media outlets focused more on Mr. Kennedy's dysfunctional campaign, including by returning to several negative story lines.... Though polling suggests Mr. Kennedy's decision is unlikely to significantly shift the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and Mr. Trump, many conservative commentators said the decision could swing the contest.... Here's how the news was covered by a selection of outlets[.]" ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is one of probably hundreds of BS stories that convince consumers of right-wing "news" that Trump can't lose unless bad actors on the left rig the vote. Then the gullible are gobsmacked when Trump loses, and they think the only honorable way to respond is with revolution. Trump deserves the bulk of the blame for January 6, but his media apologists don't have clean hands.
Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Two astronauts who have spent months aboard the International Space Station will have to stay there months longer after NASA decided on Saturday that they could not return on Boeing's troubled Starliner space vehicle. They will return instead on a SpaceX capsule next year. That decision finally brings clarity to the saga of the two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who docked at the space station as part of a test flight of the Boeing vehicle. It also adds to months of difficult problems experienced by Boeing, a dominant aerospace company that has faced embarrassing setbacks in its much larger civilian aviation and defense divisions this year. 'A test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine,' Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said during a news conference, 'and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
City to Musk: Don't Let the Door Hit You in the Ass.... Heather Knight & Kate Conger of the New York Times: "Elon Muskis shuttering his social media company's headquarters in a gritty downtown neighborhood in the coming weeks and will move its last employees based there south to offices in Palo Alto and San Jose. New headquarters will be set up in Texas. But city officials are not lamenting the exit. X bears little resemblance to the company that San Francisco wooed with a tax break more than a decade ago, when it was Twitter, to help anchor a budding tech hub in a downtrodden neighborhood near City Hall known as Mid-Market. The pandemic, and Mr. Musk's 2022 acquisition of the company and subsequent gutting of its work force, reduced the headquarters to a ghost town."
Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "Anthony S. Fauciwas hospitalized with West Nile virus this month, according to a spokesperson for the nation's former top infectious-disease official.... Fauci, 83, was hospitalized for six days before he returned home.... West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne illness that can cause fever, body aches, diarrhea and rash, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are no vaccines or treatments for the virus." (Also linked yesterday.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine, et al.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday & Sunday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon traded extensive fire early Sunday, marking their heaviest fighting since the current conflict began as the United States and regional countries struggle to contain it from erupting into a full-scale war. The IDF said it conducted strikes on 40 areas in southern Lebanon to preemptively foil 'an extensive attack' by Hezbollah. The militant group said it launched a swarm of drones and more than 320 rockets against Israeli military targets to avenge the killing of a commander, Fuad Shukr, in a Beirut suburb in July."
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Saturday & Sunday are here.
Kenneth Chang of the New York Times: "Two astronauts who have spent months aboard the International Space Station will have to stay there months longer after NASA decided on Saturday that they could not return on Boeing's troubled Starliner space vehicle. They will return instead on a SpaceX capsule next year. That decision finally brings clarity to the saga of the two NASA astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who docked at the space station as part of a test flight of the Boeing vehicle. It also adds to months of difficult problems experienced by Boeing, a dominant aerospace company that has faced embarrassing setbacks in its much larger civilian aviation and defense divisions this year. 'A test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine,' Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said during a news conference, 'and so the decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is a result of a commitment to safety."
In Saturday's episode, Maureen Dowd of the New York Timesmocks Daffy Donald and his new sidekick Bobby Junior. (And of course she had to knock Kamala Harris a little bit, too, because equal opportunity.)
Michael Bender & Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Despite a carefully scripted week of campaign events aimed at counterprogramming the Democratic National Convention, [Donald] Trumpundercut much of his messaging with a series of off-the-cuff remarks, rants and blunders that threatened to stoke the kind of Republican anxiety he has spent much of the past month trying to tamp down. On Monday in Pennsylvania, he struggled to clarify a previous comment that he believed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which honors civilians, was 'much better' than the Medal of Honor given to military members. On Tuesday in Michigan, he claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris had won the Democratic nomination after a 'vicious, violent overthrow of a president' and called Chicago, which hosted the Democratic convention, 'a war zone that's worse than Afghanistan.' He openly rejected advice from allies to limit his personal attacks on Ms. Harris and other Democrats during a speech on Wednesday in North Carolina. He called the nation;s first Black vice president 'lazy' during a stop in Arizona on Thursday afternoon and, that night, rambled during a 10-minute phone call with Fox News. The anchors ultimately cut him off and ended the interview, but Mr. Trump picked up where he had left off by quickly phoning into Newsmax. And on Friday, Mr. Trump concluded his week by embracing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in exchange for his endorsement, a move with an uncertain impact on tilting the race in his favor."
Melinda Newman of Billboard: "Donald Trump ... played the Foo Fighters' 1997 anthem 'My Hero to welcome [Bobby Kennedy, Jr.,] to the stage at a rally Friday (Aug. 23) in Glendale, Arizona.... [but] 'Foo Fighters were not asked permission, and if they were, they would not have granted it,' a spokesperson tells Billboard of the unauthorized usage. Furthermore, 'appropriate actions are being taken' against the campaign, the spokesperson continues, and any royalties received as a result of this usage will be donated to the Harris/Walz campaign."
Man Who Ushered in President* Trump Endorses Harris. Tara Suter of the Hill: "Former FBI Director James Comeyis backing Vice PresidentHarris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), in the 2024 presidential race, he said Friday morning. 'Kamala Harris made me feel like it's finally morning in America,' Comey wrote in a post on the social platform X.... ' Comey endorsed Biden during the 2020 Democratic primary. However, Biden's campaign pushed back against the endorsement. 'Yes, customer service? I just received a package that I very much did not order,' Andrew Bates, director of rapid response for Biden's campaign at the time, said when responding to Comey's endorsement. 'How can I return it, free of charge?'"
Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "Anthony S. Fauciwas hospitalized with West Nile virus this month, according to a spokesperson for the nation's former top infectious-disease official.... Fauci, 83, was hospitalized for six days before he returned home.... West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne illness that can cause fever, body aches, diarrhea and rash, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are no vaccines or treatments for the virus."
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race
Rick Porter of the Hollywood Reporter: "The closing of the Democratic National Convention drew a big audience Thursday -- topping both the final night of the party's gathering four years ago and that of the Republican convention in July.... Coverage of the Democrats' closing night averaged 26.2 million viewers across 15 broadcast and cable networks, according to Nielsen figures. That's about 820,000 more people than the 25.38 million who watched the final night of the Republican National Convention.... The DNC's four-day average also topped the July Republican convention in TV viewers by a 14 percent margin...."
Maureen Dowd of the New York TimescritiquesKamala Harris's nomination acceptance speech, calling it "a strong speech but not particularly lyrical." MB: This seems a fair generalization to me. Where I think Dowd --and many other critics of what Dowd dubs "Kamalot" -- err is in insisting Harris get specific about policy. That's bull. When you're trying to appeal to a broad swath of the electorate (Harris needs more than 50% of the vote), you want to speak vaguely enough to allow people with different views to think you're embracing their views. And almost no president can keep policy positions intact anyway, since Congress controls much of a president's agenda. So being nebulous on policy while appearing likeable, strong and competent is probably the way to go.
Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign is releasing a new television ad in battleground states with a message aimed at the middle class, in its first major move after the convention."
Trump to Wrestle Bear in Central Park. A Kook & a Crook Hook Up. Brittany Gibson of Politico: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a court filing, endorsed ... Donald Trump, ahead of an announcement that will likely bring an end to his quixotic campaign just months before the November elections. Kennedy filed on Friday to officially have his name withdrawn from the Pennsylvania ballot 'as a result of today's endorsement of Donald Trump for the office of President of the United States,' according to a brief filed by Kennedy's campaign attorney. He also filed to withdraw from another swing state, Arizona, on Thursday evening.... The presidential election remains incredibly close, and if even a fraction of Kennedy's support moves to Trump, it could be decisive in swing states." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Meryl Kornfield of the Washington Post: "Kennedy announced that he would suspend his campaign with a number of caveats.... He said he would stop campaigning in critical states and withdraw his name from their ballots, but also that he would remain an option in blue and red states to ensure he doesn't spoil the election. Kennedy blamed the two-party system and unfair media coverage when explaining his decision to a room of reporters and hardcore supporters gathered Friday. 'In an honest system, I believe I would have won the election,' he said....
"Trump welcomed Kennedy onstage at a Friday evening campaign rally in the Phoenix area and heaped praise on his former opponent, calling him a well respected candidate who raised important issues during his campaign. Trump pledged to appoint an independent commission on assassination attempts, release all documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy and create a panel to investigate increases in chronic health problems.... Members of his famous, extended family forcefully opposed his candidacy...." The AP's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump has previously scoffed atBobby Junior, calling him "one of the most Liberal Lunatics ever to run for office" in a post in May. ~~~
~~~ Elizabeth Crisp of the Hill: "Democrats are rolling out a set of billboards describing former President Trump, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) as 'weird' ahead of a possible [an] endorsement of Trump by Kennedy on Friday. The billboards will be seen in Arizona near Trump's rally in Glendale..., and in Phoenix, where Kennedy is holding an event earlier in the day to address 'the present historical moment and his path forward.'"
Maggie Haberman & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump, who recently said he has 'no regrets' about appointing the Supreme Court supermajority that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights, declared on social media on Friday that his administration will be 'great' for women's 'reproductive rights.' Mr. Trump's use of the specific phrase 'reproductive rights' -- the language used by abortion-rights advocates -- appeared to be an effort ... to refashion himself ... as a political moderate on an issue that has the potential to be damaging to him in November.... On Thursday night..., Mr. Trump once again falsely claimed that 'everyone' wanted Roe 'terminated' and brought back to the states.... At the Democratic National Convention, the end of Roe -- and Mr. Trump's professed pride in appointing the justices who eliminated it -- was a central focus.... Some 22 states have implemented bans on abortion at various stages of pregnancy since the end of Roe in 2022." (Also linked yesterday.)
"Man of the People" JD Vance makes an awkward trip to a doughnut shop in Valdosta, Georgia. The staff don't want to be on camera, they don't want to chat with him and he doesn't know how to order doughnuts. There is some discussion of Regular Guy JayDee is yesterday's Comments. Thanks to RAS for the link, viadigby. ~~~
~~~ Here, BTW, are Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff and Tim & Gwen Walz visiting a restaurant in rural Pennsylvania. Each stops and chats with customers. The staff are smiling, the customers are glad to see them. BTW, Doug & Kamala, neither of whom has written a book about hillbillies, are as rich as JayDee, so it isn't that the high & mighty are unable to relate to ordinary people. Kamala & Doug have no problem. ~~~
Marc Levy of the AP: "Independent presidential candidate Cornel Westlost a legal challenge Friday in his bid to get on the ballot in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer, in a 15-page opinion, sided with the Secretary of State's office under Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in rejecting West's candidacy paperwork. The Secretary of State's office said West's campaign lacked the required affidavits for 14 of West's 19 presidential electors. Jubelirer, a Republican, agreed with the Secretary of State's office that minor-party presidential electors are to be considered candidates for office who must file affidavits, even if major-party presidential electors are not."
Eileen Sullivan & Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "The Secret Service has assigned five agents to administrative duties as a result of its investigation into the failures that led to the assassination attempt on ... Donald J. Trump on July 13, according to two people familiar with the situation. This means that they have been relieved of their operational duties, such as planning protective details for candidate rallies...."
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "Fox News did not air a second of the speeches from alienated GOP leaders and former Trump officials who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris at this week's Democratic National Convention. The DNC speakers included former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who spoke in prime-time before Harris' Thursday keynote; former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan; former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham; Olivia Troye, who served as a homeland security aide to former Vice President Mike Pence; and Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles. MSNBC and CNN treated those speeches as newsworthy, airing each of them in full, according to a Media Matters review of the networks' convention coverage. But Fox hid the content of all of those speeches from their viewers...."
Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Speaking in his most closely watched speech of the year, Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, clearly signaled on Friday that the central bank was poised to cut interest rates in September. And while Mr. Powell stopped short of giving a clear hint at just how large that move might be, he forcefully underscored that the central bank stands prepared to adjust policy to protect the job market from weakening further and to keep the economy on a path for a soft landing." (Also linked yesterday.)
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency is barred from using the federal civil rights law to prevent Louisiana from granting permits for numerous polluting facilities in minority and low-income communities. Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act allows the E.P.A. to investigate whether state programs that receive federal money are discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin. But the judge's ruling effectively means that the federal government is limited to taking action against specific agency decisions that are intentionally discriminatory. The E.P.A. cannot, however, consider cumulative or 'disparate' environmental harms. That means the state cannot be held liable for actions like allowing several chemical plants, refineries and other industrial operations in minority communities." The AP's report is here.
Gisela Salomon & Valerie Gonzalez of the AP: "Sixteen Republican-led states are suing to end a federal program that could potentially give nearly half a million immigrants without legal status who are married to U.S. citizens a path to citizenship. The coalition filed suit Friday to halt the program launched by President Joe Biden in June, saying in court filings that the administration bypassed Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for 'blatant political purposes.' 'This action incentivizes illegal immigration and will irreparably harm the Plaintiff states,' the suit filed in federal court in Tyler, Texas, says. Under the policy, which started taking applications Monday, many spouses without legal status can apply for something called 'parole in place,' offering permission to stay in the U.S., apply for a green card and eventually get on a path to citizenship."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in the federal case accusing ... Donald J. Trump of trying to overturn the 2020 election now appear unlikely to seek a broad public airing of their evidence in a courtroom before Election Day, according to two people familiar with the matter.... The prospect of a courtroom hearing this fall in which the prosecutors would present their evidence in something resembling a 'mini-trial' was one possible result of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling this summer that former presidents enjoy broad immunity for official actions they took in office.... While Judge [Tanya] Chutkan could in theory still order such a hearing to be held, [Jack] Smith's prosecution team is leaning against asking her for an expansive proceeding where witnesses would provide live testimony about the case, the people familiar with the matter said."
News Lede
New York Times: "Italian authorities said on Saturday that they had opened a manslaughter investigation into the sinking of the Bayesian luxury yacht, but that they had not yet zeroed in on any potential suspects. The sleek, $40 million sailing boat went down fast in a storm off Sicily's coast on Monday morning, killing Michael Lynch, a British tech billionaire; his teenage daughter, Hannah; four of his friends; and one member of the crew. The captain escaped on a lifeboat with 14 others. On Saturday, Ambrogio Cartosio, the prosecutor in charge of the case, said at a news conference that it was 'plausible' crimes were committed during the accident."
Trump to Wrestle Bear in Central Park. A Kook & a Crook Hook Up. Brittany Gibson of Politico: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in a court filing, endorsed ... Donald Trump, ahead of an announcement that will likely bring an end to his quixotic campaign just months before the November elections. Kennedy filed on Friday to officially have his name withdrawn from the Pennsylvania ballot 'as a result of today's endorsement of Donald Trump for the office of President of the United States,' according to a brief filed by Kennedy's campaign attorney. He also filed to withdraw from another swing state, Arizona, on Thursday evening.... The presidential election remains incredibly close, and if even a fraction of Kennedy's support moves to Trump, it could be decisive in swing states."
Maggie Haberman & Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump, who recently said he has 'no regrets' about appointing the Supreme Court supermajority that overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion rights, declared on social media on Friday that his administration will be 'great' for women's 'reproductive rights.' Mr. Trump's use of the specific phrase 'reproductive rights' -- the language used by abortion-rights advocates -- appeared to be an effort ... to refashion himself ... as a political moderate on an issue that has the potential to be damaging to him in November.... On Thursday night..., Mr. Trump once again falsely claimed that 'everyone' wanted Roe 'terminated' and brought back to the states.... At the Democratic National Convention, the end of Roe -- and Mr. Trump's professed pride in appointing the justices who eliminated it -- was a central focus.... Some 22 states have implemented bans on abortion at various stages of pregnancy since the end of Roe in 2022."
Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Speaking in his most closely watched speech of the year, Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, clearly signaled on Friday that the central bank was poised to cut interest rates in September. And while Mr. Powell stopped short of giving a clear hint at just how large that move might be, he forcefully underscored that the central bank stands prepared to adjust policy to protect the job market from weakening further and to keep the economy on a path for a soft landing."
Stephen Colbert checks out Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention: ~~~
MEANWHILE, on the Sidelines. As Akhilleus points out in today's Comments, Republicans had a spy who sneaked into the "Democrat convention" to make a case for Trump. Alas, the spy -- a friend of Donald's -- came upon a 12-year-old, and things did not go well for Incognito Man from there: ~~~
Presidential Race
Toluse Olorunnipa & Tyler Pager of the Washington Post: "Vice President Kamala Harrisaccepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, using the most consequential speech of her political career to cast herself as an avatar of America's middle class and an avenue to usher the country away from the abrasive style of politics embraced by Republican nominee Donald Trump.... Harris delivered a withering critique of Trump while also making several appeals to bipartisanship and patriotism during her speech, combating efforts by Trump and his allies to brand her as radical or somehow foreign. As she spoke, a packed, jubilant crowd of supporters clapped and waved American flags. Many were wearing white, the color associated with the suffragist movement. More than 100,000 red, white and blue balloons dropped at the end of her speech." ~~~
~~~ Katie Rogers & Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Vice President Kamala Harris used her acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to present herself as a pragmatic leader who could unite all Americans behind a 'new way forward,' painting ... Donald J. Trump as a dangerous and 'unserious man' whose election would alter the foundation of American democracy. With a steady voice and a straightforward gaze, Ms. Harris, a former prosecutor, presented the lengthiest and most serious case she has made against Mr. Trump as a presidential candidate. At each turn of the nearly 40-minute address, Ms. Harris warned that the former president's truculent behavior belied a serious and substantive threat to Americans, whether they are seeking access to reproductive health care, concerned about the safety and stability of diplomatic relationships or worried about the flow of immigrants across the nation"s southern border." ~~~
New York Times reporters live-update the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Here are some entries & partial entries: ~~~
Jazmine Ulloa: "Representative Veronica Escobar, a Biden ally who represents a Texas district that includes the border city of El Paso, is chairing the Democratic National Convention tonight."
Jennifer Medina: "Senator Alex Padilla of California, who took over [Kamala] Harris's Senate seat after she became vice president, delivered a brief speech and promised Harris would restore the sueño Americano -- the American dream."
Maggie Astor: "'I'm impressed with how large this A.I.-generated crowd looks tonight,' quips Representative Ted Lieu of California, mocking Trump's false claim that a photo of a packed Harris rally was fake."
Catie Edmondson: "Representative Joe Neguse of Colorado, 40, is seen as a rising star in the House Democratic caucus. His speech appeared to be aimed at younger voters, arguing that Harris will fight to make college more affordable, invoking his own daughter in explaining his support for her.... Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the top Democrat on the China Select Committee in the House, provides some of the first foreign policy remarks we've heard all week at the convention. China wants 'us to fight against ourselves,' Krishnamoorthi says."
Kellen Browning: "Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts got one of the biggest ovations I've seen this week as she took the stage. She appeared to tear up at the strength of her reception from the crowd."
Jonathan Weisman: "The current speaker, Representative Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, is running for the seat of the retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow, and it is one of the closest Senate races in the country." ~~~
~~~ Medina: "For days, Democrats have invoked reclaiming patriotism, but few have made it as explicit as Slotkin. 'I want you to proudly claim your patriotism. You are here because you love your country. Do not give an inch to pretenders who wrap themselves in the flag but sit in the face of freedom it represents.'"
Astor: "Representative Pat Ryan of New York is continuing the national-security theme that has dominated the night so far. He is a combat veteran and notes that his district includes West Point, which he attended. He notes that cadets are forbidden to lie, steal, cheat 'or tolerate those who do,' and says Trump 'has violated every word in that code -- a serial liar, cheater, thief who looked soldiers in the eye, then turned around and called fallen heroes "suckers" and "losers."'"
Maggie Haberman: The Rev. Al "Sharpton is talking about Trump's full-page newspaper ad calling for the death penalty for the group, five Black and Latino teenagers who had been arrested -- but not tried -- in connection with the brutal gang rape of a white female jogger in Central Park. Those teenagers' convictions were later set aside, and their confessions found to have been coerced. One of those young men, Yusef Salaam, is now a New York city council member. Trump continues to insist he was right.... Four of the five of the 'Central Park Five' are now onstage.... Huge cheers for Yusef Salaam as he introduces himself as a New York City councilman. 'Forty-five wanted us un-alive,' Salaam says of Trump. 'He wanted us dead.'... Hearing from these men takes on a new meaning as Trump continues to insist he himself is being unfairly treated by the judicial system."
Maya King: "The Central Park Five's endorsement of Harris is significant on several levels. It draws a contrast with Trump.... It also pushes back against an ongoing narrative about how Black men view Harris, who is a prosecutor and faced real criticisms for the number of Black men who were incarcerated while she was California's attorney general."
Haberman: "The convention program has moved on to two women affirming Harris's tenure as a prosecutor, fighting sexual assault perpetrators, among others. The 'prosecutor' frame gives Harris, running for a chief executive job as a woman and facing sexist perceptions of women in those roles, an air of authority and of strength, Democratic strategists say."
Weisman: "Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, is the first of a few friends of Harris who grew close as the attorneys general of their states.... Deb Haaland's confirmation as the first Native American secretary of the Interior was one of the most dramatic appointments of the Biden term. She has led an agency that was once devoted to all but eradicating Native American culture, and she brought a quiet reverance to environmental conservation. It now falls to her to attest to Harris's commitment to that vision.... The program now turns to two of the youngest, most dynamic Democrats of color in Congress, both fighting uphill battles in red states. First, Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida, the first Gen Z member of Congress, then Representative Colin Allred, who is running to defeat Ted Cruz and take his Senate seat in Texas.... [Allred] has insisted his secret weapon is the contempt that Texans of all political stripes hold for Ted Cruz, his opponent.... Allred's real secret weapon in Texas may actually be football. A linebacker from Dallas, he played for Baylor, then after going undrafted he earned a roster spot for the Tennessee Titans, where he played four seasons from 2007 to 2010."
Weisman: "Craig Sicknick's brother, Brian, died of a stroke after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. To this day, conservatives backing Trump have said Sicknick's death had nothing to do with the attack."
Browning: "NBA star Stephen Curry just appeared in a prerecorded video message, days after his head coach, Steve Kerr, addressed the convention. 'I believe that Kamala as president could bring that unity back and continue to move our country forward,' he said."
Weisman: "The choice of the Chicks to sing the national anthem is fascinating. Conservatives had once shunned them, but have recently adopted their in-your-face anthem 'Not Ready to Make Nice' as an answer to Democratic appeals for bipartisanship and support for Harris. But the theme was written after the Chicks, then called the Dixie Chicks, were all but banished from country music stations and booed by country audiences for disparaging then-President George W. Bush during the Iraq War. They are making their politics known again tonight."
Medina: "We're getting a lesson from two little nieces about how to pronounce Kamala -- comma, then 'lah.'" ~~~
~~~ Haberman: "Donald Trump has made a repeated bit out of mispronouncing Harris's first name, a way of othering her."
Rebecca O'Brien: "Meena Harris, Ella Emhoff, and Helena Hudlin -- Kamala Harris's niece, step-daughter, and goddaughter, respectively -- have taken the stage."
Haberman: "It's clear what [D.L.] Hughley is here as: He is a convert to Harris, after being a skeptic. That is a message Harris needs to communicate to a lot of people, that she's an acceptable alternative to Trump."
Mitch Smith: "Chris Swanson, the sheriff of the Michigan county that includes Flint, drew national attention in 2020 for walking with protesters following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. He appeared this year in a campaign ad for President Biden that criticized Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6, 2021."
King: "Representative Lucy McBath of Georgia rose to national prominence as a gun safety advocate after her son, Jordan, was shot and killed. She is a rising figure in Georgia politics...."
Edgar Sandoval: "ays after her daughter was killed at a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Kimberly Mata-Rubio told me that she was making a promise to never stop pushing for safer gun laws.... This appearance at the convention was her largest audience yet."
Haberman: "Gabby Giffords, the former congresswoman who was shot in the head more than a decade ago, is speaking now, with her astronaut and senator husband, Mark Kelly, next to her."
Nick Corasaniti: "Pink is doing an acoustic version of 'What About Us,' a ballad that she has called a political protest song."
Weisman: "Senator Mark Kelly's appearance must feel bittersweet. He was a finalist to be Harris's running mate. His supporters argued that he could secure the pivotal swing state of Arizona, lend strength on the border issue and appeal to working-class voters as the son of New Jersey cops who went to war and became an astronaut. He didn't make it -- in part because he's not a scintillating speaker.... After Kelly leans on his résumé as a combat pilot and astronaut, Leon Panetta, the former C.I.A. director and defense secretary, is attesting to Harris's foreign policy credentials, then Representative Ruben Gallego, an Iraq war combat veteran running for Senate in Arizona, will have stories to tell of valor that Trump can't compete with."
Lisa Lerer: Gov. Gretchen "Whitmer edits one of her campaign slogans for this national audience: GSD -- Get 'Stuff' Done."
Shane Goldmacher: "Democrats are trying to flip the strength vs. weakness frame that Trump had used for months against Biden. [Former Rep. Adam] Kinzinger [R-Ill.] is explicit, twice calling Trump 'weak' in his speech. 'Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong,' he says."
Erica Green: "Maya Harris's remarks are largely a tribute to their mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, whom she described as having 'defied the odds, and defined herself."
King: "Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina is the last elected official scheduled to speak before Kamala Harris. His name was on the shortlist to be her vice-presidential pick before he removed himself from contention."
Lerer: "Harris is casting herself as a 'realistic, practical' leader with 'common sense.'"
Haberman: "In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,' Harris says, part of a theme of trying to make him smaller. But she stresses that the consequences of electing him are 'extremely serious.'... While Harris is invoking Project 2025, a series of policy initiatives written by a consortium of conservative groups aligned with Trump, she is doing what most Democrats haven't done: focused on Trump's own language and proposals, which are plenty norm-shattering and radical on their own.... The only part of Biden's record that Harris is explicitly linking herself with is the effort to forge a coalition against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It's the least controversial part of his record."
Ulloa: "Harris's calls for security and dignity for the people of Gaza drew one of the loudest responses of the night in the arena."
Jess Bidgood: "Since she has been running for President, Harris has presented herself as a 'joyful warrior.' But this is a sober speech, one that is focused broadly on how she would handle issues like the economy, abortion rights, border security and foreign policy as president."
Katie Glueck: "Harris is putting patriotism at the heart of her pitch. The crowd, waving American flags and quick to burst into chants of 'USA!', embraced it."
Oliver Darcy: "Bad news for Donald Trump: The Democratic National Convention is handily beating his Republican National Convention in the one area he cares about most: television ratings. After night one of the DNC bested night one of the RNC (an average of 20 million viewers to 18.1 million), night two saw the gap open up even wider. The Michelle and Barack Obama-powered evening averaged 20.8 million viewers across television, dwarfing the average of 14.8 million viewers who tuned into night two of Trump's coronation. The strong ratings are a reflection of the electric energy coursing through the Democratic Party after President Joe Biden stepped aside and passed the torch along to Vice President Kamala Harris. The last-minute handoff to Harris has rebooted the party, leading to viral memes, record fundraising, and now muscular television ratings."
Michael Grynbaum & Michael Gold of the New York Times: Donald Trumpcalled in to Fox "News" during Kamala Harris's acceptance speech, "and the former president proceeded to issue a meandering, stream-of-consciousness rebuttal.... The impromptu call-in -- which lasted for 10 minutes, until Fox News informed Mr. Trump that the network had run out of time -- came shortly after he had taken to his social media platform, Truth Social, to provide real-time commentary on Ms. Harris's speech. His posts there, capitalized in a haphazard manner, were less directed at her specific remarks than at broader complaints.... At times, he digressed. 'WHERE'S HUNTER?' Mr. Trump asked as Ms. Harris came onstage.... At several points during the call, a familiar beeping sound interrupted Mr. Trump's remarks. It appeared that the former president was accidentally pressing buttons on the keypad of his phone." ~~~
~~~ Marie: According to many reports, Trump doesn't drink, but this sure reads like a drunk dial-in.
On Wednesday night, the DNC played this devastating video, which speaks to Trump's actions and inaction on January 6, 2021: ~~~
~~~ S.V. Date of the Huffington Post: "Donald Trumpis hosting a fundraiser for domestic terrorists convicted of assaulting police officers, and some defendants still facing those charges, as part of his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt to remain in power. The event is to take place on Sept. 5 at his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and is being staged by The America Project, a pro-Trump nonprofit based in Florida that is calling the reception and dinner 'the J6 Awards Gala.'"
Isabella Ramirez of Politico: "... Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging and unfocused 'Fox and Friends' interview on Thursday morning, slammed Tim Walz as a 'total lightweight' after the Minnesota governor delivered his vice presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention [Wednesday] night. In the live phone interview, Trump attacked Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris while also distancing himself from Project 2025.... The hosts struggled to keep him on topic as Trump spoke for more than 30 minutes on issues including crime, the border, Russia-Ukraine, abortion, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. -- with one of his favorite subjects being bashing Chicago, the DNC host city.... At his speech on Wednesday, Walz leaned into his background as a coach and hit Trump on attempting to separate himself from Project 2025, telling the crowd, 'When someone takes the time to draw up a playbook, they're going to use it.' Trump told 'Fox and Friends' that Walz connecting him to Project 2025 was 'disgraceful' and throughout the interview, repeatedly said he had 'no idea' what it was." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If Trump has "no idea" what Project 2025 is, why is it "disgraceful" for Walz to connect him with it?
Fierce Cruelty Is a Feature of the Right-Wing Ecosystem. Julia Metraux of Mother Jones: After Gus Walz --Tim Walz's teenaged son who suffers from complex intellectual disabilities -- responded emotionally to Tim's DNC address, right-wing commentators mocked the young man.
Rebecca O'Brien & Kellen Browning of the New York Times: "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filed paperwork to withdraw from the presidential race in Arizona, a spokesman for the Arizona secretary of state's office said on Thursday night. The move comes a day before Mr. Kennedy, an independent candidate, is set to give an address in Arizona about the future of his struggling campaign. He is expected to end his candidacy and possibly to endorse ... Donald. J. Trump following weeks of discussion between their camps, although people close to Mr. Kennedy say an endorsement is not yet certain. On Thursday Mr. Trump's campaign announced that the former president would have a 'special guest' at his rally in Glendale, Ariz., on Friday."
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Arizona. Supreme Suppress Votes in Battleground State. Charlie Savage & Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Arizona, at least for now, to toughen some voting requirements, saying that people registering to vote before the coming election must show proof of citizenship. The decision, issued in a terse, unsigned order, handed a partial victory to Republicans who supported a 2022 Arizona law imposing new restrictions on voting. But the court declined to allow Arizona to put into effect another part of that law, which could have prohibited tens of thousands of voters who are already registered from participating in the presidential election or casting any ballots by mail, unless they provided proof of citizenship.... There were signs that the court was divided over the issue, and that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh may have split their votes between two factions. The order ... said four justices had wanted to keep the state from enforcing both measures: Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson. It named three as wanting to let the state put both provisions into effect: Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch."
Arkansas. Daniel Wu of the Washington Post: "The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that abortion will not be on the ballot in November, upholding the state's rejection of a petition to bring an abortion access measure before voters because organizers had failed to submit the required paperwork on time. In a narrow 4-3 ruling, the court's majority sided with Secretary of State John Thurston (R), who in July rejected a petition submitted by Arkansans for Limited Government that carried over 100,000 signatures because the group had not submitted training certifications for paid canvassers it used."
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